II. The Promotion of Agriculture

1 There must be no barren land. What is unfit for the rais ing of crops should be planted with forests to supply the country with lumber and fuel and thus make it independent of importations from abroad. Arid land must be improved by irrigation, which may be instituted by digging canals. This irrigation will also increase evaporation and favorably influence rainfall. Such improvement, together with for estry, will decrease the numberless droughts so fatal to Spain's food supply. A special board should supervise agriculture. Those farmers who keep their land in good condition ought to be encouraged and stimulated by premiums. If, on the other hand, land is not well taken care of by the owner, it should be taken from him and cultivated by the State. A part 1 Sed et aratoribus atque pastoribus prospiciendum est, quorum labore universa provincia sustentatur et viget. De Rege, Lib. III, cap., p. 281.

89 90 MARIANA:-POLITICAL ECONOMY of the produce will serve to cover the expenses of operation and another part can go to the public treasury. This prac tice will make farmers diligent and secure the cultivation of all arable land. 1 Not profit, hut usefulness, must determine the kinds of crops to he raised. Our author finds fault with the ever increasing wine production on the ground that it serves only to increase luxury and extravagance. It may he more profitable for the farmer, hut it is harmful· for the people as a whole. In olden times, Mariana complains, only men drank wine; hut now all, even the children, yield to this extravagance. The poor farmer especially needs the protection of the king. He is already heavily burdened with the ecclesiastical tithes, so that it is unfair to make him pay high taxes. Moreover, he very often lacks food for himself on account of the frequent droughts. The king must also protect him from oppression hy the nohles. Tenants (serfs) should he exempted from the legal price for agricultural products.

2 Although Mariana deserves credit for taking the part of the poor farmer, yet some of his suggestions, while well-in tentioned, are not feasible. He does not explain the prac tical operation of his plan to exempt poor tenants from the legal price. If they should demand a higher price than the 1 Eo ergo consilio, quod Aristoteles etiam secutus est, per urhes et oppida magistratus creetur, cui cur a sit praedia omnia agrosque lustrandi. Sit de publico praemium industriae ejus, qui prae ceteris oppidanis possessiones diligenter coluerit, cujus nitidiores fuerint agri majorum fructuum ubertate. ignominia pecuniaque mu1ctetur ignavia ejus, qui earn curam neglexerit, praesertim si inopia rei familiaris oppress us non erat: et nihilominus publice ii agri colantur. quod insumptum fuerit, primum omnium de fructibus. detrahatur: deinde reliquorum fructuum pars tertia, aut omnino quarta regio fisco addieta sit aut publice oppido, civitative cedat, quae in publicos usus insumatur. multum ea diligentia proficeretur, De Rege, Lib. III, cap. 9, p. 280.

~ Primum cujusquam fraudi aut potentibus hominibus ne praedae sint.: sed potius eorum rationibus ne quis adversetur, magistratus et Principes diligenter efficient. Deinde placet, quod video antiquis tempo rib us Carolum Magnum, et Ludovicum Fium ejus filium fuisse secutos, sanxisse lege, quando annonae pretium lege taxabitur, praesertim frumenti, quod servatur in Hispania, ea lege ne agricolae comprehendantur, certe qui nullos agros proprios babent aut praedia, sed tantum in mancipio, pecunia aut parte fructuum conducta ac tantum taxato pretio vendere cogantur, qui ampla praedia aut reditus frumentarios habent, sive ii de populo sint atque nobilitate, sive e sacrato ordine Episcopi et sacerdotea. Ibid., Lib. III, cap. 9, p. 281.

AGRICULTURE rich farmers, either no one would buy from them, or the rich would follow suit and insist on receiving more than the legal price. Thus all fixing of price would prove a useless makeshift, or would prevent all sale of agricultural products, with the results of a disturbed commerce and an increased cost of living. If farmers are not free to choose the crops which yield more profit, they will lose all interest in their farms and neglect them altogether. This again would he fatal to the general welfare. On such topics Mariana is too much of a moralist and too little of an economist. H:e does not realize that the economic hehavior of man is in the main influenced by self-interest. Gonzalez de la Calle charges him with placing the State above the individual, but it would rather seem that moral considerations were at the basis of his suggestions. The fact that Mariana would like to discourage the consumption of luxuries shows his igno rance of the interrelation of production and consumption, one of which tends to grow when the other does. This ignorance is not surprising, for economics had not as yet been developed as an independent science. Moreover, the moralist's asceticism inevitahly asserted itself from time to time. Mariana realizes the importance of agriculture, though he may overestimate it as did the Physiocrats. His endeavor to improve arid land and to influence climatic conditions is noteworthy. But though it is surely desirable that all land be cultivated, such cultivation may not always he economically sound. Here he is influenced by the ten dency of the age to make the country self-sufficient, a mat ter especially important in preparing for war. The World War has certainly proved that Germany's chance for victory was greatly impaired hy the inahility to produce at home a sufficient supply of food and of war materials.

91 Chapter III The Encouragement of Commerce and Trade T HOUGH Mariana strongly emphasized the importance of agriculture, he was aware that it is not the only important factor in national welfare. Trade and commerce are also absolutely necessary for the prosperity of a country. It is true that he is somewhat critical of excessive com merce for the mere sake of profit. This shows once again that he is a theologian and a moralist. He knew that the Fathers of the Church had denounced commerce in general as a trade which could hardly be carried on without sin.! On the other hand, he was convinced that the world of his day could not do without exchange of goods; that without it human society would perish and men be reduced to a solitary life. 2 The purpose of commerce is to effect a balance between the needs and surplus products of countries, so that each one will have what it needs and will be able to dispose of what it can do without. The important function of com merce, then, is to supply an abundance of everything to every country.3 It must, therefore, be encouraged in every way 1 Sic credam prim is Ecclesiae temporibus Christianos, cum impiae genti essent confusi, a mercatura, quae vix sine crimine exerceri potest, abhorruisse; non secus atque hoc tempore, qui ex sacra ordine sunt et vitam sine labe puriorem consectentur, iis commercia sunt interdicta. De Spectaculis, cap. 13, p. 153.