Note 320 — Chapter III · : THE PESSIMISTS

“The labour of Nature is paid, not because she does much, but because she does little. In proportion as she becomes niggardly in her gifts she exacts a greater price for her work.” (Ibid., p. 53, note.)

“The comparative scarcity of the most fertile lands is the cause of rent.” (Ibid., p. 395.)

Adam Smith had already offered this as an explanation in the case of the products of the mine, but he failed to see that arable land is really nothing but a sort of mine.