WAGES 41 



must resort to inferior soils. The living of the latter 

 will no longer be regulated by science solely, but will 

 be also affected by the quality of the land which they 

 use, and as decreasingly inferior qualities of land are 

 forced into use the living obtained by some part of the 

 population will be correspondingly reduced. 



Under the system of private ownership, therefore, the 

 well-being of a people is determined, if it has sufficient 

 land of the better quality, only by the state of science ; 

 and if it has not, then by the inroads which the descent 

 of cultivation makes on the living which science other- 

 wise would have provided. 



If, however, instead of producing under the system 

 of private ownership a people go about the business of 

 getting food in common, the principles regulating the 

 extent of their subsistence will be the same. With an 

 excess of land they will use only those portions ready 

 fitted by nature for cultivation and, as no part of their 

 toil will be dissipated in ameliorating land, labour will 

 yield a return conditioned only by the state of science, 

 and the share of each man at this stage will be large. 



But should the suitable land prove insufficient there 

 must occur a lowering of the margin of cultivation ; 

 labour despite an equal use of knowledge will not produce 

 so much, and everyone's portion will be less than it was 

 before the better lands gave out. This process will 

 continue as population presses and no fresh lands are 

 found until, when the last lands are reached below which 

 cultivation of no sort is possible, the share of each man 

 may be just sufficient to maintain him, and in unfavour- 

 able seasons insufficient. 



In a state of the common division of all things there- 

 fore, as well as in that of private ownership, the living 

 of a people is decided by the extent of land at their 

 disposal. 



