Chapter XV: Section CLVIII: History of Rent.--In Periods of Decline

If a nation's economy be declining, in consequence of war for instance, the disastrous influence hereof on rent may be retarded by a still greater fall in wages or in the profit on capital. But it can be hardly retarded beyond a certain point.[158-1] As a rule, the decline of rents begins to be felt by the least fertile and least advantageously situated land.[158-2] [158-3]

[Footnote 158-1: "The falling of rents an infallible sign of
the decay of wealth." (_Locke._) In England, in 1450, land
was bought at "14 years' purchase;" i. e., with a capital =
14 times the yearly rent paid, in 1470, at only "10 years'
purchase." (_Eden_, State of the Poor, III, App., I, XXXV.)
This was, doubtless, a consequence of the civil war raging
in the meantime. The American war (1775-82) depressed the
price of land in England to "23-1/4 years' purchase,"
whereas it had previously stood at 32. (_A. Young._) The
rent of land, in many places in France, declined from 10,000
to 2,000 livres, on account of the many wars during Louis
XIV.'s reign. (_Madame de Sévigné's_ Lettres, 25 Dec, 1689.)
Even in 1677, it was only one-half of its former amount
(_King_, Life of Locke, I, 129.) The whole Bekes county
(_comitat_) in Hungary was sold for 150,000 florins under
Charles VI.; after the unfortunate war with France.
(_Mailath_, Oesterreich, Gesch., IV, 523.) Compare
_Cantillon_, Nature du Commerce, 248. In Cologne, a new
house was sold in the spring of 1848 for 1,000 thalers, the
site of which alone had cost 3,000 thalers; and there are
six building lots which formerly cost over 3,000 thalers,
now valued at only 100 thalers. (_von Reden_, Statist.
Zeitschr., 1848, 366.) On the other hand, Napoleon's war
very much enhanced English rents (_Porter_, Progress of the
Nation, II, 1, 150 ff.), because it affected England's
national husbandry principally by hindering the importation
of the means of subsistence. (_Passy_, Journal des
Economistes, X, 354.)]

[Footnote 158-2: Thus the price of lands, in Mecklenburg,
between 1817 and 1827, fell 30 to 40 per cent. in the least
fertile quarters; in the better, from 15 to 20 per cent.
(_von Thünen_, in _Jacob_, Tracts relating to the Corn
Trade, 40, 187.) _Per contra_, see Hundeshagen Landwirthsch.
Gewerbelehre, 1839, 64 seq., and _Carey_, Principles, I,
354.]

[Footnote 158-3: The average rent in England was, in 1815,
17s. 3d. In the counties, it was highest in Middlesex, 38s.
9d.; in Rutland, 38s. 2d.; Leicester, 27s. 3d.; lowest in
Westmoreland, 9s. 1d. In Wales, the average was 7s. 10d.;
highest in Anglesea, 19s.; lowest in Merioneth, 4s. 8d. In
Scotland the average was 5s. 1-1/2d.; highest, Midlothian,
24s. 6-1/2d.; lowest, Highland Caithness, Cromarthy,
Inverness and Rosse, from 1s. 1d. to 1s. 5d.; Orkneys,
8-1/2d.; Sutherland, 6d.; Shetlands, 3d. In Ireland, the
average was 12s. 9d.; highest in Dublin, 20s. 1-1/2d.;
lowest, Donegal, 6s. (_McCulloch_, Stat., I, 544 ff.;
Yearbook of general Information, 1843, 193.) In France,
_Chaptal_, De l'Industrie Fr., 1819, I, 209 ff., estimates
the average yield per _hectare_ at 28 francs; in the
Department of the Seine, 216; Nord, 69.56; Lower Seine,
67.85; in the upper Alps, 6.2; in the lower Alps, 5.99: in
the Landes, 6.25. While in the Landes, only 20 francs a
_hectare_ are frequently paid, the purchase price in the
neighboring Medoc is sometimes 25,000 francs. (Journal des
Economistes, Jan. 15, 1851.) In Belgium, the average price
of agricultural land is 52.46; in East Flanders, 53.19; in
Namur, 29.24. (_Heuschling_, Statistique, 77.)]