CONSIDERED WITH A VIEW TO THEIR

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

BY THE

REV. T. R. MALTHUS, M.A. F.R.S.

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE

C. WHITTINGHAM, TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I.-OF THE DEFINITIONS OF WEALTH AND OF
PRODUCTIVE LABOUR

§ 1. On the Definitions of Wealth
2. On Productive Labour....

...

CHAPTER II.-ON THE NATURE, CAUSES, AND MEA-
SURES OF VALUE..

§ 1. On the different sorts of Value

2. Of Demand and Supply as they affect Exchangeable
Value

3. Of the Cost of Production as affected by the De-
mand and Supply, and on the Mode of repre-
senting Demand..

4. Of the Labour which has been employed on a
Commodity considered as a Measure of its Ex-
changeable Value.....

Page

1

21

21

34

50

50

61

69

83

5. Of the Labour which a Commodity will command,
considered as a Measure of Value in Exchange 93
6. On the Practical Application of the Measure of

Value, and its general Use and Advantages .. 111
7. On the Variations in the Value of Money in the
same, and different Countries

CHAPTER III.-OF THE RENT OF LAND..

§ 1. Of the Nature and Causes of Rent...
2. On the necessary Separation of the Rent of Land
from the Profits of the Cultivator and the Wages
of the Labourer

3. Of the Causes which tend to raise Rents in the
ordinary Progress of civilized and improved
Societies

4. Of the Causes which tend to lower Rents
5. On the Dependance of the actual Quantity of Pro-
duce obtained from the Land, upon the existing
Prices of Produce, and existing Rents, under
the same Agricultural Skill and the same Value
of Money

122

136

136

148

157

173

177

Page

6. Of the Connexion between great comparative
Wealth, and a high comparative Price of raw
Produce

7. On the Causes which may mislead the Landlord
in letting his Lands, to the Injury both of himself
and the Country

184

190

8. On the strict and necessary Connection of the In-
terests of the Landlord and of the State...... 194
9. General Remarks on the Surplus Produce of the
Land....

CHAPTER IV.-OF THE WAGES OF LABOUR

207

217

§ 1. On the Definition of the Wages of Labour, and
their Dependance upon Supply and Demand..
2. Of the Causes which principally affect the Habits
of the Labouring Classes...

217

223

3. Of the Causes which principally influence the De-
mand for Labour, and the Increase of the Po-
pulation

231

4. A Review of the Corn Wages of Labour from the
Reign of Edward III. ..

240

.....

5. On the Conclusions to be drawn from the pre-

ceding Review of the Prices of Corn and Labour
during the five last Centuries

252

CHAPTER V.OF THE PROFITS OF CAPITAL.

262

§ 1. Of the Nature of Profits, and the Mode in which
they are estimated

262

2. Of the limiting Principle of Profits

271

3. Of the regulating Principle of Profits..

276

4. Of Profits as affected by the Causes practically in

operation..

282

291

....

5. Remarks on Mr. Ricardo's Theory of Profits
CHAPTER VI. OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN WEALTH
AND VALUE.

§ 1. Statement of the particular Object of Inquiry.... 309
2. Of the Increase of Population considered as a Sti-
mulus to the continued Increase of Wealth 311
3. Of Accumulation, or the Saving from Revenue to
add to Capital, considered as a Stimulus to the
Increase of Wealth ..

314

4. Of the Fertility of the Soil, considered as the Sti-
mulus to the continued Increase of Wealth

331

Index

Page

§ 5. Of Inventions to save Labour, considered as a
Stimulus to the continued Increase of Wealth.. 351
6. Of the Necessity of a Union of the Powers of Pro-

duction with the Means of Distribution, in order
to ensure a continued Increase of Wealth .... 361
7. Of the Distribution occasioned by the Division of
landed Property considered as the Means of in-
creasing the exchangeable Value of the whole
Produce

8. Of the Distribution occasioned by Commerce, in-
ternal and external, considered as the Means
of increasing the exchangeable Value of Pro-
duce

9. Of the Distribution occasioned by personal services
and unproductive Consumers, considered as the
Means of increasing the exchangeable Value of
the whole Produce

10. Application of some of the preceding Principles to
the Distresses of the Labouring Classes since
1815, with General Observations

372

382

398

413

439