POSSIBILITIES OF AGRICULTURE. 159 



change of institutions. He thus gave to the 

 rich a kind of scientific argument against the 

 ideas of equality ; and we know that though 

 all dominion is based upon force, force itself 

 begins to totter as soon as it is no longer sup- 

 ported by a firm belief in its own rightfulness. 

 As to the poorer classes who always feel the 

 influence of ideas circulating at a given time 

 amid the wealthier classes it deprived them 

 of the very hope of improvement ; it made 

 them sceptical as to the promises of the social 

 reformers ; and to this day the most advanced 

 reformers entertain doubts as to the pos- 

 sibility of satisfying the needs of all, in case 

 there should be a claim for their satisfaction, 

 and a temporary welfare of the labourers resulted 

 in a sudden increase of population. 



Science, down to the present day, remains 

 permeated with Malthus's teachings. Political 

 economy continues to base its reasoning upon a 

 tacit admission of the impossibility of rapidly 

 increasing the productive powers of a nation, 

 and of thus giving satisfaction to all wants. 

 This postulate stands, undiscussed, in the 

 background of whatever political economy, 

 classical or socialist, has to say about exchange- 

 value, wages, sale of labour force, rent, exchange, 

 and consumption. Political economy never 

 rises above the hypothesis of a limited and in- 



