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warning from the observation of this wise man of business. If we are satisfied with what we have done, it means that we have no very high standards of national life and efficiency, and that our progress is at an end. Before we take too much credit for our national wealth and prosperity, we should ask ourselves to what extent we did it, and to what extent nature did it for us. It will be a wholesome exercise for us to write down a list of achievements in which we have led the world, and then to ascertain to what extent these are due to our own intelligence, energy, courage, and devotion to ideals, and to what extent to our favorable geographical situation and the richness of our resources.

We produce more iron and steel, more corn, cotton, and wheat, than any other country. There are excellent geographical reasons why we should. Mechanical inventions and the breeding of the trotting horse are among the few activities in which we have surpassed other people without the special aid of superior physical advantages.

PART TWO

PRODUCTION

Which has to do with the adding of utility to material things, that is, with changing the forms of matter, with changing its location, and with preserving it over longer or shorter periods of time, all for the purpose of making it more useful, or of adding utility to it

SECTION A

THE PRODUCTIVE FORCES

The forces by means of which we increase the number of desirable things, or increase the desirability of things

CHAPTER VIII

THE PRIMARY FACTORS OF PRODUCTION

However strongly we believe that this is the best possible world, and however clearly we see that a bounteous nature has provided for the satisfaction of many of our needs, we cannot help acknowledging that, at any time and in any place where we happen to be, some desirable things are scarce, some undesirable things are abundant, and some things otherwise desirable are so superabundant as to become undesirable. That being the case, the obvious thing to do seems to be to set about improving the situation, increasing the quantity of those desirable things which are scarce, and decreasing the quantity of those things which are too abundant for our well-being or comfort.

The rearrangement of matter. Matter itself cannot, of course, be either increased or diminished in quantity. It can be rearranged in such ways as to become more usable or less harmful. This rearrangement may take on various forms. All the elements which are now in a loaf of bread were formerly in the soil, the water, and the atmosphere. In those forms they were of no use to man. They have been rearranged and assembled, their form has been changed. This is sometimes called form-utility. The wheat from which the flour was made, and the flour from which the bread was made, had to be transported from places where there was a superabundance to a place where there was a scarcity, in order that they might become usable. This is sometimes called place-utility. Some goods have to be stored and preserved. At one time they are so abundant as to be unusable. At another time, unless they were preserved, they would be so scarce as to cause

hardship or even famine. Their utility is increased by storing and preserving them. This is sometimes called time-utility.

A keen observer has remarked that men are engaged in the simple work of moving things from one place to another. Whether one is writing with a pen, putting chemicals into a test tube, or irrigating dry land, all that men literally do is to move materials. Of course, there are methods and purposes in all this moving of things. It is method and purpose which the mind sees back of that which the eye sees, and which the mind performs beyond that which the muscles perform. One of the wonderful things about man's activity is the vast results that follow a very slight rearrangement of materials. By stirring the soil and placing seeds in a certain relation to it the forces which produce plant growth are set to work supplying our needs. By rearranging a few stones and clods a stream may be diverted and made to water barren fields until they blossom and bear fruit; or the stream may be made to turn a wheel and drive machinery which can accomplish tasks far too great for human muscles. By taking advantage of his knowledge man can, by these slight rearrangements of matter, harness natural forces and compel them to serve his purpose.

Discriminating between friends and enemies. The general purpose of all this work is to increase the objects of desire and decrease the objects of repugnance. The process of increasing the objects of desire is called production, and that of decreasing the objects of repugnance is called destruction. Frequently these two processes are so closely related as to make them difficult to separate. In order to increase the number of desirable plants, we must destroy their rivals, the weeds, as well as the pests which feed upon them. Out of the various forms of animal and plant life which would live in our neighborhood, we choose the more desirable and make it easy for them to live and multiply, and make it hard for the less desirable to survive. Man merely holds the balance of power and

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