It seemed to him that when the growth of a nation's wealth is normal these things follow only after a considerable amount of labour has been devoted to agriculture, and after the latter has been placed in its rightful – or at any rate in a definite – position: that a nation's wealth ought to grow proportionately at the same rate in all its branches, and especially in such a way that the other branches should not out-distance agriculture; that means of communication should conform to the agricultural conditions, and that with our wrong methods of using the land, the railways – brought about not by economic but by political necessity – had come prematurely, and instead of promoting agriculture as had been expected, had interfered with it and hindered it by stimulating the development of manufactures and credit.
A su juicio, en un desarrollo normal de la riqueza de un estado, aquellos elementos debían surgir sólo cuando estuviera bien desarrollado el cultivo agrícola y elevado a condiciones normales o al menos defnidas, entendiendo que la riqueza de un país debe crecer progresivamente y procurando que otras fuentes de riqueza no adelanten al cultivo agrario. En fin, creía que los medios de comunicación debían corresponder a un determinado estado de la agricultura, y que, dado el mal sistema ruso de explotar el campo, los ferrocarriles, resultado de una necesidad política y no económica, llegaron antes de tiempo, y, en lugar de ayudar al cultivo agrícola, como se e'speraba, y provocar el desarrollo de las industrias y el crédito, lo habían paralizado.