236

POLITICAL  ECONOMY

its  potential  supplies.  Action  of  the  latter
kind  must  obviously  aim  at  raising  the  vertical
mobility  of  the  population,  as  it  may  be  put
technically—at  rendering  it  increasingly
possible  for  talents  to  discover  themselves
and  discover  in  addition  suitable  outlets.
As  things  are  the  national  product  would
rise  if  the  relative  number  of  those  who
function  as  organisers  and  sub-organisers
increased  ;  and  their  relative  numbers  would
tend  to  increase  were  they  picked  from  a
wider  field,  so  that  the  supply  price  for  any
given  number  of  them  would  be  reduced.
Moreover,  when  organisers  are  picked  from
a  wide  field,  the  level  of  capacity  among  them
may  be  expected  to  be  higher  than  when  they
are  picked  from  a  narrow  field.  And,  in
addition,  when  forcible  and  continual  competitive ­
  pressure  is  brought  to  bear  upon  the
organising  ranks  from  below,  by  new  men
who  are  attempting  to  force  their  way  into
the  ranks  of  leadership,  those  who  are  already
established  are  compelled  to  be  zealous  and
alert.  Of  the  enlarged  product  brought
about  by  the  vertical  mobility  of  labour,  a
substantial  portion  must  almost  certainly  be
reaped  by  labour,  because  the  marginal  utility
of  labour  tends  to  rise  as  the  amount  and
efficiency  of  the  attention  devoted  to  its