DISTRIBUTION OF AGRICULTURAL INCOME 327 



For the sake of illustration only, let us assume that two men 

 are trying to sell lottery tickets ; one is trying to sell tickets of 

 the common kind and the other is trying to sell a kind which 

 no lottery ever thought of offering. The first has a box contain- 

 ing 2000 tickets, all of which are blanks but one, but that one 

 will draw a prize of $1000. The second has a box containing 

 2000 tickets, only one of which is a blank; all the rest will draw 

 prizes of $1000. Suppose, also, that these two men are equally 

 energetic and skillful as salesmen ; that each is to sell his own 

 tickets all at a uniform price, but that that price is to be de- 

 termined by the willingness of purchasers to buy. What is the 

 highest price at which each will be able to dispose of all his 

 tickets ? Mathematically, the first man's tickets are worth ex- 

 actly 50 cents each ; that is, the total prizes ($1000) divided by 

 the total number of tickets (2000) gives 50 cents. But if the ex- 

 perience of lotteries is any guide, there is not the slightest doubt 

 that the first man would be able to sell all his tickets at more 

 than 50 cents apiece. The buyers as a class would then lose 

 more than all of them together gained. But the second man's 

 tickets would be mathematically worth $999.50; that is, the 

 total prizes ($1,999,000) divided by the total number of tickets 

 (2000) leaves that sum. It is so probable as to amount to a 

 practical certainty, that he would not be able to sell his tickets 

 at that price, but would have to take a much lower price. In 

 that case buyers as a class would gain by buying ; that is, their 

 total gains would exceed their total losses. For some psycho- 

 logical reason, which need not be discussed here, men evaluate 

 these different kinds of risks in this way. 



Now it happens that industrial and business risks are un- 

 avoidable, and if production is to be carried on, some one must 

 be induced to assume them. But these risks are associated with 

 investing in enterprises of various kinds. When the enterprise 

 is such that small sums may be risked, and the profits, though 



