144 POLITICAL ECONOMY 



lines from man to man with arrow-heads to show which way 

 the goods travelled, every man would have as many lines coming 

 into him as went out, but the rich man would have many lines 

 running through him, and the poor man few. Not only were 

 there rich and poor, but whole classes might become poor by no 

 fault of theirs and by no visitation of Heaven. Even a so-cilled 

 improved mode of production would do the harm. 



As a matter of fact in course of time the Hunters became 

 wretchedly poor. It happened this way. The farmers bred 

 their cattle judiciously and improved their modes of cultivation, 

 and with very little trouble to themselves they produced much 

 meat and corn. They consequently let the weavers, fishers, and 

 carpenters have beef very cheap. Simultaneously game went 

 out of fashion. The hunters killed as many deer as ever, but, 

 alas, there was no demand for venison. So they could not buy 

 the beef, cheap as it was, nor indeed anything else. The 

 circuits round which the credited sixpence travelled, never 

 included the poor hunters. They could produce as much as ever 

 in mere bulk of meat, but nobody wanted their produce. 

 Nothing was taken away from them, the whole wealth of the 

 community was apparently increased, for they could produce as 

 much as ever and the farmers could produce more, yet the 

 hunters were ruined, and had to live on the charity of the four 

 other families, who were sorry for them and good to them, but, 

 in the beaten way of barter, were unanimous in declining game 

 of any sort. Every now and then they went through a pretence 

 of buying a little antelope, which they threw to the cat, who, 

 comically enough, also refused to touch it, but these purchases 

 were only too obviously charitable a mere pretence and not the 

 real thing. 



The island was in a great puzzle. They all loathed game : 

 even the hunters themselves felt that they were degraded by 

 eating it. What was to be done ? After much discussion it 

 was settled that as the farmers appeared to be richest of the 

 families, the hunters should take to farming. This did not 

 answer well. The two families could now produce twice as much 

 meat and grain as was wanted. But no matter how much they 

 produced they could not induce the other families to give them 

 more fish, clothes and shelter than the single family of farmers 



