It is, therefore, strictly true, that land produces the
necessaries of life, produces food, materials, and labour,
produces the means by which, and by which alone, an increase of
people may be brought into being, and supported. In this respect
it is fundamentally different from every other kind of machine
known to man; and it is natural to suppose, that it should be
attended with some peculiar effects.

If the cotton machinery, in this country, were to go on
increasing at its present rate, or even much faster; but instead
of producing one particular sort of substance which may be used
for some parts of dress and furniture, etc. had the qualities of
land, and could yield what, with the assistance of a little
labour, economy, and skill, could furnish food, clothing, and
lodging, in such proportions as to create an increase of
population equal to the increased supply of these necessaries;
the demand for the products of such improved machinery would
continue in excess above the cost of production, and this excess
would no longer exclusively belong to the machinery of the
land.(7)

There is a radical difference in the cause of a demand for
those objects which are strictly necessary to the support of
human life, and a demand for all other commodities. In all other
commodities the demand is exterior to, and independent of, the
production itself; and in the case of a monopoly, whether natural
or artificial, the excess of price is in proportion to the
smallness of the supply compared with the demand, while this
demand is comparatively unlimited. In the case of strict