The elements of social science, or, Physical, sexual, and natural religion : an exposition of the true cause and only cure of the three primary social evils: poverty, prostitution and celibacy / by a doctor of medicine.

Drysdale, George R., 1825-1904.

Date:: 1889

Credit: The elements of social science, or, Physical, sexual, and natural religion : an exposition of the true cause and only cure of the three primary social evils: poverty, prostitution and celibacy / by a doctor of medicine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

602/634 (page 578)

$SOCIAl. lOiKWOia. dities, Is shortly expressed by Mr. Mill in the following terms: if two thiiiL's are made by tlie same qiianiity of lab(jr, Hiid tlial tabor paid at the same ra,te, and if the wa^'es of the laborer have t(j be ad- vanced for the same space of time, a.nd liie nature of the eniploymeni does not require that there be a permanent dillerenee in llu ir rate of profit: then, whetlier wages and jirolils lie high or low, and wheilu/r the quantity of lalior be nnich or little, tliese two things will, on an average, exchange for one another. If one of two things commands, on the average, a greater value than the other, the CM,use must be that it requires tor its jiroduction either a greater quantity of labor, or a kind of labor i)ermancntly ]iaid at a higher rate; or that the capital, Dr part of ibecaj^ital, whicli supi)orts tliat labor, must be advanced M)r a longer period; or, lastly, that the production is attended with some circumstance whicli requires to be compensated by a perma- nently higher rate of profit. . . . But every fall of profits lowers, in some degree, the cost value of things made with niucli or durable machinery, and raises that of things made by hand; and every rise of profits does the reverse. Besides wages and profits, there are two other elements, which occasional/!/ enter into cost of production. These are, ta.res, and any extra cost caused by a scarcity value of any of the materials or instru- ments employed. As in the case of wages and jirofits, it is not abso- lute, but only relative taxation, which has an intluence on values. If a tax be laid on a single commodity, or on several, their value would be proportionally raised; but if all things were to be taxed in the same degree, their values would remain unaltered. The question, as to the manner in which cost of production is afiected by a scarciti) value of any of tlie requisites, has been the sub- ject of much discussion. ]n some cases, it is easily seen that the expenses of production are increased by this cause. Suppose, for instance, that any of the commodities already alluded to, whose supply is limited either by nature or by a monopoly, were to be em- plo^'ed in the manufacture of other things, the expense of producing tlie latter would evidently be raised in a proportional degree. But the case in which a scarcity value most frequently operates in increasing cost of production, is that of natural afjcnts, or, in other words, the powers and forces of nature, among which are compre- hended light, electricity, land, water, &c. Some of these, such as light, lieat, and electricity, caimot be appropriated by individuals, but are free to all; and therefore a price Cannot be cliarged for their ser- vices, nor can they form part of the expenses of production. Others, however, such as the land or rivers, may be. and in all old countries are ajipropriated. The sum which is paid for the use of an appro- priated natural agent is termed rent; and the question is. Does rent finter into cost of production, and does it increase the value of com- modities ? In some cases there is no doubt that it does so. The rent uaid by a manufacturer for the ground on which his factory is built, or that paid for the use of a fall of water by the miller, forms a pait of their expenses, and must be replaced with a piolit by th(\ sale of$