Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/48

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

38
TALES IN POLITICAL ECONOMY.
[II.

not turn their property to good account, both for themselves and us, by introducing a luxury that we should all very much appreciate; I mean beer. Almost all grain can be turned into malt. Malting is a very simple process; and if when the malt is made, the brewing is successfully carried out, I am sure the value of the beer to its owners will more than compensate them for any inconvenience that they may suffer from being suddenly deprived of their usual means of selling their wheat. If the brewing is a success, the wheat-growers will be able to exchange the beer for the best of everything that we all produce. What would we not give for a good glass of ale after a hard day's work? If it fails, of course there will be a loss to be endured; then the growing of wheat will have to be given up, and those who have till now been our wheat-growers will be able to give their labour to some other industry. Depend upon it, it will not be difficult to find new kinds of paying work; making the fibre of the plantain into cloth will require a vast amount of patient industry, and any labour that can be