第51章

Hencepopulationwillincreasefasterinhotcountries，andwageswillinthemtendtobelow。ThecaseofIrelandconfirmsorextendsthetheory。There，cheapfooddoeswhatgeneralfertilitydoesinIndia。Thepotato，morethanthe’scandalousmisgovernment，’isthemostactivecauseofIrishpoverty。Cheapfood，then，meanslowwages。Theresult，startlingforanenthusiasticfree-trader，suggestsaconfusion。Anincreaseofpopulationonagivenareamaylowerwages；butitdoesnotfollowthatalargerpopulationmustbeworseoffwhentheareaismoreproductive。HeoughttoshowthattheIndianpopulationmustbeingreaterexcess；hehasonlyshownthatitmaybepositivelygreater。Thereisnoproofthatitwillincreaseatallwhenthe’checks’areonceoperative，orincreaseinagreaterratiotoitssupport。Whatistherealrelationofcauseandeffect？DidIrishmenbecomepoorbecausetheyhadcheapfood，ortaketocheapfoodbecausetheywerepoor？Thefoodenabledthem，nodoubt，tosupportalargernumberofpoor，andinamoreprecariousposition。Whenthepotatofailedtheycouldnotsubstitutewheat。Thatisenoughtoconfutethehastyassumptionthatcheapfoodisapanaceaforpoverty，butdoesnotprovethatplentynecessarilycausespoverty。Thereisanothersteptobetaken。RicardonowsupplementsMalthus。Hehadshownthatthewholewealthofacountrymustbedividedintowages，rent，profit，andinterest，whileinterestisproportionaltoprofit。

Now，inIndia，interestandrenthavebeenenormouslyhigh；

thereforewagesarelowandprofitshigh。(26*)Ahighrateofinterest，however，mayshowthatcapitalisscarceandpaymentprecarious。Themoneylendermayextorthighinterestfromthepeasant，andyettheaggregateofprofitsmaybesmall，andthewholecountrymiserablypoor。Ricardo’sdoctrineassumesthatthewagesofthelabourerareadvancedbythecapitalist。Itdoesnotapplytoapopulationofvillagecommunities，wherethedifferentiationofclasseshasnotyettakenplace。(27*)

Buckle，however，doesnottroublehimselfwithsuchdifficulties。Thegreatempiresaresupposedtohavearisenfromthegrowthofarichclass，whosewealthhasenabledthemtogainpoliticalpower。Nodoubtthedespotshadgreatwealthinpoorcountries；butitdoesnotappearthattheyowedittothedevelopmentofagreatclassofrichcapitalists，oreventhatsuchaclassexisted。TheobjectiontoBuckle’smethodisapparent。Inthefirstplace，ittakesforgrantedtheexistenceofacomplexindustrialorganisationasanantecedenttothegrowthofthedespotism。Thesystemunderwhichthecapitalist，thelabourer，andthelandownershareprofits，wages，andrent，thewholemachineryofexchangeandcompetition，ispostulatedasthoughitrepresentedanecessarystate，evenintheearlystagesofcivilisation。Thatwasanaturalapplicationofthenecessaryassumptionoftheorthodoxpoliticaleconomy。Itprofessedtodeduceitsconclusionsfromthelawsofhumannaturecommontoallmeninallages。Theywerethereforeasvalidintheearliestasinthelatesttime，andexplainthecausesaswellastheconsequencesofsocialdevelopment；andhenceitfollowsthatthe’mentallaws’canbeexcluded。Sincetheorganismisconstant，alldifferencesareduetodifferencesofenvironment，or，inBuckle’slanguage，tothe’physicallaws。’’InIndia，’hesays，’slavery，abjectslavery，wasthenaturalstateofthegreatbodyofthepeople；itwasthestatetowhichtheyweredoomedbyphysicallawsutterlyimpossibletoresist。’(28*)InEurope，asheelsewhereputsit，(29*)manisstrongerthannature；outofEuropenatureisstrongerthanman。Manisinonecasetheslave，andintheotherthemasterofthephysicalforces。Thatistosay，thatintheearlierstageswemayarguedirectlyfromthe’environment’tothe’organism。’Thehopelessslaverytowhichsomanymillionshavebeendoomedisadirectandinevitableresultofthe’physicallaws，’thatis，oftheclimate，soil，andfood。

Wearethereforedispensedfromanyinquiryintothecharacteroftheorganismitselfandthe’mental’lawsimpliedinitsconstitution；orwetakeforgrantedthatthelawswhichregulatethemoredevelopedorganismareabsoluteandpermanent，andmaythereforeexplaintheearlieststagesofgrowth。(30*)

Thustheinquiryintothenatureofthesocialorganisation，intotheprimitiveinstitutionsoutofwhichtheempireshavegrown，isvirtuallysetaside。Becausethe’mentallaws’worksouniformlytheymaybeneglected。Weareleftwiththebareresultthatgreatempireshavegrownupunderappropriatephysicalconditions，andtheyarealllumpedtogetheras’despotisms。’

Thatistoemphasisearemarkablesetoffacts，butnottomakethemmoreintelligible。Thefacts，thatis，revealaremarkableuniformityinthesocialorganism；butthatdoesnotshowwhatisthenatureofitsorgani