[31] In a state where the employing class were physically the masters of the employed, Wage Capital would be unnecessary for the employer. A system of forced labour might take its place. [32] This was Pitt’s computation. _See_ Lecky, _History of England during the Eighteenth Century_, vol. vi. chap. xxiii. [33] The amount of land, formerly waste, that was added to the cultivable area during the last century, was in England and Wales not more than sixteen per cent of the total. [34] The rental of Great Britain in 1750 was about _thirteen million five hundred thousand pounds_, and in 1800 about _twenty-nine million six hundred thousand pounds_. According to the estimates of Arthur Young, the farmer’s income somewhat more. The wages of Agricultural Labour had not risen proportionately. [35] See _Encyclopædia Britannica_, first and earlier editions. [36] See _Encyclopædia Britannica_, first and earlier editions. The product of each smelting furnace in use in 1780 was _two hundred and ninety-four tons_ annually. In 1788, these same furnaces were producing, by the aid of new inventions, _five hundred and ninety-four tons_. [37] According to Arthur Young’s estimates, the earnings of an agricultural family, consisting of seven persons all capable of work, would be about _fifty-one pounds_ annually. This gives a little over _seven pounds_ a head; but when the children and others not capable of work are taken into account the average is considerably lower. The wages, however, of the artisan class being higher, the average amount per head taken by the whole working population would be about _seven pounds_. [38] About £1 12s. per head would have to be set down to land, were the land question being dealt with. But for the purpose of the above discussion, land may be ignored, as it does not affect the problem. [39] This fact has been commented on with much force by Mr. Gourlay in a paper contributed by him to the _National Review_. [40] The matter may also be put in this way. There are _ninety-nine labourers_ engaged on a certain work at which there is room for _a hundred_. The _ninety-nine men_ produce every week value to the amount of _ninety-nine pounds_. There are two candidates for the hundredth place: one a labourer, John; and one, a man of ability, James. If John takes the vacant place, we have _a hundred men_ producing _a hundred pounds_. If James takes the vacant place, the productivity of labour by his action is (we will say) doubled, and we have _a hundred men_ producing _a hundred and ninety-eight pounds_. No amount of theory based on the fact that James could do nothing without the _ninety-nine labourers_ can obscure or do away with the practical truth and importance of the fact that the exertion of James will produce _ninety-eight pounds_ more than the exertion of John; and any person with whom the decision rested, which of these two men should take the hundredth place, would base their decision on this fact.