individual control, and even then other individuals may have the right of
way because of its necessity in the common use. Peculiarities of property
in land arising from limitations in quantity or quality will be spoken of
under _Scarcity Prices_ and _Rent_. They differ from similar questions as
to any other form of property only because this form of property seems
more permanent. Any force of nature brought under control by individual
effort contributes to wealth of individuals till all gain equal control.
Peculiarities of climate affect the quality of wool, cotton, grains and
fruit, and even the beef and mutton raised under it. But these effects we
connect with the land. Such peculiarities also affect manufactures of
various kinds, and so location has value.

_Effort for gain._--Voluntary human effort is always made with the
expectation of gain from its exertion; otherwise it would not be made. As
Guizot says, "Our ideal is to procure the maximum of utility with the
minimum of effort." The exertion is always counted in the cost of any
product, whatever the natural forces employed. If the crop fails, or the
product is unsalable, the effort has lost its expected reward, and
prospective losses are estimated with more or less care in judging whether
a product is worth the exertion. The half crop of a droughty year costs as
much as the full crop of a plenteous year, and compensation for the loss
is expected from the surplus of the full crop.

In estimating the exertion given, all human energies are counted, whether
they belong to the present, like muscular power, good eyesight, quick
intelligence; or to the past, like dexterity from training, superior
knowledge, accumulated tools, established character. If the immediate
exertion is most prominent, the word labor includes the whole exertion. If
tools and machinery are used, capital is a contributor to the product and
takes its share. If skill or knowledge or character become important,
personal attainments are a chief cause of the product, and so a chief
claimant in the reward.

Chapter III. Labor Defined And Classified.

_Labor defined._--Exertion of any kind for meeting individual wants we call
labor, whether it simply gathers food from the forest, or contrives the
most intricate machinery for satisfying wants that may take years to grow.
Exertion that has no end beyond itself, no matter how severe it may be, we
call play, and consider it important in public welf