Butthewholepriceofanycommoditymuststillfinallyresolveitselfintosomeoneorother，orallofthosethreeparts;aswhateverpartofitremainsafterpayingtherentoftheland，andthepriceofthewholelabouremployedinraising，manufacturing，andbringingittomarket，mustnecessarilybeprofittosomebody。
Asthepriceorexchangeablevalueofeveryparticularcommodity，takenseparately，resolvesitselfintosomeoneorotherorallofthosethreeparts;sothatofallthecommoditieswhichcomposethewholeannualproduceofthelabourofeverycountry，takencomplexly，mustresolveitselfintothesamethreeparts，andbeparcelledoutamongdifferentinhabitantsofthecountry，eitherasthewagesoftheirlabour，theprofitsoftheirstock，ortherentoftheirland。Thewholeofwhatisannuallyeithercollectedorproducedbythelabourofeverysociety，orwhatcomestothesamething，thewholepriceofit，isinthismanneroriginallydistributedamongsomeofitsdifferentmembers。Wages，profit，andrent，arethethreeoriginalsourcesofallrevenueaswellasofallexchangeablevalue。Allotherrevenueisultimatelyderivedfromsomeoneorotherofthese。
Whoeverderiveshisrevenuefromafundwhichishisown，mustdrawiteitherfromhislabour，fromhisstock，orfromhisland。Therevenuederivedfromlabouriscalledwages。Thatderivedfromstock，bythepersonwhomanagesoremployesit，iscalledprofit。Thatderivedfromitbythepersonwhodoesnotemployithimself，butlendsittoanother，iscalledtheinterestortheuseofmoney。Itisthecompensationwhichtheborrowerpaystothelender，fortheprofitwhichhehasanopportunityofmakingbytheuseofthemoney。Partofthatprofitnaturallybelongstotheborrower，whorunstheriskandtakesthetroubleofemployingit;andparttothelender，whoaffordshimtheopportunityofmakingthisprofit。Theinterestofmoneyisalwaysaderivativerevenue，which，ifitisnotpaidfromtheprofitwhichismadebytheuseofthemoney，mustbepaidfromsomeothersourceofrevenue，unlessperhapstheborrowerisaspendthrift，whocontractsaseconddebtinordertopaytheinterestofthefirst。Therevenuewhichproceedsaltogetherfromland，iscalledrent，andbelongstothelandlord。Therevenueofthefarmerisderivedpartlyfromhislabour，andpartlyfromhisstock。Tohim，landisonlytheinstrumentwhichenableshimtoearnthewagesofthislabour，andtomaketheprofitsofthisstock。Alltaxes，andantherevenuewhichisfoundeduponthem，allsalaries，pensions，andannuitiesofeverykind，areultimatelyderivedfromsomeoneorotherofthosethreeoriginalsourcesofrevenue，andarepaideitherimmediatelyormediatelyfromthewagesoflabour，theprofitsofstock，ortherentofland。
Whenthosethreedifferentsortsofrevenuebelongtodifferentpersons，theyarereadilydistinguished;butwhentheybelongtothesametheyaresometimesconfoundedwithoneanother，atleastincommonlanguage。
Agentlemanwhofarmsapartofhisownestate，afterpayingtheexpenseofcultivation，shouldgainboththerentofthelandlordandtheprofitofthefarmer。Heisapttodenominate，however，hiswholegain，profit，andthusconfoundsrentwithprofit，atleastincommonlanguage。ThegreaterpartofourNorthAmericanandWestIndianplantersareinthissituation。