316 PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



difficult to bargain for on the market, and which would scarcely 

 be included under wages, rent, or interest. He acts as an in- 

 surer of the landowner from whom he rents land, of the capi- 

 talist from whom he borrows capital, and of the laborers whom 

 he hires. That is to say, if he rents land and pays cash rent, 

 the landlord's income is assured, even though there be a partial 

 crop failure. A complete failure may render the payment of rent 

 impossible, and in an extreme case of this kind the landlord's 

 income may be cut off also. But if the farmer has anything 

 with which to pay rent, it must be paid whether he has any in- 

 come left for himself or not. Thus the landlord is in a safer 

 position as regards crop failures, etc., than the farmer is. Simi- 

 larly with the capitalist from whom the farmer borrows his 

 capital. Interest must be paid, whether there is a crop failure 

 or not, so long as the farmer has the wherewithal to pay. By 

 this arrangement the lender of capital is in a safer position than 

 the farmer who uses it, because the farmer loses all his income 

 before the lender loses any of his. Again, the farm laborer's 

 wages must be paid whether there is anything left for the farmer 

 or not. The farm laborer bears none of the ordinary risks of 

 crop failure, of loss of live stock, etc., and nothing but the com- 

 plete and irretrievable bankruptcy of the farmer will cut off his 

 wages. He is thus in a safer position than the farmer so far as 

 the ordinary risks of farming are concerned. Thus we see that 

 the independent farmer bears the burden of these innumerable 

 and unforeseeable risks. He stands between the other three 

 classes and these risks, and so long as he is able to stand up 

 against the blows of misfortune they are protected. These blows 

 fall upon them only after the farmer has been completely 

 knocked out. 



Because of the greater risk which the farmer assumes, and 

 because of the relative safety which the landowner who rents out 

 his land, the capitalist who lends his capital, and the laborer 



