AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



ideal shall be attained, that the labor and the 

 capital of a country be properly distributed among 

 the various lines of economic activity. The labor 

 and the capital of a nation should be so distrib- 

 uted among the various industries that the portion 

 of these factors which is employed under the most 

 unfavorable circumstances shall be equally pro^ 

 ductive in all industries. The necessity of this 

 proper adjustment of the productive forces should 

 ever be kept in mind in the discussion of the 

 movements of population from country to city or 

 vice versa. 



When the productive forces are properly dis- 

 tributed among the various lines of production, 

 and where the relative values of products are not 

 to be directly affected, it would seem that a just 

 and practical ideal to be held in mind when pass- 

 ing judgment upon the institutions which limit 

 and define the rights of the farmers in their rela- 

 tions to each other, to their landlords, to laborers 

 which they employ, and to those to whom they 

 sell their products, would be the highest value of 

 the agricultural productions of a country. 



We wish to mark out clearly the distinction 

 between the social ideal and the ideal of the indi- 

 vidual. The individual seeks the largest net 

 profits. He desires to have that share of the 

 product which is left to him, after paying what is 

 necessary to engage the other factors of produc- 

 tion, as large as possible. Where the personal 



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