Each man, to keep him alive, requires one loaf daily; but to eat two would be a comfort to him, and to eat three would be luxury.

The community is divided into two groups of ten men each, one man in each group directing the labour of the others.

We will start with supposing that these two directors are men of equal and also of the highest ability, and that each of the groups, under these favourable conditions, is enabled to produce daily an output of thirty loaves.

The total output of both in this case amounts to sixty, which equally divided yields to everybody the luxurious number of three.

Let us next suppose that the director of one group dies, that his place is taken by a man of inferior powers, and that this group, as a consequence of his less efficient direction, instead of producing thirty loaves can produce no more than ten.