I have already expressed my opinion on this subject in treating of rent, and have now only further to add, that rent is a creation of value, as I understand that word, but not a creation of wealth. If the price of corn, from the difficulty of producing any portion of it, should rise from 4_l._ to 5_l._ per quarter, a million of quarters will be of the value of 5,000,000_l._ instead of 4,000,000_l._, and as this corn will exchange not only for more money but for more of every other commodity, the possessors will have a greater amount of value; and as no one else will in consequence have a less, the society altogether will be possessed of greater value, and in that sense rent is a creation of value. But this value is so far nominal that it adds nothing to the wealth, that is to say, to the necessaries, conveniences, and enjoyments of the society. We should have precisely the same quantity, and no more of commodities, and the same million quarters of corn as before; but the effect of its being rated at 5_l._ per quarter, instead of 4_l._, would be to transfer a portion of the value of the corn and commodities from their former possessors to the landlords. Rent then is a creation of value, but not a creation of wealth; it adds nothing to the resources of a country, it does not enable it to maintain fleets and armies; for the country would have a greater disposable fund if its land were of a better quality, and it could employ the same capital without generating a rent. In another part of Mr. Malthus's "inquiry" he observes, "that the immediate cause of rent is obviously the excess of price above the cost of production at which raw produce sells in the market," and in another place he says, "that the causes of the high price of raw produce may be stated to be three:-- "First, and mainly, that quality of the earth, by which it can be made to yield a greater portion of the necessaries of life than is required for the maintenance of the persons employed on the land. "2dly. That quality peculiar to the necessaries of life of being able to create their own demand, or to raise up a number of demanders in proportion to the quantity of necessaries produced. "And 3dly. The comparative scarcity of the most fertile land." In speaking of the high price of corn, Mr. Malthus evidently does not mean the price per quarter or per bushel, but rather the excess of price for which the whole produce will sell, above the cost of its production, including always in the term "cost of production," profits as well as wages. One hundred and fifty quarters of corn at 3_l._ 10_s._ per quarter, would yield a larger rent to the landlord than 100 quarters at 4_l._, provided the cost of production were in both cases the same.