[719] Carey, Principles of Social Science.
[720] Even in Algeria, for example, where Carey’s theory was at first true, now that the fertile plain of the Mitidja has been cultivated by two generations of colonists it is certain that there is only second-class land available.
[721] “Wealth consists of the right to command the services of nature, which are always free.” (Carey, Principles of Social Science, vol. i, chap. 13.)
“As man’s power over nature grows, his power over his fellow-men seems to dwindle and equality becomes possible.” (Ibid., vol. iii, p. 122.)
Compare, for example, the relative equality of comfort enjoyed by those who travel by rail irrespective of class distinctions (which are only to be found in some countries) with the former method of travelling by post-chaise.
[722] “Capitalists and workers, don’t look at one another with an air of defiance and vengeance.” (Harmonies, p. 252.)
[723] A lowering of the rate of interest from 5 to 3 per cent. means that what formerly cost £60 and yielded 3 per cent. will now cost £100. There is no decrease of the revenue and there is an increase in the capital. It is quite a good bargain. A lowering of the rate of interest will simply reduce the amount of capital in those instances where the borrower can effect a conversion to his own advantage.
[724] This truth is so obvious that Rodbertus, as we shall see by and by, took the opposite point of view and attempted to argue on the strength of the “iron law” that capital’s share is always increasing, while labour’s is decreasing. This thesis seems to have no better foundation than the other. See an article by Rist entitled Deux Sophismes économiques, in the Revue d’Économie politique for March 1905.
Bastiat’s thesis may also be seen in Carey. The Liberal school has clearly adopted it. See Paul Leroy-Beaulieu’s Répartition der Richesses.
[725] See Gide’s Political Economy, p. 599 (English translation), and Colson’s Political Economy, vol. iii, p. 366. According to Colson, capital’s share has quadrupled since 1820, while labour’s has only increased in the proportion of 1:3½.