The facts and the doctrine.

The facts go to prove that very little soil, capital, and labor would be necessary for the production of a large quantity of sugar; and that each commune of France would be abundantly provided with it by giving up one hectare to its cultivation.

The peculiarity of the doctrine consists in the looking upon this facility of production as an unfortunate circumstance, and the regarding the very fruitfulness of this new branch of industry as a _limitation to its usefulness_.
It is not my purpose here to constitute myself the defender of the beet, or the judge of the singular facts stated by Mr.d'Argout, but it is worth the trouble of examining into the doctrines of a statesman, to whose judgment France, for a long time, confided the fate of her agriculture and her commerce.
I began by saying that a variable proportion exists in all industrial pursuits, between the effort and the result.

Absolute imperfection consists in an infinite effort, without any result; absolute perfection in an unlimited result, without any effort; and perfectibility, in the progressive diminution of the effort, compared with the result.
But Mr.d'Argout tells us, that where we looked for life, we shall find only death.

The importance of any object of industry is, according to him, in direct proportion to its feebleness.