2 EOOT MATTEES IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS. 



diversity of movement : and from these he would compute 

 the fresh demand upon energy or force to execute the desired 

 movement. 



Because the Political Economist does not think or does 

 not choose to think, that the transfer of a labourer or 

 capitalist to a new place, or to a new kind of occupation 

 involves a prooess analagous to the movement of inanimate 

 bodies, it is not the less true. Take the case of a shoemaker 

 reduced to a state of idleness, or partial idleness by 

 competition among excessive numbers, or some other cause 

 locally or generally. 



We will suppose that this workman has a family of 5 

 persons including himself, to provide for, in addition to his 

 quota of expenditure required for State purposes, such as 

 General Government, Law and Protection, including Gaols, 

 Military and Naval Defences, Police, Education, Public 

 Hospitals, Asylums, support of Paupers, etc. 



It is obvious, therefore, that when fairly employed in this 

 branch of labour — making boots and shoes — he is not merely 

 rendering reciprocal services to his countrymen, but he helps 

 them to provide for such expenditure as the requirement of 

 the particular State demands. The greater the effort or 

 energy expended by him during the year, the greater is the 

 value of products by him added to the common wealth, in all 

 these respects, in addition to the important part of support 

 of the lour dependants specially related to him. 



Under ordinary circumstances (excluding foreign inter- 

 ference, and making due allowance for special skill) all 

 branches of services within a certain country aro paid at rates 

 01 wages which are, broadly speaking, correlative to effort or 

 time expended, and consequently so long as the rates of wages 

 are locally proportionate to definite effort and skill, it matters 

 not whether the average rate per hour be nominally hiffih or 

 low, so long as expenditure is also determined locally by such 

 correlative conditions. Thus, take the following illustrations : 

 Suppose the price of bread is determined by a daily effort of 

 10 hours, and that all other services are modified and 

 constantly exchanged in prices which, whether high or low, are 

 also proportional to the nominal price of, say, the quarter of 

 wheat Under such circumstances it would not matter to the 

 shoemaker whether the nominal amount of his waees 

 was high or low, for it would have the same purchasing power 

 oyer the things which he required to satisfy the wants of 

 himself and family, besides the proportion required from him 

 for the service of the State. Thus if the standard-the 

 quarter of wheat— bore always the same relation to his 

 remuneration tor 10 hours labour and to the various items of 

 hif, expenditure, it ma'.tered not a whit to him whether the 

 nominal money cost of wheat was high or lew. In Australia 



