196 
POLITICAL ECONOMY 
payments which neither the early economists 
nor the general public would have dreamt of 
regarding as rent. Nevertheless, the inclusion 
of these other payments is strictly as logical 
as the exclusion of certain payments had 
been. It was necessitated by the new dis 
coveries made in the course of the more 
careful modern analysis of value. The alter 
native was to introduce an entirely new 
symbol to indicate these other payments 
together with what early economists under 
stood by economic rent ; but inasmuch 
as the symbol “ rent ” qualified by the 
epithet “ economic,” had already become 
embedded in the phraseology of economic 
science, and the distinction between economic 
rent and rent in the ordinary sense was 
clearly recognised, it seemed most con 
venient not to discard the old word, but to 
broaden its application. The retention of 
the old word absolutely necessitated a broad 
ening of its application, because it was found 
that the law which governed payments for 
land governed also payments for certain 
other things. One could not speak of a law 
of rent unless one was prepared to designate 
these other payments as rent. What exactly 
these other payments are, we shall learn in 
due course.