A. Those gifts of nature which, because they cannot be appropriated by any one, or which at least are inexhaustible as compared with the wants of man, and therefore never have a direct value in exchange, belong either to the class of free goods, in the fullest sense of the word, as, for instance, sunlight and the atmosphere (supra, § [5]);[191] or they constitute, by reason of their peculiar and intransmissible connection with the whole country, an essential element of the national resources.
Section XXXII.
External Nature.—The Sea.—Climate.
To the last category belongs, for instance, the sea, the only natural boundary of a country, which from a military point of view, constitutes a protection to it, without, at the same time, disturbing peaceful traffic. (Riedel.) Here, also belong ocean currents, especially when uniformly supported by regular winds,[192] the ebb and flow of the tides, which constitute [pg 122] a piece of commercial machinery of the very greatest importance, particularly when they affect the waters of rivers to a great distance.[193] In this age, when the love of travel is so great and so universal, what prices are paid in many places by strangers for the beauty of a landscape, to its owner.
Special mention should be here made of climate, and of its heat or moisture. The lines called isothermal, that is, lines of equal annual heat, are, therefore, of greatest importance to public economy, because the “zones of production” depend mainly on them.[194] However, we are concerned here, not only [pg 123] with the average temperature of the whole year, but especially with the distribution of heat among the several parts of the day and the different seasons of the year, and the maximum summer heat and winter cold (the isothermal and iso-cheimenal lines). Coast lands are wont to have a milder winter and a cooler summer than continental ones with an equal average yearly heat. This produces a great difference in vegetation, because there are a great many plants which can endure the winter's cold very well, but require a hot summer; and vice versa.[195] Were it not for this fact, in connection with the winter-sleep of plants, a large portion of the north would be entirely uninhabitable. Besides, the temperature of a place does not depend exclusively on its latitude, or on its height [pg 124] above the sea-level.[196] The humidity of the climate is, as a rule, great in proportion to the quantity of water in its neighborhood, and to the height of its temperature; although, for instance, in Europe, the number of rainy days increases, the further we advance towards the north.[197] Although the distance of a place from the equator and its height above the level of the sea have, in many respects, a similar effect (vertical, horizontal isothermal lines and zones of production), mountainous regions are uniformly distinguished by a greater degree of humidity, which makes them better adapted for pasturage and forest-culture. But the flora of a locality, being the resultant of all its conditions, affords us a much better criterion of the value of the climate for economic purposes, than the most accurate thermometric observations. Other things being equal, the productive force of nature operates, doubtless, with most energy, in warm climates. The more remote a country is from the equator, the more is its fertility confined to its lowest parts.[198] Greater heat will, as a rule, ripen the same product sooner, and thus permit the same land to be used several times in the same year.[199] Each individual [pg 125] harvest, as a rule, is more abundant,[200] and the products better in many respects. The fruit, for instance, and wine, contain more sugar,[201] and oleaginous plants contain more oil. Lastly, since nature in warm countries is so much more generous, it may be utilized by man with less regard for consequences. There is less need of extensive woods, of large winter supplies, especially for animals;[202] fewer buildings are demanded, and there is also less demand for human and brute labor, since the work of plowing, sowing etc., extends over a greater portion of the year.[203] It is true, on the other hand, that also the [pg 126] destructive force of nature is greater in warmer than in colder countries. (§ 209.)[204]
Section XXXIII.
External Nature.—Gifts Of Nature With Value In Exchange.
B. Those gifts of external nature which may become objects of private property, and at the same time possess sufficient relative scarcity to give them value in exchange, are either movable, and exhaustible in a given place, or firmly connected with the land. The first category embraces, for instance, such wild animals and plants as serve some useful purpose, minerals, above all, fossil combustible matter[205]—the [pg 127] “black diamonds,” coal, of which, with its canals, Franklin said that it had made England what it is. The economical effect of their moveable character is best seen, when the use made of an ordinary stratum of coal is compared with that of a protracted subterranean fire in a coal mine.[206] The latter can be directly useful only to those in its immediate vicinity. Every lower layer of the burning coal would be less useful. An increase of its actual power by accumulation in time or place is scarcely possible. In all these respects, the movable coal is incomparably better adapted to the satisfaction of man's wants. It may be said that the capacity of heat for drying, distilling, melting and hardening purposes, of imparting rapid motion to heavy objects by the production of confined steam, is, at least, a thousand times as great when a thousand bushels of coal are consumed as when one is consumed. In most cases even the concentration of a large quantity of coal will increase, the result not only absolutely, but relatively.[207][208]