GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE 
T HIS book is designed to explain in a 
lucid and popular manner the funda 
mental facts in the Production of 
Wealth, and the causes which regulate its 
Distribution. It gives an analysis of the 
functions of Nature, of Man, and of Capital 
in the Production of Wealth ; and it traces 
the conditions upon which the economic 
progress of mankind depends. There is an 
abundance of illustration from various fields 
of industry, gathered both from study and 
the wide experience of the author and his 
intimate knowledge of practical affairs. 
This subject is a necessary introduction to 
the further study of economic problems con 
cerning Trade, Commerce, Exchanges, and 
Finance. 
G. ARMITAGE SMITH.