INVENTION AND PRODUCTION 249 
tion than in another is due to a relative disproportion of numbers 
in the two occupations. The reason prices of food are high in one 
place and low in another is due primarily to the operation of the 
same law. In the solution of the labor problem we may be sure 
that there are not too many capitalists for their return in interest 
is great; that there are not too many captains of industry for their 
income is enormous; that there is not too much land, for rent is 
ever increasing; that there are not too many skilled mechanics, 
for their wages are high. We may be sure, however, that there 
are too many unskilled laborers, for their wages are low.! 
A third economic law is given almost equal prominence with 
these two and that is the law of productivity as a measure of value. 
And here, again, Professor Carver has gone far beyond any other 
economist, for he has elaborated Ricardo’s productivity theory 
of land value and rent, and the modern productivity theory of 
wages and applied it as a measure of man’s value to society. Just 
as the value of any piece of land can be determined by what it 
adds to the total productivity of the community, and just as a 
man’s wages are determined by what he adds to the total produc- 
tivity of the concern for which he works, so a man’s value to 
society may be measured, theoretically, by the increase of eco- 
nomic goods produced as a result of his contribution, — and this 
holds not merely of the manual laborer but of the teacher, 
preacher, and artist.2 That is, education, art, morals and 
religion are not ends in themselves, nor is their end individual 
enjoyment or perfection. The social unit is the group, and inter- 
group competition makes group strength the criterion of the good. 
Inasmuch as production of wealth is the sine qua non of group 
strength, education, art, morals and religion are to be evaluated 
in proportion as they increase the productive and competitive 
power of the group. Just in proportion as society rightly appre- 
ciates the utilities needed for group strength, and in harmony with 
the law of supply and demand, will wages measure man’s value to 
society. 
1 Adapted from Professor Carver’s lectures; cf. Essays in Social Justice, ch. XIV. 
2 Cf. Distribution of Wealth, chs. I and IV; “ Diminishing Returns and Value,” 
Rivista di Scienza, iv, pp. 12-14; Essays in Social Justice, ch. VII. 
