An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent, and the Principles by which it is Regulated. | Page 8

the
knowledge and capital of an old society are employed upon fresh and
fertile land, this surplus produce, this bountiful gift of providence,
shows itself chiefly in extraordinary high profits, and extraordinary
high wages, and appears but little in the shape of rent. While fertile

land is in abundance, and may be had by whoever asks for it, nobody of
course will pay a rent to a landlord. But it is not consistent with the
laws of nature, and the limits and quality of the earth, that this state of
things should continue. Diversities of soil and situation must
necessarily exist in all countries. All land cannot be the most fertile: all
situations cannot be the nearest to navigable rivers and markets. But the
accumulation of capital beyond the means of employing it on land of
the greatest natural fertility, and the greatest advantage of situation,
must necessarily lower profits; while the tendency of population to
increase beyond the means of subsistence must, after a certain time,
lower the wages of labour.
The expense of production will thus be diminished, but the value of the
produce, that is, the quantity of labour, and of the other products of
labour besides corn, which it can command, instead of diminishing,
will be increased. There will be an increasing number of people
demanding subsistence, and ready to offer their services in any way in
which they can be useful. The exchangeable value of food will,
therefore, be in excess above the cost of production, including in this
cost the full profits of the stock employed upon the land, according to
the actual rate of profits, at the time being. And this excess is rent.
Nor is it possible that these rents should permanently remain as parts of
the profits of stock, or of the wages of labour. If such an accumulation
were to take place, as decidedly to lower the general profits of stock,
and, consequently, the expenses of cultivation, so as to make it answer
to cultivate poorer land; the cultivators of the richer land, if they paid
no rent, would cease to be mere farmers, or persons living upon the
profits of agricultural stock. They would unite the characters of farmers
and landlords - a union by no means uncommon; but which does not
alter, in any degree, the nature of rent, or its essential separation from
profits. If the general profits of stock were 20 per cent and particular
portions of land would yield 30 per cent on the capital employed, 10
per cent of the 30 would obviously be rent, by whomsoever received.
It happens, indeed, sometimes, that from bad government, extravagant
habits, and a faulty constitution of society, the accumulation of capital

is stopped, while fertile land is in considerable plenty, in which case
profits may continue permanently very high; but even in this case
wages must necessarily fall, which by reducing the expenses of
cultivation must occasion rents. There is nothing so absolutely
unavoidable in the progress of society as the fall of wages, that is such
a fall as, combined with the habits of the labouring classes, will
regulate the progress of population according to the means of
subsistence. And when, from the want of an increase of capital, the
increase of produce is checked, and the means of subsistence come to a
stand, the wages of labour must necessarily fall so low, as only just to
maintain the existing population, and to prevent any increase.
We observe in consequence, that in all those countries, such as Poland,
where, from the want of accumulation, the profits of stock remain very
high, and the progress of cultivation either proceeds very slowly, or is
entirely stopped, the wages of labour are extremely low. And this
cheapness of labour, by diminishing the expenses of cultivation, as far
as labour is concerned, counteracts the effects of the high profits of
stock, and generally leaves a larger rent to the landlord than in those
countries, such as America, where, by a rapid accumulation of stock,
which can still find advantageous employment, and a great demand for
labour, which is accompanied by an adequate increase of produce and
population, profits cannot be low, and labour for some considerable
time remains very high.
It may be laid down, therefore, as an incontrovertible truth, that as a
nation reaches any considerable degree of wealth, and any considerable
fullness of population, which of course cannot take place without a
great fall both in the profits of stock and the wages of labour, the
separation of rents, as a kind of fixture upon lands of a certain quality,
is a law as invariable as the action of the principle of gravity. And that
rents are neither a mere nominal value, nor a value unnecessarily and
injuriously transferred from