rally inalienable. As for instance, his proper
share of the atmosphere, without which he cannot breathe, and of water,
which he needs to quench his thirst. As much land as he needs to feed
from is also inalienable; but in well-regulated communities this
quantity of land may often be represented by other possessions, or its
need supplied by wages and privileges.

(2) Property necessary to life, but only producible by labour, and of
which the possession is morally connected with labour, so that no person
capable of doing the work necessary for its production has a right to it
until he has done that work;--"he that will not work, neither should he
eat." It consists of simple food, clothing, and habitation, with their
seeds and materials, or instruments and machinery, and animals used for
necessary draught or locomotion, etc. It is to be observed of this kind
of property, that its increase cannot usually be carried beyond a
certain point, because it depends not on labour only, but on things of
which the supply is limited by nature. The possible accumulation of corn
depends on the quantity of corn-growing land possessed or commercially
accessible; and that of steel, similarly on the accessible quantity of
coal and iron-stone. It follows from this natural limitation of supply
that the accumulation of property of this kind in large masses at one
point, or in one person's hands, commonly involves, more or less, the
scarcity of it at another point and in other persons' hands; so that the
accidents or energies which may enable one man to procure a great deal
of it, may, and in all likelihood will, partially prevent other men
procuring a sufficiency of it, however willing they may be to work for
it; therefore, the modes of its accumulation and distribution need to be
in some degree regulated by law and by national treaties, in order to
secure justice to all men.

Another point requiring notice respecting this sort of property is, that
no work can be wasted in producing it, provided only the kind of it
produced be preservable and distributable, since for every grain of such
commodities we produce we are rendering so much more life possible on
earth.[20] But though we are sure, thus, that we are employing people
well, we cannot be sure we might not have employed them _better_; for it
is possible to direct labour to the production of life, until little or
none is left for that of the objects of life, and thus to increase
population