248 ADAPTATION AND PROGRESS 
the initial fact of economic scarcity and the consequent antag- 
onism of interests amongmen. ‘This reveals, as nothing else can, 
the underlying unity of all the social sciences . . . and it shows 
very clearly that the unifying principle is an economic one.” ! 
Passing to a consideration of methods of escape from the dif- 
ficulties imposed upon us by economic scarcity, the simple life 
is found insufficient if linked with uncontrolled passion, and 
insufficient, too, and for the same reason, industrialism, due to 
the fact pointed out by Malthus that population tends to in- 
crease faster than the means of subsistence. 
Only one way of escape seems open. ‘‘ Even under the con- 
ditions of economic scarcity there would be no antagonism of 
interests between man and man if human nature were to undergo 
a change by which altruism were to replace egoism.” ? 
As a practical working program of meliorism our author 
suggests: (1) improvement in methods of production; (2) simpler 
life, especially on the part of the wealthier class; (3) an increas- 
ing sense of the responsibilities of parenthood, especially among 
those classes who can least afford to spawn; and (4) a more wide- 
spread spirit of altruism. “In spite of all these methods, how- 
ever, there will still be antagonistic interests to be adjudicated. 
The state must therefore continue to administer justice.” * 
This doctrine of economic scarcity is closely connected with the 
laws of diminishing returns and proportionality, which Professor 
Carver has elaborated as has no other economist.‘ 
These laws have profound bearing on all labor problems, for 
they are due, fundamentally, to the fact that there are too many 
unskilled laborers in proportion to the amount of land, capital and 
organizing ability involved. If capitalists are getting too large 
reward, says Professor Carver, it is because they are too few in 
proportion to the other factors in production. One way, then, to 
increase the wages of the lowest economic class is to increase the 
number of capitalists. Another way is to decrease the number of 
unskilled laborers. The reason wages are higher in one occupa- 
1 Essays in Social Justice, p. 50. 2 Tbid., p. 51. 3 Ibid., pp. 52, 53- 
‘4 Distribution of Wealth, chs. It and IV. Cf. Marshall’s Principles of Eco- 
nomics (1910), p. 169; also Efficiency Society Transactions, i, no. 63. 
