The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, December 1879Various
Religion
The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, December 1879
Various
Arts -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals; Political science -- Periodicals
3. A third very important deduction follows from the nature of the
process which determines rent. Rent does not increase the price of
agricultural produce; it does not make bread dearer. Rent is the
consequence, not the creator, of price. Here the difference between
agriculture and manufacturing trades is vital. The hire or purchase
of machinery forms necessarily a part of the cost of manufacturing the
goods: it must be paid for by the price realized, or the goods will
not be made. On the other hand, the consideration to be given for the
use of the land does not enter into the tenant's estimate of his cost
of production. He does not direct his inquiry to the right rent till
after he has ascertained what the farm will produce, the cost of
obtaining it, and the price it will fetch. He then discovers what the
profit will be: from it he takes his own necessary share; what is over
he hands to the landlord as rent. He does not, like the manufacturer,
insist upon a price which must be obtained, for otherwise he would not
be able to pay for the use of the machine he borrows; he simply takes
the price which he finds in the market, makes himself reasonably sure
of the profit which rewards him, and the landlord must take the chance
of what rent will remain over, whether large or small. Rent exists
because a selling price is found which yields a surplus, an excess
of profit beyond what the tenant requires. If price gives no surplus
profit, the landlord will get no rent, and he must farm the land
himself, or sell it to a farmer.
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