FACTORS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 213 



a much larger volume of business to be carried on without a 

 proportionate increase in the metallic money. 



Organization of exchange. Again, money is economized by 

 having the markets of the country well organized, so that buyers 

 and sellers can meet in considerable numbers and at frequent 

 intervals. This enables the money to circulate more rapidly and 

 makes it unnecessary to carry it about over long distances or to 

 keep it idle during long intervals. Money lying idle in people's 

 pockets, or locked up in safes, is obviously not doing any work. 

 The more quickly it circulates, the more work each dollar will 

 do. and the fewer dollars there will have to be to do the neces- 

 sary work. " The nimble sixpence does the work of the slow 

 shilling." 



Thrift. But money is only one small part of the capital of 

 the country. In considering the ways of economizing capital 

 in general, including all kinds and descriptions, it is neces- 

 sary to consider it in its various stages. As pointed out above, 

 capital comes into existence through the decision of some one 

 not to consume his whole income, but to invest a part of it in 

 tools and equipment, either directly or indirectly. In the ab- 

 sence of such decisions there would never be another iota of 

 capital added to the wealth of the country. The more numerous 

 such decisions become, the more will our supply of capital in- 

 crease. The first step, therefore, in the economizing of capital 

 is to increase the number of such decisions. This is to transform 

 potential capital into actual capital. 



The two great hindrances to such decisions are uncertainty 

 and lack of forethought. The inability to plan for the future, 

 the preference for the ephemeral pleasure of present indul- 

 gence to the prospective advantages of future investments, 

 is i\. characteristic of all undeveloped people. One of the most 

 striking differences between the civilized man and the savage, 

 or between the successful business man and the spendthrift, lies 



