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of which, however, no clear and distinct definition has ever yet been given. By nearly all economists, it is limited to the consideration of the action of man in reference to some of those material things which may be made the subject of purchase and salethis, in its turn, tending to confirm the limitation of their science to the determination of the laws which govern men in the act of buying and selling, leaving altogether out of view that immense portion of the transactions of mankind in which exchanges are made without the trader's intervention.

Much diversity of opinion has, therefore, existed as to the division of society into productive and unproductive classes. Smith, Say, and others, as the reader has already seen,* find no wealth but in material objects; yet were they unable to deny that the skill of the artisan-the intelligence of the laborer-the learning of the teacher, constituted a portion, and a most important one, of a nation's wealth. Among the latest exponents of the modern school is Mr. J. S. Mill, whose views are given in the following passage, by which the reader will see that he regards as unproductive all human effort, however permanently beneficial to society it may prove, which does not terminate in the creation of material wealth :

"All labor is, in the language of political economy, unproductive which ends in immediate enjoyment, without any increase of the accumulated stock of permanent means of enjoyment. And all labor, according to our present definition, must be classed as unproductive which terminates in a permanent benefit, however important, provided that an increase of material products forms no part of that benefit. The labor of saving a friend's life is not productive, unless the friend is a productive laborer, and produces more than he consumes. To a religious person, the saving of a soul must appear a far more important service than the saving of a life; but he will not therefore call a missionary or a clergyman productive laborers, unless they teach, as the South Sea missionaries have in some cases done, the arts of civilization in addition to the doctrines of religion. It is, on the contrary, evident that the greater the number of missionaries or clergymen a nation maintains, the less it has to expend on other things; while the more it expends judiciously in keeping agriculturists and

* See ante, vol. i. p. 193.

manufacturers at work, the more it will have for every other purpose. By the former it diminishes, cæteris paribus, its stock of material products; by the latter, it increases them."*

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Truth being simple, simple ideas are generally true. Complex ideas, therefore, may generally be regarded as being the reverse of true, and that they are so, is proved by every step we make on the road to knowledge the progress of man being always in the direction of obtaining expressions that, by reason of their perfect simplicity, suffice for covering all the facts. Such is not here the case. The missionary is productive, if "he add the arts of civilization to the doctrines of religion" that is, if he carry to the people of the South Sea Islands ploughs and harrows, and other instruments calculated to enable them to increase their stock of material products. Remaining, on the contrary, at home, and contenting himself with laboring to produce in his flock a higher feeling of their responsibility towards their fellow-men, and towards their Creator, he is to be regarded as unproductive; even although his efforts result in making sobriety, industry, and economy, the normal condition of a little community in which there before had reigned turbulence, idleness, and waste. Again, the labor of saving the life of a man is unproductive; whereas, that devoted to increasing the number of hogs, or adding to the supply of fish, is to be classed under the head of productive efforts. The tailor who makes a coat is a productive laborer, because it can be worn; but the community gains nothing by the efforts of a Pasta, a Talma, or a Rachel, whose products are consumed at the instant of being produced; and yet the effect of their labors is that of greatly improving the tastes of their hearers thus fitting them for increased association with their fellow-men. The painter is productive when he paints a picture, but unproductive, when he teaches hundreds of others to make pictures equal to his own. Lord Mansfield would have been productive had he made shoes; but, as he only established a system of commercial law, he is to be regarded as unproductive. Fourcroy and Chaptal, Davy and Berzelius, were unproductive — having only created a science; but the apothecary, who, by means of their discoveries, is enabled to make a paper of Seidlitz powders, is productive. Watt, who taught us how to avail our* J. S. MILL: Principles of Political Economy, book 1, chap. iii. 2 4.

selves of steam, and Fulton, from whom we learned to make it available for the purposes of transportation, were unproductive; but the man who makes steam-engines and steam-ships is productive. The more missionaries, the more Fourcroys, Chaptals, Watts, or Fultons, a nation maintains, "the less," as we are here assured, "it will have to expend on other things;" whereas, the more it converts its people into mere agriculturists and manufacturers, "the more it will have for every other purpose"! Such is the strange result to which the grossly material character of the doctrines of the Ricardo-Malthusian school, has led a writer so deservedly occupying one of the highest positions among the economists of Europe.

That labor is productive, which tends to enable man more thoroughly to direct the forces of nature to his service the power so to do constituting wealth. Such is the effect of the efforts of the missionary, whether abroad or at home of those of the man who saved his neighbor's life-of those of Fulton and Watt, Fourcroy and Berzelius; and the more such men a nation maintains, the more it will certainly have "to expend on other things"-the more rapidly will consumption follow production-and the greater will be the power of accumulation.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

OF ACCUMULATION.

§ 1. CONSUMPTION and production being always equal, how, it may be asked, can there be accumulation? It being, however, demand that stimulates supply, the greater the stimulus applied, the greater must be the development of the human faculties the greater the power to devote time and mind to the construction of machinery required for subjecting to man's use the inexhaustible natural forces by which he is everywhere surroundedwaiting demand for their services. The bow and the canoe gave Crusoe command over certain of those forces, and in that command he found wealth. The machines by help of which it was obtained constituted portions of his CAPITAL.

In the early period of his sojourn on the island, food was scarce, and, even when obtained, he could with difficulty fit it for consumption. He had, therefore, but little leisure for the preparation of bows, arrows, canoes, or other of the machinery required for enabling him to call nature to his aid. The first step was then, as it ever is, the one of greatest difficulty. That, however, once made the bow and canoe being obtained each successive one becomes more easy. Food costing him now less effort, its value declines when compared with labor, while labor rises when compared with it; and the greater the value of the latter, the greater is the proportion that may be given to constructing the machinery required for obtaining further command over nature's services. Being better clothed, and his dwelling being better, the drain upon his physical powers is diminished, while the supply of food has so much increased that he could now meet that drain, even had it been increased.

The necessities of man, and his powers, are thus always in the inverse ratio of each other-moving, too, always in opposite directions. The two combined are a constant quantity-the one

representing the power of nature over man, and the other, the power of man to control and direct the forces of nature. The more the momentum acquired by either, the less must be the resistance of the other; and hence it is, that the motion of society is always a constantly accelerated one whether advancing towards civilization, as is the case in Northern Europe generally; or declining in the opposite direction, as in Great Britain and the United States.

The improvement in his dwelling now enabling Crusoe to labor more continuously, his power of accumulation is again increased. When it had rained, or when the heat had been too great, he had, at first, been compelled to seek refuge in a cave, deprived of light; now, he can pursue his avocations within doors, how great soever the heat, or however heavy the rain, without. Thus on and on he goes each addition to his capital proving to have been but preparation for a new and greater one; with steady decline in the value of all previous accumulations, and as steady increase in the proportion of his time and mind appropriated to the construction of machinery, by means of which his powers may be yet extended.

Looking now to the physical world, we see that the power of accumulation is in the direct ratio of the rapidity of circulation. To have motion there must be heat, and that being found in its greatest force within the tropics, there it is we find the most abundant life, vegetable and animal-accompanying the most rapid processes of composition and decomposition, production and consumption, known in the material world. Passing thence towards the frozen zone, heat, motion, and force steadily diminish, until, at length, the lichen stands almost alone in the vegetable world, and the bear in the animal one. of population and of wealth, society exhibits a steady increase of motion and of force, with constant increase in the rapidity with which consumption follows production, and in the power of accumulation; with corresponding decline in the value of all the capital that had been accumulated. With every movement in a contrary direction, we witness a decline of motion and of force diminished power of accumulation and an increase in the value of all previous accumulations; as is shown in Turkey, Persia, and India, and all other declining communities of the world.

VOL. III.-4

With the growth

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