The Political Economist and the Land. 1 2 i 



harm to the community than any unrestricted action of the 

 individual, however selfish, could do, he stultified such a con- 

 clusion by limiting the idea of productive labour to that which 

 is " fixed and realised in some vendible commodity." ^ All 

 labour is productive if it does not lessen the wealth of the 

 society, because no individual will, from motives of self-in- 

 terest, engage in an industry unless secure of some profitable 

 return from it. Amongst the ranks of those assumed by 

 Smith to have been engaged in unproductive labour, were 

 many without whose protection the supply of what he classed 

 as vendible commodities would have languished and grown 

 less.^ The mercantilists had regarded industry chiefly in its 

 relationship with the military and political powers of the State. 

 Ricardo, tainted by his commercial training with mercantilist 

 leanings, regarded the labourer in much the same light as the 

 Saxon thane had regarded his human chattels. Sismondi 

 was actually obliged to ask him if wealth in his system was 

 everything and men nothing. And indeed, by a subtle line of 

 reasoning, this deep-thinking stockbroker had convinced his 

 readers that labourers were one of those necessary evils in- 

 cluded amidst the expenses of production.^ Smith's views, 

 therefore, were infinitely preferable to the cold-blooded argu- 

 ment of his great successor in economical thought ; though, as 

 a later writer pointed out, his distinction between productive 

 and unproductive labour is calculated to arouse class jealousies. 

 We shall pass over Smith's erroneous theories on " value," 

 and examine, as more relevant to our subject, his views on the 

 relationship of the landlord to the community. This, of course, 

 entirely depends upon his particular conception of the term 

 "rent," And here it will not be out of place if we afford the 

 reader a short historical sketch of the various theories on rents 

 which have successively obtained a temporary notoriety up to 

 the present day. 



' McCulloch's Literature of Political Economy, p. 14. 



^ Id. Ibid. It must bo rciuombored that oven Mill's definition of un- 

 productive labour was deficient, as it would liavo included tlio school- 

 master. 



^ Principles 0/ Political Economy and Taxation. David llicardo, lbi7. 



