me than other labor
(provided it does not prove more efficient). But is this attitude of
interest in just foot-pounds of energy the attitude _par excellence_ or
solely entitled to be called economic? And just this may be asserted for
the reason that an exclusive interest in just _labor_ is the only
interest in the case that men of business, or at least many of them, can
entertain without going speedily to the wall. If, then, I do _in fact_
pay more than I must in wages or if I expend more than a bare minimum
for conveniences and safety-guards this is not because of the valuation
I put upon _labor_, but only because I take pleasure in the contentment
and well-being of others. And this is not "business" but "uplift"--or
else a subtle form of emotional self-indulgence. Suppose, however, that
by legislation similar working conditions have been made mandatory for
the entire industry and suppose that the community approves the law,
even to the extent of cheerfully paying so much of the additional cost
thereby imposed as may be shifted upon them.

Shall we say that this is an ethical intrusion into the sphere of
economics or shall we say that the former economic demand for labor "as
such" has given place to an economic demand for labor better
circumstanced or better paid? The community at all events is paying the
increase of price or a part of the increase. It seems arbitrary to
insist that the old price is still the _economic_ price of the commodity
and the increase only the price of a quiet conscience. The notion of a
strictly economic demand for labor pure and simple seems in fact a
concept of accounting. To meet the community's demand for the commodity
a number of producers were required. The least capable of these could
make both ends meet at the prevailing price only by ignoring all but the
severely impersonal aspects of the process. Taking these costs as a
base, other more capable or more fortunate producers may have been able
to make additional expenditures of the sort in question, charging these
perhaps to "welfare" account. The law then intervenes, making labor in
effect more expensive for all by requiring the superior conveniences or
by compelling employers' insurance against accidents to workmen or by
enforcing outright a higher minimum wage. The old basic labor cost
becomes thus obsolete. And without prejudging as to the expediency of
such legislation in particular industrial or business situations may we
not pro