II 



The great problem we have to solve is, how can we find an 

 adequate market — how can the wealth we produce be most 

 generally and economically distributed so that it may bring 

 to all the greatest possible measure of satisfaction ? The 

 most important means to this end is the multiplying and 

 diversifying of the variety of employment in which our peo- 

 ple may be profitably engaged. 



We can better appreciate the importance of a diversity 

 of industry if we consider what would be our position under 

 the narrowest limit of variety. If one-half were shoe- 

 makers and the other half farmers — a condition which can 

 exist only in theory — the quantity of the products of each 

 class for which the country would furnish a market would 

 be extremely limited. If, however, we suppose that one- 

 third only were farmers, and one-third shoemakers, and one- 

 third makers of clothing, it is obvious that this simple mul- 

 tiplication of the variety of industries would double the 

 market of both the farmers and the shoe manufacturers, 

 considered as a class. A similar advantage, differing only 

 in degree, will be gained if all the other pursuits are fol- 

 lowed which are known to mankind, and which may be ad- 

 vantageously followed in our country. If the constantly 

 multiplying and broadening fields of human activity are 

 ■cultivated by our fellow citizens, is it not evident that there 

 will be a constantly-increasing demand for the products of 

 the farms and workshops already established ? 



Nor is the development of markets for our products the 

 only advantage to be gained by diversifying our industry. 

 One of the chief causes of poverty in these and all times is 

 the fact that men cannot always find employment to which 

 they may be adapted and where they can work advantage- 

 ously. The number of productive laborers, as compare(j 



