158 BOOT MATTERS IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS. 



less permanent aids to L, -we have a more perfect statement 

 of (4) thus : — 



(A) S"' = p; =Tlie ideally best conditions for 



Or greatest quota " J^^ attainments of the 



of satisfactions. highest satisfactions of 



human wants with the least 

 expenditure of human 

 energy. 



Understanding by m and n the indices of the maxiuum and 

 minimum of the various conditions, then it would logically 

 follow that the converse or worst possible conditions for 

 attaining the necessary satisfactions of human wants, involving 

 also the greatest expenditure of human energy, would be 

 when the equation becomes 



(B) X" (L° r)-Q°' _^ 



c=^ -^ 



This being so, it also follows that this stage will b& 

 coincident with conditions which favour the maximum of 

 cost for each satisfaction, thus : — 



N" (L- r) + 0- ^ 



Similarly the conditions favourable to the attainment of 

 minimum of lowest cost or price (P") would coincide with 

 stage A, thus : — 



N- (L° r) + 0"- 



c- 



=P" 



Reasoning from these premises it is clear that the results 

 S and P, or their values, can never be satisfactorily known,, 

 unless we can gauge the values of their respective co-efficients. 

 That is, we must know not merely what is the tendency of any 

 one factor — but we must also know the tendency of all 

 factors affecting the problem. Nay, more ; if Political 

 Economy is ever to be dignified by the name of " The Science 

 of Political Economy," it must not merely take cognisance of 

 the tendency of every one of these factors, but, like the 

 skilled physicist, its disciples must not talk of the " teachings " 

 " or conclusions " drawn from them until they are prepared 

 to place approximate values against the tendency of each 

 factor, and then to strike a balance showing the ultimate 

 effects of the ever-varying combinations in ever-varying 

 localities. 



The difficulty of the problem is no excuse for ignoring the 

 necessity for the adoption of this course. Hitherto, to a 

 great extent, the subject has been governed by the more or 



