96 ECONOMICS OF LAND TENURE IN GEORGIA [96 



very unlike the outward manifestations of real life, as Pro- 

 fessor Clark carefully points out, still the conception re- 

 veals the nature of the primary and persistent economic 

 forces and presents standard rates both of interest and of 

 wages to which the actual rates tendrto conform. When 

 the secondary influences are added to the primary, that 

 is to say, when the forces of change are superimposed 

 upon the fundamental or static forces, a resultant may be 

 obtained conforming to actuality. And more important 

 than all, it is only through a study of static forces that 

 one can understand tendencies, for it is static forces that 

 finally dispose of the effects of dynamic forces. 



A lengthy reference has thus been made to one of Pro- 

 fessor Clark's contributions to economic theory in order 

 to bring it to bear in the elucidation of the workings of 

 the various systems of land tenure in Georgia. The 

 static workings of economic forces is the foundation 

 upon which the discussion is to proceed. In addition to 

 pointing out the fundamental tendencies it is necessary 

 to a clear understanding of the situation to set forth the 

 dynamic influences which disturb the operations of static 

 law. That such disturbances are at work is evidenced 

 by the fact of changes as outlined in the preceding chap- 

 ter. If the economic motive worked unhindered and if 

 the six systems persisted without manifesting any rela- 

 tive changes in the number of farms and farmers falling 

 within each category, it would be evident that from the 

 standpoints both of efficiency and of beneficence the sys- 

 tems were on a par. This is true because if any one of 

 the systems possessed points of superiority over the 

 others in either of these respects, there would be a ten- 

 dency for the farmers to pass over from the inferior to 

 the superior until an equilibrium of advantages would 

 be established. 



