FACTORS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 175 



Economizing labor means a large product per man. In dis- 

 cussing the economy of labor the important distinction must be 

 carefully borne in mind that the aim of rational industrial man- 

 agement and statesmanship is, or always should be, to secure as 

 large a product per man as possible, and not necessarily as large 

 a ] product per acre as possible. In fact a large product per acre 

 is desirable only when it means a large product per man, and 

 never otherwise. Again, the policy of agricultural statesmanship 

 is, or always should be, to preserve those conditions which will 

 secure a large product for each worker rather than merely to 

 secure a large product from each acre of land. A large supply 

 of very cheap labor is sometimes a means of getting a large 

 product per acre, and this is just what certain misguided per- 

 sons, ignorant of the first principles of economics, are constantly 

 clamoring for. But a large supply of cheap labor means a large 

 number of families supported on very low wages ; and that 

 means, in turn, widespread poverty, which is precisely what the 

 study of political economy aims to prevent. Since our purpose 

 is to find how to eliminate poverty and to secure a wide diffu- 

 sion of prosperity, it is essential that we find how to make the 

 product per man as large as possible. It follows, therefore, that 

 while we may consistently desire a large supply of very .cheap 

 land, a large supply of cheap labor is the last thing in the 

 world which we ought to strive for, or rather, it is the very 

 thing which we ought to strive to prevent. 



However, it is one thing to desire a large product per acre 

 regardless of the number of people among whom it is to be dis- 

 tributed, and it is quite a different thing to desire that the exist- 

 ing population may be able to produce as large a product per acre 

 as possible. If the existing or prospective farming population 

 can increase the productivity of their land, their incomes will 

 increase. It is better to have one family on every 160 acres, 

 even though each acre is thus made to produce only $20 worth 



