FOURTH ORDINARY MEETING. 39 



7. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. XLIV., No. 9. 



8. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, N.S., Vol. VI., No. 11, 



November, 1884. 



The following gentlemen were elected members of the 



Institute : 



W. S. Milner, B.A., Dr. T. Walker Simpson, William McCabe, Esq., Geo. 

 H. Jarvis, Esq., Robert Winton, Esq. 



Mr. W. A. Douglas then read a paper on 



WAGES. 



The current doctrines respecting the disti"ibution of wealth are very 

 contradictory, and still requii-e much investigation. Mill's doctrine 

 •of wages has three assumptions : 



1. Wages are drawn from capital, that part thus devoted being 

 •called the wage-fund. 



2. Average wages may be ascertained by dividing the wage-fund 

 by the number of labourers. 



3. Wages can be increased only by increasing the numerator or 

 diminishing the denominator. 



Therefore, if wage-fund be 10, labourers 5, wages will be -'^-=2, and 

 if labourers be increased to 6, wages will full to -V° = 1 f • 

 The following are a few of the objections of this doctrine : 



1. An additional labourer will receive employment only on condi- 

 tion that he produce 2 -f- something, that something being enough to 

 cover profit and rent. The additional labourer will increase not 

 merely the denominator but also the numerator. 



2. It is illogical, Mill teaches that capital is one of the component 

 •forces, wealth the resultant ; wages, rent and profits, the division of 

 the resultant. He is, therefore, illogical in calling capital a com- 

 ponent force and also a resultant. 



3. This doctrine teaches a wrong perspective of society. It repre- 

 sents the capitalist as the initial party in production, supporting the 

 labourer, and the latter as the dependent party ; whereas, in fact, the 

 capitalist and labourer are co-workers, mutually dependent, working 

 concurrently to obtain wealth, and when the wealth is produced, then 

 dividing the product. 



The study of political economy presents two distinct questions : 

 1. Given a number of labourers and a certain quantum of natural 

 forces ; what will be the product 1 



