IV CAPITAL — THE MOTHER OF LABOUR 163 



number of plants, under the most favourable 

 circumstances in regard to those conditions whicli 

 are not affected by labour, it follows that, if the 

 number of men to be fed increases indefinitely, a 

 time must come when some will have to starve. 

 That is the essence of the so-called Malthusian 

 doctrine ; and it is a truth which, to my mind, is 

 as plain as the general proposition that a quan- 

 tity which constantly increases will, some time or 

 other, exceed any greater quantity the amount of 

 which is fixed. 



The foregoing considerations leave no doubt 

 about the fundamental condition of the existence 

 of any polity, or organised society of men, either in 

 a purely pastoral or purely agricultural state, or 

 in any mixture of both states. It must possess a 

 store of vital capital to start with, and the means 

 of repairing the consumption of that capital which 

 takes place as a consequence of the work of the 

 members of the society. And, if the polity occu- 

 pies a completely isolated area of the earth's 

 surface, the numerical strength of that polity can 

 never exceed the quotient of the maximum 

 quantity of food-stuffs producible by the green 

 plants on that area, in each year, divided by the 

 quantity necessary for the maintenance of each 

 person during the year. But, there is a third 

 mode of existence possible to a polity ; it may, 

 conceivably, be neither purely pastoral nor purely 

 agricultural, but purely manufacturing. Let us 



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