labourer could purchase by his wages. The stores of capital already in existence would be distributed among the labourers more rapidly than they would otherwise have been; and the increased efficiency of work would speedily replenish the diminished stores. The fact is that increase in the efficiency of labour would really lead to an increase in the supply of capital. The overstrained interpretation of the proposition-Industry is limited by Capital-has caused many errors1.]

§ 4. Let us now look at some conclusions which follow from this proposition. Firstly:

The destruction of things is not good for trade.

For instance, it is not good for trade to have dresses made of material which wears out quickly. For if people did not spend their means on buying new dresses, they would spend them on giving employment to labour in some other way. The dressmaking trade will be as much benefited by their ordering new dresses for the poor as by their ordering new dresses for themselves to the same amount. But it is true that if there were a sudden falling off in the demand for dresses, dressmakers would suffer through being compelled to seek a new occupation. This brings us to the question whether it is right to make work for those who are out of employment.

It may be right, if the suspension of work is temporary, to relieve those who are in distress by making work for them; because this method of relief does not injure their self-respect. If however the distress in a trade is not merely temporary, it is not true kindness to dissuade people from leaving it. A great mistake was made by those who tried to bolster up the trade of hand-weaving, after it had been proved that the handloom must in the long run give place to the power-loom. Those who doled out poor relief to supplement the miserable wages of the hand-weavers would have done better by helping them to earn their living in another way.

But while it is not good for trade to spend money on dress ostentatiously, or to change the fashions rapidly, it is true that those who dress well add, if not to the wealth, yet to the well-being of the nation. A service is done to society by every one who provides the means of refined pleasure without unnecessary expenditure. When a man buys a good picture he devotes wealth to one of its best ends; and a really artistic dress educates taste just as a picture does. A time may come when it will be thought absurd for a woman to display her wealth by

These have chiefly appeared in various forms of what has been called the "Wages fund theory." See Book III. chap. VI.

M..

2

Firstly, with regard to man's physical strength and energy. While man is altering the face of nature, nature is ever changing the quality of man. A healthy invigorating climate is one of the most important of the gifts that nature bestows. Extreme heat enervates man; and in tropical countries makes him lend a ready ear to the suggestion that he should live in idleness on the fruits that nature showers down upon him. In many places even in the temperate zones work is almost entirely suspended during the extreme heats of summer. And in some parts of America men are not only prone to take a holiday during "the heated term,” but are also prevented from doing such work as that of carpenters in the open air during the extreme severity of winter. England is fortunate in having a climate in which men can work with vigour out of doors almost all the year round; and which, by thus fostering energetic and steady habits of labour, contributes much to her greatness.

The physical power and energy of man is of course partly dependent upon inherited race-qualities. But modern science shews that the character of a race may be greatly modified by changes in its habits of living, in diet, in cleanliness, in houseroom, etc. Thus the physical vigour of a race depends partly on its wealth. To him that hath, to him is given.

It must be remembered that the average efficiency of labour in a country depends not only on the efficiency of the labourer in the prime of life, but also on the number of years during which he is really efficient. It is better even as regards material wealth that a man should work with moderate energy up to the age of sixty, than that he should overwork himself so as to become an old man at forty.

§ 5. Next with regard to knowledge and mental ability. It has already been remarked that the skill and intelligence which are required for commanding and directing the forces of nature are growing in importance relatively to the brute strength by which uncivilised races struggle with nature. Indeed a thorough general education, together with a special training for some particular employment, is becoming more necessary to the working man every year. There is scarcely any work which does not need some mental effort. Even in agriculture machinery is being introduced, the management of which requires much skill and intelligence.

A man does work that does not need skill all the better if he knows more than is actually required for him. Education makes him quick to understand whatever directions may be given to him if his machinery gets out of order, or the plan of his work miscarries in any other way, he can set things to right at once and thus prevent much loss. In this and

other ways, every increase in the intelligence of the workman diminishes the amount of supervision required from the employer and his foremen. And as civilisation advances, further progress becomes more and more dependent upon the diffusion of education among the working classes.

This education may be classed as general and technical. As Mill says, "the aim of all intellectual training for the mass of the people, should be to cultivate common sense, to qualify them for forming a sound practical judgment of the circumstances by which they are surrounded. Whatever in the intellectual department can be superadded to this is chiefly ornamental; while this is the indispensable groundwork on which education must rest. An education directed to diffuse good sense among the people, with such knowledge as would qualify them to judge of the tendencies of their actions, would be certain, even without any direct inculcation, to raise up a public opinion by which intemperance and improvidence of every kind would be held discreditable."

General education should then aim at causing a man to form an intelligent opinion with regard to the ordinary matters of life, and to be full of resources for meeting new emergencies.

Technical education should aim at enabling him to understand the processes and the machinery of the special work in which he is engaged. It should help him to understand the reason of everything that goes on in his trade, and thus enable him to accommodate himself to new machinery or new nodes of production. And it should train him in the use of his fingers. This technical education should be begun at school, but a great deal of the education that is wanted in many trades can only be got in workshops.

§ 6. Next with regard to moral character.

Uprightness and mutual confidence are necessary conditions for the growth of wealth. "Wherever there is a great store of wealth, there must be a people living to a considerable degree under moral restraint, and possessed of a more or less accurate code of duty; and a land dotted with bursting stack-yards, mapped out into well-tilled fields, and noisy with the hum of looms and the clang of hammers, is evidence that there is at hand no small portion of the stuff out of which martyrs and heroes are formed. Though fine names may not be given to the qualifications of a busy people, skilled in many crafts and trades, producing articles cheaply and well; it is patience and sobriety, faithfulness and honesty that have gained for them eminence1."

1 Macdonell, Survey of Political Economy.

The character of a nation depends chiefly on that of the mothers of the nation on their firmness and gentleness and sincerity. It is in childhood, and at home, that the workman must learn to be truthful and trusty, cleanly and careful, energetic and thorough, to reverence others and to respect himself.

Finally, industry cannot attain full freedom and efficiency unless, as Mill says, it is protected by the Government and from the Government.

We have now seen how land and labour are two of the requisites of production, the third requisite is capital.

CHAPTER III.

CAPITAL.

§ 1. IN a savage state man thinks only of satisfying his immediate wants; in a civilized state he devotes much labour to preparing the roads, buildings, tools, materials, etc. which may be of service to him in the future. He abstains from seeking immediate enjoyment from the whole produce of his labour, and devotes some part of it to producing things which will assist him in his future work. These requisites of production are called Capital.

Capital is the result of labour and abstinence. It consists of all wealth which is destined to be employed Productively1.

We say "destined" or devoted, because it is not always possible to tell whether a thing is capital or not, without knowing how the owner intends to use it. Thus oats are capital if they are to be given to a cart-horse, but not if they are to be given to a racehorse. Again, many things are used sometimes for business, therefore as capital; sometimes for pleasure, and therefore not as capital. A French peasant's cart is used as capital in the field, but not as capital when it carries him and his family for a jaunt on a holiday. Again, it is not always clear to what extent a doctor's house and his carriage should be regarded as capital required for his business.

"To familiarise ourselves with the conception, let us consider what is done with the capital invested in any of the branches of business which compose the productive industry of a country. A manufacturer, for example, has one part of his capital in the form of buildings, fitted and destined for carrying on his branch of manufacture. Another part he has in the form of machinery.

1 See Chap. i. § 6.