CHAPTER IX 



THE DIRECTION OF INDUSTRY: THE CULTIVATOR 



If one may apply a European word to very dissimilar 

 conditions in Asia, the Indian cultivator, whether 

 peasant proprietor or tenant, is the entrepreneur who 

 undertakes the risks of production ; it is he who in his 

 humble way puts the agents of production into opera- 

 tion. In Europe the word is usually applied to a man 

 with ample credit who possesses in part and borrows 

 in part the capital needed for his large industrial 

 enterprises ; who employs workmen, and directs their 

 labour to the production of particular forms of wealth. 

 It is the entrepreneur's final task to find a market for 

 the finished wares which he has undertaken the risk 

 of producing. When he has paid wages to his work- 

 men, and interest to the capitalist, and rent to the 

 landlord for the land in which his factory and ware- 

 houses stand, the difference between the sale price of 

 his wares and these aggregate expenses represents 

 his profits. If he fails to sell his wares well, or if his 

 expenses of production have been greater than he 

 anticipated, he may make no profit at all. On the 

 other hand, he may make very large profits by 

 judiciously directing industry to the production of 

 those wares which command a high price, or by 

 reducing the expenses of production, so that he is 

 able to sell at the normal price and yet make unusual 

 profits. The essence of the entrepreneur's function is 



208 



