Note 151-1 — Chapter II

L'éloignement équivaut à la stérilité. (J. B. Say.) If we imagine with A. Walker an entirely uncultivated country, equally fertile in every part, settled only on the coast, and divided into shares of equal breadth, equally accessible at all points, so that every settler has unlimited space to extend his possessions from the coast into the interior, the shares situated in the middle of the coast strip would be most eagerly sought after; since in its vicinity, prospectively, all the institutions of the country would come together. The colonist, therefore, who should obtain that share as his, would, unquestionably, be in a condition to pay a price for this preference, that is a rent. (Science of Wealth, 296.)