and obtain results, the greater the prosperity and the longer it lasts. But the undertaking has to be finished some day, and the harvest must at last be gathered in. Then it is discovered that the undertaking was a failure. The railroads, it turns out, were not necessary where they were built, for they have nothing to carry when they are ready for business. The undertaking goes into liquidation. The vast amounts of capital, the glorious piles or stretches of means of production, now represent so much waste, for capital which does not pay dividends is not capital according to capitalistic laws. Then the crisis is on—things go to smash all around. The crisis is not limited to those interested in the particular undertaking. First, because the ramifications of modern capitalistic undertakings are so extensive and complicated, particularly by reason of our credit system, that no serious break can occur anywhere but that the whole system will crumble to its foundations. Secondly, because the large number of men employed in producing the defunct "means of production" are now thrown out of employment, thereby weighing heavily on the labor-market and demanding charity from their masters. And thirdly, because the apparent prosperity incident to the continued production of the large "means of production," has caused a general rush of production to an unwarranted extent, even in spheres which are not in any way directly connected with the particular undertaking which brought about the prosperity .......... and the crisis.
The deductions which Tugan-Baranowsky himself makes from these facts are very curious and furnish a good object lesson in the mental pathology of our age. We can not, however, pursue this branch of the discussion here any further. We hope to resume this very interesting discussion some other time. For the present we will try to make some deductions on our own account, as far as they may be pertinent to our subject proper. The first irrefutable deduction which presents itself to our mind, not only from
