4 PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



making continuous progress. However, every government is 

 first concerned with the repression of the uneconomic methods 

 within its own territory. They sometimes allow and even or- 

 ganize uneconomic methods in other territories, that is, they 

 sometimes engage in wars of conquest. Progress in the direc- 

 tion of suppressing this particular uneconomic method comes 

 very slowly. 



Even within their own territory various forms of deception are 

 frequently allowed by modern governments, but these methods 

 need not be considered at any great length. The sturdy beggar 

 who disguises himself as a cripple in order to appeal to the 

 sympathy of the passers-by, the counterfeiter and the confidence 

 man who take advantage of the ignorance and the cupidity of 

 their victims, and the gambler who takes advantage of their in- 

 experience and their inability to grasp the laws of probability, 

 are well-recognized types which the laws of most civilized coun- 

 tries are trying to suppress. But the manufacturer and seller of 

 worthless nostrums under the name of medicine, of shoddy or 

 adulterated goods under the name of pure goods, the writer and the 

 publisher of sensational falsehoods under the name of news, the 

 teacher of irrational superstitions under the name of religion, 

 every one, in fact, who profits by deception, belong in the same 

 class. Needless to say, activities of this description tend to the 

 impoverishment rather than the prosperity of all except those 

 who practice them ; they are uneconomic, and the more men 

 there are practicing these methods upon their fellow citizens, 

 the worse it is for the country as a whole and the poorer it 

 will become. 



Classification of economic methods. The economic ways of 

 getting a living may be divided into three principal classes, called 

 primary industries, secondary industries, and personal and pro- 

 fessional service. The primary industries, sometimes called 

 extractive industries, are those which are engaged in extracting 



