,,thoughts ,,on ,,the ,,mechanism ,,of ,,societies4 ,by the ,,marquis ,,de ,,casaux1 ,,fellow ,,of ,,the ,,royal ,,society4 ,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,french 7,under the ,inspection of the ,author7 ,by ,,parkyns ,,mac ,,mahon4 ,if ,men would be content to graft upon ,nature1 and assist her operations1 what mighty effects might we expect6 ,,spectator4 ,,london1 ,printed by ,t4 ,spilsbury1 ,snowhill4 ,sold by ,g4 ,g4 ,j4 and ,j4 ,,robinson1 in ,pater-noster ,row2 ,w4 ,,richardson1 under the ,royal ,exchange2 and ,j4 ,,debrett1 ,piccadilly4 ,m1,,dcc1,,lxxxvi4 ,,preface ,,by ,,the ,,editor4 ,it is not a treatise that the ,author announces2 it is nothing more than ,thoughts on the ,mechanism of ,societies4 ,such a title does not confine a ,writer to a regular plan2 it saves him even the risk of preparing his ,readers for a chain of ideas which cannot escape their sagacity if it exist1 and on which they cannot be deceived if it do not4 ,but in a picture consecrated to the world at large as well as to his own ,country1 to the ,people as well as to their ,rulers1 it was necessary that the most striking object1 the object to which their first attention was called1 should be of so general an interest1 as to entice them progressively to an investigation of all those details which deserve most to be scrutinised1 and of which the different relations are either little known1 or greatly mistaken4 ,the object which at present fixes the attention of all the ,states in ,europe1 7all of them either debtors or creditors71 is the ,national ,debt of ,england1 and the measures which will be taken on that subject by the ,assembly the most clear-sighted of any in the world to every thing that concerns the interests of the people1 the most jealous of its rights1 and the most free1 at least in its debates4 ,it is by considering that formidable debt1 and its influence on the wealth of the ,state and the ease of the ,people1 that the ,author dares to begin4 ,but before he proceeds to unfold the mechanism of the national debt1 the result of which developement presents some ideas too opposite to the received opinion1 he endeavours by degrees to familiarise his ,readers with his own1 by some general reflexions on the present situation of ,england3 these reflexions leave him no room to doubt1 that ,england was in #aggi1 notwithstanding the national debt1 richer than she was at the beginning of this century2--richer1 either in a fourfold1 or in a double proportion1 as the ,reader is disposed to adopt the one or the other rate of population3 whence it appears that the ,author1 in respect to his plan1 does not affix any importance to the difference of opinions on this article4 ,a more particular view of the subject furnishes him with fresh reasons1 which seem to him sufficient to quiet the mind of the most suspicious creditor4 ,it is1 indeed1 only by means of the savings made1 or daily to be made1 upon eight pence 7the exact proportion each individual is entitled to in the general revenue71 that it has been possible to reach the summit of opulence1 and that it is possible to be fixed there3 but the ,author seeks for such savings in agriculture and industry1 as cannot be misunderstood2 he observes that the savings made in agriculture1 have proved sufficient1 in the course of a century1 not only to discharge all the public burdens1 but even to double the landed revenue2 and he then enters into a detail of several objects1 7all easy to be ascertained17 which seem to demonstrate a similar progress in industry4 ,here our ,author1 beginning to feel himself on ground sufficiently firm1 confesses that he sees nothing in the present situation of ,england1 tending to justify the idea of a national bankruptcy1 although the public news-papers often hint at the convenience of such a measure4 ,the author even so far forgets himself1 as to examine seriously1 whether it would be profitable or unprofitable to effect the so much recommended reimbursement1 even on the supposition that the #bch millions which have been borrowed1 and have disappeared1 could find their way back to the ,exchequer4 ,after having presented the question under several points of view1 our ,author hesitates not to declare for the negative1 and then endeavours to prove that a previous thesaurisation which might have enabled the nation to go through the last war without laying any additional tax1 would have done more harm than the new taxes can possibly have done4 ,the ,author1 become bolder because he meets with no contradiction when he is alone1 7and indeed he is alone very often7 undertakes to reconcile mankind to the taxes by means of a first decomposition of the impost2 he gives up1 it is true1 one part of it as burdensome1 7it is truly to be lamented that this part cannot be dispensed with2 luckily it is the least72 but he contends boldly for the other part1 as a very precious resource for that portion of the people which best deserves to engage the cares of ,government4 ,notwithstanding all the precautions taken by the ,author not to frighten his readers1 there remains such a leap for him to clear1 that he is seen1 as it were on his knees1 begging he may be permitted to try twenty times1 if he cannot clear it in ten3 in other words1 he earnestly wishes that his work may not receive its final judgement before it has been perused to the end2 and in fact1 it is not impossible but that a detached proposition1 the absurdity of which is striking when considered singly1 may be found conclusive when successively brought near to all those that are to follow it4 ,an ,editor owes more to the ,public1 than to any work1 even such as he could wish to bring into some trifling repute3 ,i think then1 it is my duty 7in foro conscienti7 to declare1 that it will not be till the ,reader has perused fifty pages or more1 that he will suspect the reason why the ,writer has not announced in the very first1 some singular opinion1 which he meant insidiously to establish as it were step by step in his pamphlet2 but1 at length1 we begin to have some notion of what we are to expect from a man who has been trying to wheedle us into a belief1 that taxes are a trifling evil2--that thesaurisation would be a very great one2--that a reimbursement is at best useless2--and who afterwards modestly intimates1 that some singularities may perhaps escape him in the sequel2 as if it were possible to imagine any thing more singular than the three propositions ,i have just quoted4 ,yet too much severity should not be used4 ,has the ,reader been but amused with the part of the picture hitherto exposed to his view8 ,let him humour the ,author in his little conceits4 ,who would exhibit for public entertainment1 if he were not at liberty to draw up the curtain in his own way2 if he had not a right to display1 at every shifting of the scene1 that part only of his curiosities upon which he meant for that instant to fix the eyes of the spectator8 ,but if the ,reader1 in spite of the different positions into which he has been attracted1 has not observed the least alteration in the compass2 if he has not been moved by the arguments with which he has been lured before he came to that part of the work--let him throw the piece into the fire2 for the ,author1 of whom ,i do not pretend to imitate the circumspection1 or adopt the fears1 or justify the temerity1 or share in the guilt1 aims at nothing less than to induce all ,europe 7all ,europe67 to investigate1 #ast1 ,whether it could possibly cost ,england more than #e millions sterling1 7found once for all7 to secure for ever1 in the most solid manner1 the payment of the interest on a debt of #bch millions1 that interest rated at #i millions1 of the same currency8 #b;dly1 ,whether there be not1 7without its being suspected71 in the system of finance in ,england1 some of those imperfections so well remarked1 so fully1 so bitterly criticised in that of ,france2 and whether a national reimbursement be not the easiest of all the sports a ,minister of finance can think of1 to amuse society without serving it8 #c;dly1 ,whether the possibility of a balance of trade1 always favourable1 be not as doubtful as the necessity of a national bankruptcy1 and the advantage of a national reimbursement8 #dthly1 ,whether an equilibrium in all things 7and every where71 be not indispensable2 and whether1 to maintain or restore it1 any great effort of imagination be required on the part of those who fancy they hold the balance8 #ethly1 ,whether the difference of prices be something or nothing2 and whether more has been wanted by the ,french than #ff millions ,tournois 7found once for all71 to secure for ever1 the interest at #e per cent4 on a national loan of #a1ejj millions ,tournois8 #fthly1 ,whether the monster of a competition 7in point of trade7 supposed unconquerable on account of the low prices with which it should be armed1 be not as fantastical as that of a balance always favourable8 #gthly1 ,whether the most justifiable premium for exportation be any thing more than one piece of injustice1 become necessary to counterbalance a great many others8 #hthly1 ,whether it do not result from the ever infallible and merely mechanical restoration of an equilibrium in all the prices1 that the taxes are in themselves completely innocent2--whether there be more than one kind of taxation1 which increases only by the exact amount of the tax1 the whole mass of prices2--whether the effect of taxation be not trebled by all other imposts2--whether the most pernicious of them1 7after the poll-tax71 be not the tax on luxury2--and whether from the instant that all kinds of taxes1 either judiciously or injudiciously contrived1 have re-acted on every thing1 the burthen of the national debt is not literally null in all countries8 #ithly1 ,whether1 after monopoly1 credit be not that effect of wealth which increases most the price of every production1 both of agriculture and industry8 #ajthly1 ,whether a certain country1 where smuggling has been prohibited under pain of the galleys1 be not indebted to smuggling itself for one fifth of the products of her agriculture1 which the merchant and trader turn to their advantage with as little scruple1 as if they had not petitioned for the detestable law against the smuggler8 #aathly1 ,whether the absurdity of the general opinion1 on the most efficacious means of establishing a profitable competition1 in point of trade1 be not clearly evinced1 by the account of a strange revolution in ,france--a revolution1 as indubitable as the two wars in #agee and #aggi8 #abthly1 ,whether the impossibility of the two supposed balances1 constantly at the disposal of ,england and ,france1 be not proved1 by the very facts adduced in both countries to establish the existence of those two monsters8--,whether that impossibility be not demonstrated by other facts as little equivocal2 and whether it be not the interest of ,england and ,france to renounce the ,idol1 and solemnly abjure both its works and its pomps8 #acthly1 ,whether imports and exports be not a mere sport1 as innocent as the game of tennis8 ,a sport1 nevertheless1 which all ,governments might turn to great profit1 all ,subjects to great advantage1 and all ,states to an increase of power and wealth4 #adthly1 ,whether the generality of exports from ,england1 at different periods1 considered with regard to her foreign correspondence1 do not demonstrate a kind of electricity1 unthought of hitherto1 though not unworthy of amusing the greatest politicians at their leisure moments8 #aethly1 ,whether the trifling jest of luxury be not equally as innocent as the diversion of exporting and importing2 and how much the most fastuous1 the most profuse1 the most sensual of all monarchs1 consumes1 above the most avaricious of all his subjects8 #afthly1 ,how much 7not counting shillings and pence7 ,england has lost1 when her right-arm1 as her colonies were called1 was lopped off2 and how much 7not counting shillings and pence7 ,europe might lose by losing her sovereignty over both the ,americas8 #agthly1 ,whether all that had appeared to the ,author1 as founded in reason and equity1 do not finally prove 7in spite of the general conspiracy of all ,nations and all ,ministers7 to be strictly conformable to the most stubborn facts2--and whether it do not result from that mass of facts and reasons1 that the ,author's assertion1 the most interesting to mankind1 7that is1 to all ,princes and their ,people7 is not of the most irrefragable truth1 and a truth the most easily brought within the reach of all the parts interested therein8 ,i1 though merely ,editor1 shall venture still further2--,i shall suppose the result of this combination of facts and reasons to be1 that the means hitherto devised as the most proper to alleviate the burdens of the people1 were the best devised to oppress them3 ,what matters it to the people1 provided they are to be oppressed no longer8 ,what is the time past1 but the baseless fabric of a vision8 ,i shall likewise suppose1 that from those facts and reasons it should result also1 that never was a decrease in the ,prince's revenue more effectually secured1 than by the contrivances devised to increase it3 ,what is it to the ,prince1 provided it be no longer possible to mistake the true means of enriching him8--,is it not the time to come1 that should1 above all1 engross the attention of a ,great ,prince8 ,i shall again suppose1 as another result1 that it has been a mistaken notion1 to imagine that the revenue of the ,people must be lessened1 in order to increase that of the ,prince3--,what is that to the ,prince--what is it to the ,people--provided both be now convinced1 that it is not possible to enrich the one1 either really or nominally1 without enriching the other in the same manner1 and in the same proportion8 ,i shall further suppose1 that it should evidently result also1 that in the ,administration of the finances of any country1 there is not1 there has not been a single principle1 nay1 not a single idea worthy of the name3 ,what is this to the ,ministers who now hold that department8--,can they command what is past8 ,and is it not the redressing of abuses1 when discovered1 that constitutes the true glory of a ,ministry8 ,to crown the whole1 ,i shall even suppose1 that thence also should result1 to a very insignificant individual of ,america1 a little sprig of that ,european shrub called ,bay-tree3--,what would that signify to all the ,ministers1 all the ,people1 and all the ,princes in ,europe8--,will ,america consume less ,european goods1 or will she produce less gold and silver1 for having produced an idea8 ,,errata4 ,page #adi1 last line1 for #aeha1 read #aeea4 #aeh1 l4 #c1 for extravagance1 read examination4 #aid1 l4 #bd1 for #bj millions1 read #bg millions4 #aih1 l4 #aj1 for #dfs4 read #dfs4 #h;d4 #cjh1 l4 #ac1 for will content1 read will ,,not content4 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,the errata have been corrected1 along with a few minor typographical errors4 ,,contents4 ,page ,thoughts on the ,mechanism of ,societies4 #a ,a general ,view of the present ,state of ,great ,britain4 #c ,a more particular ,view of the same ,subject4 #ab ,clear ,savings of the ,manufactories1 ,trade1 and other ,branches of ,industry4 #ag ,thoughts on ,impost and ,reimbursements4 ,the ,accumulation of public ,treasure considered as the ,means of preventing ,taxation4 #bg ,on the grievous1 but necessary ,part of the ,impost4 #cf ,of the ,part of the ,impost which is more useful than grievous4 #da ,objections of another ,kind against paying off the national ,debt4 #ea ,in what ,manner the ,interest of the national ,debt will be probably paid off4 #ei ,reflexions on the two foregoing ,articles4 #gf ,a ,thought substituted to that of a ,reimbursement4 #hc ,general ,balance of ,trade in ,england4 #ic ,reflexions on some private ,balances of ,england1 both of the favourable and unfavourable ,kind4 #aaa ,balance between ,england and ,holland4 #aaf between ,england and ,france4 #abc ,further ,reasons why all ,ideas of a favourable ,balance different from that which ,i have supposed should be rejected4 #abf ,equilibrium necessary in all ,things4 ,of the surest ,means of establishing it4 #acj ,various ,causes of the ,alterations in the ,prices4 #acg ,on the ,influences of the national ,prices on the ,sales in foreign ,markets4 #aea ,a necessary ,principle of ,trade considered both as direct and in competition4 #aei ,reflexion on a ,letter from ,philadelphia inserted in the ,english ,news-papers4 #agj ,under what ,point of ,view ,premiums and other ,encouragements of ,exportation may be considered4 #ahb ,on the ,influence of the various ,kinds of ,taxation upon national ,prices4 #ahh ,on the ,object of all ,ministers of ,finance in laying ,taxes4 #aib ,effects of a general ,poll-tax4 #aic ,effects of a ,land-tax4 #aif ,reflexions on the foregoing ,system4 #bjc ,effects of an ,impost exclusively laid on ,luxury4 #bjh ,effects of a merciless ,tax upon all ,articles of the most general ,consumption4 #bah ,effects of compound ,taxation4 #bbc ,some ,doubts on the supposed ,impossibility of laying all ,taxes on ,consumption4 #bca ,recapitulation of the foregoing ,thoughts on ,taxes1 and their ,effects4 #bdb ,further ,considerations on the ,necessity of a ,correspondence between the ,prices of ,agriculture and those of ,industry4 #bdh ,of a ,cause little suspected of high ,prices4 #beg ,the happy ,issue of a desperate ,combat between ,monopoly and some private ,interests4 #bfe ,reflexions on a very strange ,revolution in ,france4 #bgj ,the pretended ,balance of ,france in ,point of ,trade4 #bia ,exportations and ,importations considered as a ,game4 #cjh ,the nominal ,value of the generality of ,exports considered1 with ,respect to its ,effect on foreign ,correspondence4 #cch ,on ,luxury4 #ceb ,on ,colonies4 #cgb ,preface in ,french4 #cii ,illustration ,,thoughts ,,on ,,the ,,mechanism of ,,societies4 ,the first step that led to civilisation was1 probably1 some kind of slavery1 whatever might be its nature4 ,it seems impossible that the strongest and most industrious1 following no other impulse than that of a consciousness of his superiority1 should have come to the noble resolution of sharing generously1 with the weak and idle1 the fruits of his own labours and industry2 nor can it be supposed that he could suffer any one1 but himself1 to pronounce on the prerogatives due to his courage and his abilities4 ,but the most consummate knowledge of the means which may have paved the way to despotism1 would throw but a faint light on the various subjects which ,i propose to take under consideration4 ,the ,epoch which it may be useful to dwell upon1 is that1 wherein the chiefs of the different states1 being in no anxiety for an authority which is no longer contested1 are the first to acknowledge its limits1 and begin at last to be solicitous for the happiness of their subjects4 ,such1 in my opinion1 is now the prevailing system all over ,europe4 ,the advantage of true freedom is fully felt1 and its influence over all-commanding wealth universally acknowledged4 ,but1 in order to compare the inferences with the principles1 to appreciate the measures by their effects1 ,i shall fix upon that ,nation whose avowed maxims1 and best known circumstances1 are most likely to furnish me with a train of arguments1 without having recourse to any further suppositions but such as may appear necessary to clear up the facts that will be adduced in support of those arguments1 and to render the consequences1 to be deduced from them1 more lucid and pointed4 ,i shall begin with the most interesting article in the present situation of affairs1 namely1 how far the wealth of a ,state1 and the affluence of the ,subject1 may be affected by a ,,national ,,debt8 ,a general ,view of the present ,state of ,,great ,,britain4 ,mr4 ,arthur ,young's valuation of the ,revenue1 in his ,political ,arithmetic1 is the result of his own private observations4 ,nothing ever occurred to me on the subject1 that can come up with the minute accounts he gives us of the different provinces which he has visited in the north1 south1 and east of ,england4 ,i am ready to suppose1 with that gentleman1 that the joint revenue of ,england and ,scotland may be computed1 the landed produce and commercial profits included1 at #aaj millions sterling4 ,mr4 ,chalmers has published a work on the comparative resources of this country at different periods2 a subject1 it seems1 difficult to touch upon without examining the state of population4 ,this publication1 according to my judgement1 unites to such solid principles as the matter will admit1 a great deal of propriety in the manner of applying them1 and of drawing the inferences4 ,i willingly acquiesce1 taking it for granted1 with the author1 that ,great ,britain contains #i1cej1jjj inhabitants3 but1 at the same time1 ,i apprise the reader1 that ,i do not mean to take any advantage of a population more or less numerous2 nor of a larger or smaller amount of the revenue4 ,data ,i require2 but such ,i will prefer as most nearly border on reality4 ,there is not a ,state to which1 with a difference in the numbers1 one may not apply what ,i have to say concerning ,england1 in those which ,i have adopted4 ,it appears from the estimates of ,mr4 ,king1 who1 in the reign of ,william and ,mary1 proved himself as exact an observer as ,mr4 ,young has done in our days1 that the produce of ,land alone amounted then to #cb1jjj1jjj2 the latter calculator nearly doubles it1 by rating it at #fc1jjj1jjj4 ,the ,custom ,house books1 the exactness of which cannot be disputed in one of the two facts they vouch to1 7the ,burthen of the ,shipping1 and the ,produce of ,exportation17 will shew that the former1 from the year #agji to #aggc1 progressively increased from #bhi1cah1 to #gge1jgh tons2 and the years #afig1 #afih1 #afii1 taken upon a medium and compared with #agga1 #aggb1 and #aggc1 tend to prove that the gradual rise of the ,exports has been still more considerable1 being from #e1fab1jehl4 to #af1jbg1icgl4 7,vide ,sir ,charles ,whitworth's ,state of ,trade74 ,the foreign trade of ,england seems therefore to have trebled since the beginning of the present century4 ,we shall1 in the sequel1 state the reasons for supposing the commerce of other nations to have experienced the same progression4 ,the annual sum of #aaj1jjj1jjj1 divided amongst #i1cej1jjj inhabitants1 will produce daily little less than #h pence per head1 from the ,monarch down to the meanest subject4 ,the observations ,i have made in several parts of ,france1 from documents1 it is true1 no ways comparable to those of ,mr4 ,young1 could not justify my allowing so large a revenue to each individual in that kingdom4 ,yet ,france and ,england are the two richest and most flourishing countries in ,europe4 ,mr4 ,young rates the clear profits of the ,manufactories and ,trade of ,england alone at #cg millions2 but as these two objects have apparently been trebled in regard to the exports1 they cannot be supposed to have exceeded #ab millions in the reign of ,william and ,mary4 ,to this let us add1 in a proportion rather exaggerated1 #e millions for the landed and commercial revenues of ,scotland2 and it will appear1 that1 including the #cb millions of landed produce1 as computed by ,mr4 ,king1 the total amount of the revenue1 land and trade of both countries included1 could hardly be equal to #di millions in the beginning of the present century4 ,now1 from the same author1 both kingdoms contained at that period #g1bjj1jjj inhabitants1 who1 if admitted to a brotherly share1 would have claimed only #d;d4 each per day4 ,i do not confine myself to a nicer exactness in the fractions3 the object is not to calculate the precise instant of an eclipse2 or at least1 that of ,english prosperity appearing to me no ways probable1 ,i think myself justified in neglecting every thing that might impede my operations1 without influencing1 in the least1 my arguments4 ,yet the wages of a journeyman were nevertheless rated then at #h;d4 per day3 but let it be observed1 that the number of working-days1 when balanced with the holidays1 sickness1 and want of employment1 those eight pence1 distributed in the journeyman's family1 were often reduced to two2 just as the sixteen pence1 the present price of labour1 according to ,mr4 ,young's ,estimate1 commonly amount to #d;d4 only1 although the brotherly share of each man nearly amounts to #h;d4 ,if any one should be inclined to call this1 injustice1 let him consider that this very multitude of reductions from #d;d4 to #b;d4 and from #h;d4 to #d;d4 from ,william ,,iii4 to this present time1 has been the only means of accumulating by degrees that immense stock of #fjj millions and upwards1 manifestly laid out by the ,state in less than a century1 and of which the ,national ,debt makes a part4 ,it is evident that if each individual1 from ,william ,,iii4 had only spent at the rate of #e;d4 per day1 there would be no ,national ,debt2 but as each man of the nation could1 generally speaking1 and upon an equal proportion1 lay out only #d;d4 per day1 the exceeding halfpenny must have long ago swallowed up the whole principal1 the produce of former reductions4 ,not one of the monuments erected since that period would now exist1 nor would a single trace be left of the stocks to which the nation owes its present wealth3 each portion of the national stock1 every monument posterior to that era1 prove as many persons reduced in the origin from #d;d4 to #b;d4 and then from #h;d4 to #d;d4 as either of the above two sums are oftener told in the value of such monument1 or such stock as might be made the subject of inquiry4 ,no country in the world can boast of a more respectable source of its opulence4,this opulence must either be given up1 or the inconveniences that attend it be submitted to4 ,in all parts of the world the labourer earns a livelihood1 and very little above that3 yet this very trifle is sufficient to make him happy1 wherever he cannot be compelled to work without pay4 ,he feels little1 never takes the trouble of thinking1 and leaves off work only to eat1 make merry1 or go to rest4--,is our lot better1 with that fatal degree of reflection by which our whole life so often centers within a single point8 ,but is the nation in general as happy in our days as it was in those of ,william ,,iii8 ,have those causes1 which tend to produce a decrease in the population1 no manner of influence on the people's happiness8 ,and is not the reality of such causes more self-evident1 than the pretended proofs adduced universally in favour of its increase8 ,without entering into any dispute on the merits of the researches concerning population1 which would lead to some truths perhaps unthought of hitherto2 here follow the arguments which will occur to any man who stands not in need of a fixed and precise number of thinking heads1 laborious hands1 and well-digesting stomachs4 #ast4 ,it is not easy to conceive how1 the landed revenue being nearly double1 there should be a less number of husbandmen2 for it is not with agriculture as we find it in several manufactories1 where the invention of engines1 and an alteration in the mode of working1 can so advantageously supply the supposed decrease in the number of hands to work after the primitive manner4 ,the valuable number of husbandmen seems therefore1 in my opinion1 placed beyond even the idea of a decrease4 #b;dly4 ,it is no less impossible to imagine1 that the number of sailors being nearly in a triple proportion to what it was1 and the quantity of exports probably augmented on account of the burden of the outward-bound ships1 a diminution should have taken place among that class of people1 equally precious to the ,state1 for establishing and ascertaining its wealth and strength1 as the cultivation is indispensable to secure and support its very existence4 #c;dly4 ,if1 notwithstanding the acknowledged impossibility of proving a real decrease in the population1 any one should obstinately admit of it1 without positive proofs1 it cannot at least be denied1 that the produce of land and industry being nearly doubled1 some means must have been devised1 to do that with one hand which required two before4 ,in this case it would be an easy matter to prove1 that at the rate of the supposed depopulation1 the few elect1 who have escaped its causes1 can boast of enjoyments in a threefold proportion to what they were before1 notwithstanding the difference between the present impost and that which was paid in the beginning of this century3 for1 after all1 the taxes under ,william ,,iii4 amounted to four millions and a half and upwards1 to be deducted from forty-nine millions standing revenue2 the balance was therefore forty-four millions and a half1 to be shared amongst #g1bjj1jjj inhabitants1 acknowledged by ,mr4 ,king2 that is1 very little above #d;d4 per day for each individual4 ,now1 in the year #aggi1 for ,i have not yet exceeded that period1 the impost was of about nine millions1 which1 taken from an income of #aaj millions1 left a surplusage of #aja1jjj1jjjl4 to be divided4 ,if we adopt the supposed depopulation at its highest rate1 the number of souls in ,england is reduced to #d1ejj1jjj1 each of whom has #as4 #c;d4 instead of #d;d4 allowed in the reign of ,william4 ,it is then incontestible that the ,nation is richer1 but1 ,i must own1 not more happy2 for they complain and are alarmed at this time1 as was then the case4 ,it would be necessary to allow the supposition of an increase1 if the intention were to shew that the people are now in a worse condition3 nor could even this be deemed sufficient2 for1 admitting the existence of #i1cej1jjj inhabitants1 it will appear1 that1 by the surplusage of #aja millions left1 after the discharge of the taxes in #aggi1 each individual would be entitled to #g;d4 instead of the groat1 in ,william's reign4 ,the nation therefore in that year1 in spite of its public debt1 had almost doubled its wealth1 rating the population at #i1cej1jjj2 and raised it four-fold1 supposing the number reduced to #d1ejj1jjj souls3 and in either case1 the riches of the ,state1 as well as the national debt1 arose and increased from the daily reductions of #d;d4 to #b;d4 and of #h;d4 to #d;d4 which1 since the reign of ,william to this day1 have escaped from that all-devouring canker1 commonly called ,,luxury4 ,a more particular ,view of the same ,subject4 ,i wish to inquire more minutely1 whether such facts as are known do not cast a sufficient light over all the others in general1 to induce the most anxious and pressing creditor1 and the nicest in point of proofs1 to sleep in the utmost security1 till some particular discovery pleads in justification of his alarms4 ,the present revenue of ,england is stated at #fc millions2 that of ,scotland1 at about #g millions2 collectively1 #gj1jjj1jjjl4 ,it will be seen hereafter1 that #fe or #ge millions would give the same essential results3 ,i must however add1 if any thing more should be wanted1 that1 in his estimate1 ,mr4 ,young does not include the horses1 hemp1 flax1 vegetables1 fruit1 nor hops1 c4 all of which are reproduced annually1 and augment considerably the number of exchanges held out to industry4 ,this landed revenue is produced by somewhat more than one third of the inhabitants4 ,it remains for us now to compute1 at the lowest1 the income produced by a second class of people1 probably as numerous as the former1 since not less than #a1ejj1jjj persons of both sexes1 and of all ages1 are employed solely in preparing and working the wool4 7,see ,chalmers's ,estimates47 ,but if the labour of #c1jjj1jjj of husbandmen brings in #gj millions annually1 why should that of an equal number of mechanics and handicraftsmen stand for less in the computation8 ,to this reason let the following remarks be added4 ,out of the #gj millions1 #bj come to the share of the cultivators1 either as the price of their labour1 or for poor's rates2 #ab1 of these #bj millions1 at least1 are laid out for the produce of industry3 bread1 it may be observed1 is comprised in the remaining #h millions4 ,let us state the number of proprietors at #b1jjj1jjj1 including all their dependents1 under any denomination whatever1 women1 children1 chaplains1 farmers1 physicians1 strollers1 servants1 c4 and their annual expenditure1 in the rough produce of the land1 at #ah millions1 there remains only #cb1jjj1jjj1 which must be paid by the industry1 already in advance1 of the #ab1jjj1jjj exchange granted to the cultivator4 ,it is obvious that ,i speak here only of that kind of industry which may be productive of exchangeable commodities1 even against those of foreign produce4 ,three millions of mechanics do not live more soberly1 nor are they worse clothed1 than the husbandmen3 it may therefore be inferred1 that out of the #bj millions1 which they likewise receive for their labour1 they lay out in the produce of industry1 #ab millions1 which1 added to the #dd millions ,i have just mentioned1 make1 all together1 #ef millions4 ,the manufacturers and principal traders1 under every denomination1 with their dependents of all kinds1 complete the necessary number of the supposed population of #i1cej1jjj inhabitants1 that is1 #a1ajj1jjj souls1 themselves1 the idle people supported by them1 and their household included4 ,supposing their consumption of the rough produce to be proportionable to that of the proprietor1 their expenditure will be #aj1jjj1jjj2 but then we must square by the same rule what they lay out for the produce of industry3 #ah millions will be the sum1 which1 together with the other #ef millions1 makes a mass of #gd1 instead of the #gj1jjj1jjj acknowledged in agriculture4 ,even this would not be sufficient1 for reasons which ,i shall give in the sequel2 but ,i shall observe1 in the first instance1 that were the population less numerous than we have supposed it to be1 the same consumption of the rough produce is certainly inadmissible3 but the landed revenue remaining the same1 though procured by a less number of hands1 it would then become necessary to estimate the amount of the labours of industry1 effected by a number of handicraftsmen1 equal to that of the cultivators1 from the ascertained value of the latter's productive labour4 ,i now return to the deficit wanted for the security of a constant increase of wealth1 which may at all times supply all the exigencies of the ,state4 ,the #ah1jjj1jjj consumed on the produce of industry1 as granted to the principal traders1 seem to raise them to #d1jjj1jjj above their real value2 ,i mean1 that which is acknowledged in the produce of agriculture4 ,it is not under colour of the supposed interest of the enormous principal1 which gives motion to the manufactures and to the inland trade2 it is necessary that industry should contribute its stock1 as well as agriculture4 ,the principals laid out1 by the one or the other1 are a matter of indifference to the state2 it can speculate but on their produce1 and pays exactly the interests1 when it rates at the same value the result of the labours of both2 but1 to the #gj millions assigned as the indisputable produce of industry1 7supposing a laborious man to be as good as any other equally industrious7 we must add the intrinsic value of the rough materials on which industry hath wrought3 ,this accession1 which is also fair and equitable1 will furnish1 not only the #d1jjj1jjj1 which annually exceed the home consumption just mentioned1 but likewise all the millions necessary to secure1 and mean while explain1 this gradual increase1 which it would be difficult not to trace in trade1 as it is observable in the landed property4 ,the latter is doubled within the space of #ij years2 from whence we are forced to conclude1 that the annual savings of the farmers1 and owners living on the spot and cultivating their estates on the true principles of husbandry1 have sufficed to discharge1 not only the public burdens1 and to defray the manuring expences1 but also to double the produce and the general means in the most important article4 ,it remains now to examine1 whether the savings of the manufacturers1 traders1 and other supporters of industry1 are as indisputable as those made by the cultivators4 ,clear ,savings of the ,manufactories1 ,trade1 and other ,branches of ,industry4 ,the riches of a country1 and its progress1 are established and confirmed by its savings4 ,let us consider cursorily such as1 from their self-evidence1 admit of no dispute4 ,ninety years ago the landed revenue of ,great-,britain was computed at about #ce millions4 ,let us suppose that #aj millions of specie were then required to give an effectual circulation to property of all kinds1 7many people will think this by far too little#a73 but the revenue of landed estates1 being now #gj millions1 #bj millions at least1 instead of the #aj millions requisite in the times of ,william and ,mary1 should be allowed2 and consequently a first clear stock of savings amounts to--#aj1jjj1jjjl4 ,the consumer in those days was probably allowed1 as is still the custom1 a twelve-month's credit upon half the articles purchased4 ,some of them took a longer time1 if others a shorter one2 but the stock of credit being then equal only to #ce millions1 and now raised to #gj millions1 we have clearly another mass of savings of--#ce1jjj1jjj4 ,then1 as in the present time1 the preparing1 manufacturing1 and delivering1 required six1 twelve1 or eighteen months4 ,let us suppose the year1 upon an average of the slowness of one operation1 and the celerity with which another was performed1 we shall find again1 in the difference of the flock1 a third saving of #ce1jjj1jjj4 ,if we suppose the value of manufactories1 dwellings1 warehouses1 and all kinds of establishments1 necessary to answer all the exigencies of a stock of industry and commerce of #ce1jjj1jjj1 to have amounted then to #be1jjj1jjj1 we must admit that the objects in the same manner necessary to a stock of #gj1jjj1jjj1 do likewise present us with a fourth clear saving of--#be1jjj1jjj4 ,in order to employ those hands by whose labour the annual sum of #ce1jjj1jjj was produced1 #aj1jjj1jjj were probably sufficient2 whereas #bj1jjj1jjj are now required4 ,this shews a fifth clear saving of--#aj1jjj1jjj4 ,the annual returns from the ,american islands was computed1 #ij years ago1 at about #ccj1jjj1 7,sir ,charles ,whitworth's ,state of ,trade74 ,half of this produce was1 in all likelihood1 mortgaged to commerce2 but it only supposed a stock of #c1jjj1jjj at most lent1 it matters not at what interest4 ,the yearly produce of those colonies1 added to that of the ceded islands1 amounts1 at present1 to more than #b1ijj1jjj2 more than one-third of which belongs to the trader1 either as purchaser or mortgagee1 and exhibits a sum of about #bj1jjj1jjj1 from which we shall substract the former #c1jjj1jjj2 and considering 7for a moment7 those colonies as being foreign to the ,state1 we shall find a sixth clear saving of--#ag1jjj1jjj1 7the petition of the merchants in #agge1 supposes it to be #cj1jjj1jjj47 ,the ,english might perhaps be out of humour with me1 were ,i to suppose that the continent of ,america1 stands on the debtor side1 for no more than #d1jjj1jjj2 ,i shall therefore set down this article as--,memorandum4 ,eighty years ago the amount of exportation from ,england1 was estimated at #e1fab1jhel4 ,in #aggc1 upon a medium of three years1 the same was increased to #af1jbg1icg3 of the exceeding #i or #aj millions1 one part appropriated to the commerce in ,europe1 another to the ,american1 a third to the ,east-,india trade1 remain one1 two1 and sometimes three years1 before they can be applied to the same objects4 ,these #aj1jjj1jjj therefore suppose a stock more than double the same sum1 and ought1 in consequence1 to be set down as a seventh clear saving of--#aj1jjj1jjj4 ,the ,english ships1 employed eighty years ago in carrying on the national trade1 presented only a sum of #bhi1cah tons burden2 the number of tons is now rated at #gge1jgh4 ,this increase of #dhe1gfj1 together with the expence attending the fitting out1 going and coming1 produce a stock of #e1jjj1jjj1 which must be doubled1 by compensating the voyages of six and eight months1 by those which require two or three years3 here1 therefore1 appears an eighth clear saving of--#aj1jjj1jjj4 ,the proprietor of lands should not be considered in this light1 in the use he makes of his yearly profits1 but with respect to that part of his said profits which he lays out in cultivation3 ,in regard to that share of his income which he invests in the funds1 we must consider him as member1 agent1 and usufructuary of industry and commerce4 ,now1 if we divide into three parts the whole of the national debt1 one-third of which1 if agreeable1 we shall set down as foreign property1 and the other two as belonging to the natives1 we must of course acknowledge in the nation a new sum of clear savings1 amounting to #ahj1jjj1jjj4 ,this1 in fact1 should not be considered as a real increase of wealth1 which it is at all times easy to appreciate1 but as a proof that there exists1 in the nation1 an inestimable number of men1 who are capable1 in the space of ninety years1 to effect a saving of #ahj1jjj1jjj1 which government will have it in its power1 within the same space of time1 to appropriate to the exigencies of war1 if potentates should continue in a warlike humour2 or to lay out in objects of industry and cultivation1 supposing an improvement of the revenue should be preferred to a state of warfare4 ,i shall not speak either of the difference which may be observed between the present state of the ,royal navy1 and the situation it was in at the beginning of this century1 nor of the public monuments erected from that period1 nor of the ,india territories1 nor of the ,colonies remaining to ,england2 provided the objection concerning the money due to foreigners is not repeated against me1 as ,i am in hopes1 by and by1 to find some kind of compensation for it4 ,i shall therefore confine myself here1 to observe1 that the above savings of all kinds of industry1 some of them active1 the others passive1 all equally necessary1 assisting each other mutually1 no doubt1 and finally amounting to #ccb millions1 have been effected in the course of #ij years2 not with any sensible detriment to the landed property1 since its revenue is doubled1 nor to the disadvantage of the lower class of people1 whose day-work brings in #as4 #d;d4 instead of #h;d4 nor to the prejudice of the fine arts1 the rewards of which are perhaps fourfold1 comparatively speaking2 but solely according to the common course of things1 restrained1 nevertheless1 by a war of #cj years and upwards1 out of the #ij1 and by all the prejudices which the present generation begins to shake off1 and which probably will be entirely abolished in the next4 ,it is no ways natural that the same causes will not be productive of the same effects4 ,it may therefore1 in my judgement1 be reasonably concluded1 that1 within #ij years from this day1 the landed revenue may be increased to double its actual value1 and the population1 trade1 and industry1 augmented in the like proportion1 were even the national debt to amount then to #dgf1jjj1jjj1 instead of the present #bch1jjj1jjj1 which excites so many complaints and loud murmurings4 ,in fact1 let us suppose the debt arrived at a height so apparently formidable1 and the price of every thing proportionably increased2 would the former be less firmly established8 ,methinks that the very contrary is demonstrated by calculation1 and that imagination cannot frame any rational objection thereto2 at least ,i am free to confess1 that all my efforts have not been able to produce any combination of probable circumstances1 which might1 in any supposition1 justify the dread of that application of the sponge which is so often held out as a resource that sooner or later must be adopted4 ,setting aside the infamy of such a measure1 what advantage would accrue from it8 ,let it be adopted this moment in ,london1 within three days the same step must inevitably be taken at ,paris4 ,a manuvre of this kind would manifestly indicate either the most hostile intentions on the part of the ,english government1 or the project of overturning the constitution3 the latter concerns ,england alone2 but in the former1 ,france is deeply interested4 ,that power would be compelled to put itself in a situation to oppose an immense and free revenue1 to a revenue equally immense without appropriation4 ,were1 on the other hand1 the ,french to lead the way1 ,england must inevitably follow2 and the unprofitable disgrace would be the portion of either of the two nations that should have set up the precedent4 ,but who will see without grief1 #b1jjj1jjj interest due to foreign ,states6 #b1jjj1jjj in specie carried out every year from ,england6 ,england yearly stript of #b1jjj1jjj of her money666 ,it will be seen hereafter in what that money consists4 ,yet with personal stocks so real1 so considerable1 so clear1 what can prevent ,great ,britain wresting from the foreigner1 the share he claims in the national debt8 ,the reason is obvious3 the owner of landed property1 or the farmer1 who hopes to get six per cent4 of the stock which he lays out upon his lands1 instead of vesting them in the funds1 envies not the foreigner who is glad to get #e1 #d1 or even #c per cent4 ,on the other hand1 the merchant who trades by commission1 and who has an opportunity of placing in the colonies his money at #e per cent4 interest1 which is raised to #h and #i by his commissions for sale and purchase procured therewith1 cannot wish himself in the situation of a stranger1 whose stock in the ,english funds brings him in1 not above one half of that sum4 ,it is still less an object of envy for the manufacturers1 or owners of ships1 who1 from their manufactories or shipping1 clear #aj or #ab per cent4 of the monies laid out by them3 the projectors of all kinds likewise flatter themselves1 that the stock employed in their undertakings will produce #ae per cent4 ,to sum up the whole in much fewer words1 the prospect of #c or #d per cent4 is not likely to tempt any one1 who is in hopes of getting a two1 three1 or even four-fold interest4 ,and in fine1 the public funds1 in any country whatever1 will never be more or less than a lucky1 or rather a providential1 resource for those who have neither talent1 power1 nor leisure1 to place their money to better advantage4 ,now1 would the abolishing of such a resource turn to the profit of the ,state1 even supposing it to be effected by the justifiable means of a general reimbursement1 were the case possible8 ,i have too often reflected on the subject1 too often revolved it over and over1 ,i have viewed it under too many points1 not to be sensible how far above my strength it is to discuss the matter in all its parts2 ,i shall nevertheless venture to throw out some thoughts1 which to me seem likely to render somewhat problematical a question which1 at first sight1 does not appear anyways difficult to resolve4 ,this question is not1 whether it would be more advantageous to the ,state1 not to have contracted a debt of #bch millions2 but whether1 since it is incurred1 it would be profitable to discharge it4 ,to doubt of the former1 would be absurd3 #bch millions thrown away almost entirely1 within the space of #ij years1 to forward destructive schemes1 now no otherwise compensated than by a double devastation of the same kind1 in a neighbouring kingdom1 which by a treble population was able to support it1 would certainly have been better bestowed1 in both countries1 either on the lands1 whose revenues and number of cultivators would have increased1 or in the improvement of the trade and arts1 the stock and chef-d'uvres of which would thus have been multiplied4 ,but the debt being once incurred1 let us suppose that the #bch millions1 which are vanished1 should return into the ,exchequer1 would it be proper or not to pay it off8 ,thus stands the question4 ,thoughts on ,imposts and ,reimbursements4--,the ,accumulation of public ,treasure considered as the ,means of preventing ,taxation4 ,the present impost in ,england1 as the case is almost every where1 consists of two parts widely different from each other3 the one is certainly burdensome1 but necessary2--of this hereafter4 ,might not the other1 which concerns the national debt1 however grievous it may appear1 be considered as an useful establishment1 so long as it shall be presumed that the increase of the national wealth1 and its being divided amongst a greater number of individuals1 is an advantage to the ,state2 8or1 in other words1 until it shall appear evidently1 that the welfare of the ,state requires that each of its members should lay out annually all that he is able to spend80 ,before ,i attempt to deliver my opinion on these two subjects1 ,i shall suppose the reimbursement possible1 and resolved upon4 ,nine millions of taxes1 to pay off the annual interest of the debt1 compose nearly one seventh of the landed revenue4 ,these taxes1 gradually laid on such objects of consumption as are supposed most likely to bear them1 must have raised their price by one seventh1 or something more2 and that really1 justly1 and ,i think necessarily4 ,the reader will perceive that ,i speak of the objects of taxation collectively1 since some of them bring to the ,exchequer twice their intrinsic value4 ,the reimbursement being effected1 would they fall back to their primitive value8--,yet this must be1 in order to reap the pretended advantage2 and this1 in my opinion1 would be of no manner of service4 ,i shall endeavour to prove it2 and then we shall examine whether the effect would not be more than doubtful4 ,it would be no easy matter to assign1 for certain general facts1 any other cause than the force of ,nature2 who1 in the end1 gets the better of all the regulations that thwart her4 ,but let any one examine whether there be a single untaxed object1 which1 from #ij years back1 or1 to speak more to the purpose1 from the origin of the national debt1 is not raised more than one seventh1 above the nominal value it had at that period4 ,it is therefore sufficiently probable that the taxes have been felt1 not only by the consumer of the taxed commodities1 7according to the laudable intentions of ,government7 but also by the whole nation1 by all the individuals that compose it3--,and this1 in my opinion1 is equally just and unexceptionable4 ,yet1 it may be urged1 that this increase in price is to be ascribed to the greater quantity of specie in circulation4 ,granted4 ,in this case1 a falling-off in the prices1 accruing1 as it is supposed1 from a decrease in the taxes1 which is represented as the effect of a reimbursement1 cannot then take place3--besides1 as the sequel will show1 the taxes unavoidably bring in1 one way or the other1 even in the first year1 the whole money required to pay the same4 ,i shall argue on both suppositions4 ,is the increase in the prices owing to the taxation8 ,it appears1 evidently1 that the taxes bring in the sums necessary to pay them1 since they are actually and annually paid3--,this money1 then1 must be withdrawn from the circulation1 in order to lower the prices4 ,is this increase the effect of an augmentation of the specie8 ,then it will be necessary1 in order to ascertain the primitive price1 to recall from the circulation all the money which has been introduced since1 and in spite of the taxes4 ,now if1 in spite of the taxes1 a country abounds with money1 how should it not be so1 supposing no duties had been laid8--,how can the abolition of the taxes prevent the introduction of cash8--,how will it come to pass1 that the mass of specie being increased1 the prices shall not be raised8--,and if all of them augment1 in a fair proportion1 who will gain by it1 who will suffer8 ,be it supposed1 nevertheless1 for this is my main object1 that the abolition of the taxes will lower the price of the mass of taxed commodities4--,the same force of nature1 which1 without the intervention of any one1 had raised the generality of untaxed objects up to the rate necessary to balance the imaginary value1 which the tax added to the others1 would operate in a contrary sense1 and diminish1 insensibly1 the price of those articles which might have been overlooked3--,what would be the advantage accruing to the ,state from a general and proportionable decrease8--,let us not think yet of the pretended profit that would result therefrom1 in favour of trade1 with relation to foreign competition3 this matter requires a particular article4 ,the only business now in hand1 is to examine1 whether1 in case the reimbursement should be effected1 this general decrease of prices1 which ,i have just granted1 could be effectually obtained4 ,the reflections which ,i have hitherto laid before the reader1 suppose that the refunded #bch millions would irrevocably be transferred from the ,exchequer into the hands of those unfortunate individuals who might have been forced to receive their reimbursement4 ,but one must live4 ,government could not carry injustice so far as to compel them to bury1 or cast into the deep1 that precious metal1 ripped up at so great an expence from the bowels of the earth4 ,what consequence would then ensue1 if that immense sum put into circulation1 not in ,england alone1 where such an addition of specie would1 in less than six months1 occasion a six-fold rise of prices1 but over all ,europe1 where probably treble that stock never was in circulation8--,the price of every commodity would treble1 or at best double1 perhaps universally4--,what advantage could the ,state1 or individuals1 derive from such unavoidable1 general1 and proportionable rise8--,were the reimbursement practicable1 instead of effecting it1 ,i should vote for laying out the #bch millions in erecting a colossus of gold and silver1 to be a standing monument of public gratitude towards those whose conomy and confidence have served the ,state in its needful circumstances4 ,the absurdity which might be imputed to such an idea ,i shall partly do away1 by stating the effects of laying up treasures1 as has been the fancy of several princes1 and which is supposed profitable by ,mr4 ,david ,hume1 who1 methinks1 ought to have been one of the first to rest assured of its inutility1 after his excellent observations on money4 ,i shall suppose that the ,english government had preserved1 seven years ago1 the #fj millions and upwards1 expended during the last war2 and that1 instead of laying those taxes so highly complained of1 they had annually laid out of the ,exchequer1 the #ab1 #ae1 #bj1jjj1jjj sterling1 which successively produced the last debt3 what might have been the result8 ,first1 ,if the very useless prohibition of the exportation of specie1 however it might be profitable to those who could export it1 could have possibly been put in force1 #fj millions of real cash added1 in a country where #bj millions perhaps are sufficient for circulation1 must have doubled at least the price of every thing2 a consequence diametrically opposite to what it was intended to effect4 ,would it not1 in some respect1 have ruined the ,bank1 by rendering useless its nominal stock1 in lowering the interest of its real one1 and reducing1 in fine1 its abilities so much below the level of public wants1 when the general prices1 two-fold increased1 would have raised1 in the same proportion1 that of every engagement8 ,secondly1 ,the evil would have been less fatal than ,i describe it1 if the prohibitory law1 as all those that militate against justice and common sense1 had been evaded2 but the gold hoarded up heretofore1 and now supposed to be circulated over ,england1 would1 by succession1 have passed into ,france3 and the latter1 in order to continue the war1 would have borrowed1 even of the ,english1 at four1 and presently at three per cent4 the monies which she could not procure at less than seven or eight per cent4 ,now money growing more common in ,france1 the prices would be1 as in ,england1 and soon after every where else1 increased in the same proportion2 for it is essential to observe1 that those two nations are too rich1 their correspondence too extensive1 their activity kept up by too many branches of industry1 for them not to regulate the markets all over ,europe3 it is probable that both are now too enlightened any longer to refuse receiving it1 not one from the other1 but from ,nature herself1 who1 constantly provident1 ever above the reach of untoward regulation1 at all times unbiassed in bestowing her favours1 or equipoising one by the other1 would settle1 only a little later1 notwithstanding all efforts to the contrary1 that equilibrium necessary to the general good of ,society1 of which it is glorious enough for those two countries to constitute the preponderant parts4 ,thirdly1 ,independent of this general and inevitable repartition of the #fj millions laid up heretofore1 the #aj1 #ae1 and #bj millions1 which ,england has found yearly1 during the last war1 in the purse of her subjects1 were1 beyond doubt1 that portion of capitals1 which the circumstances of such a war as the last was1 would have rendered useless in the hands of the lenders1 had government found in the ,exchequer those sums which were obtained by way of a loan4 ,can it be doubted but that this portion1 useless in ,england1 in the supposition of a prior accumulation of money1 would equally have been sent into ,france1 on the first prospect of placing it to advantage8--,it would have been carried there1 just as the ,dutch had formerly sent into ,england the dormant part of their capitals1 and would send it any where1 at all times when sure of benefiting by it1 were it even against the interest of the ,united ,provinces1 saying with ,camilla1 in ,corneille's ,tragedy of the ,horatii1 8,rome1 si tu te plains que c'est-l te trahir1 8,fais toi des ennemis que je puisse har40 ,it will appear by the sequel1 that ,i am as far from cutting off such resources1 as are deemed infallible1 and dictated by prudence1 in order to support with vigour a necessary war1 as ,i am from raising the least doubt concerning the right of waging war1 be it ever so unprofitable and unjust4 ,my only intention was to prove1 that treasures hoarded up in time of peace1 and scattered afterwards during a war1 in order to avoid taxation1 would raise much higher the prices of everything1 than taxes of any kind whatever could raise them4 ,and ,i do now say--make war as long as you please1 but do not accumulate for the purpose of waging it4 ,your monies1 locked up in your strong chests1 could not be sheltered from every kind of accidents2 and whilst you can boast of subjects equally brave and industrious1 you will never want money1 nor means to carry on any war you may undertake3 but then you must submit to that augmentation of prices1 which must naturally follow4 ,i flatter myself ,i shall be able to prove1 that this very increase is subject to no manner of inconvenience4 ,on the grievous1 but necessary part of the ,impost4 ,which part of the impost is truly hurtful to the wealth of nations8 ,a standing army of #ej1jjj men in time of peace1 both for the sea and land-service1 and #ej1jjj more employed1 either upon the different objects relating to those services1 or to maintain good order and public tranquillity1 or intrusted with the collection of the revenue1 are evidently #ajj1jjj men1 taken in ,england from that last class which1 though last in point of rank1 is nevertheless the sole instrument of the national riches4 ,now1 out of the given number of #i millions of inhabitants1 #f millions only constitute this precious1 this productive class2 the other #c millions consist merely of consumers3 from the #f millions1 allowed in the productive class1 deduct #d millions of children1 old people1 and women1 half of whose life is taken up with the cares and incumbrances of a domestic nature2 of this truly profitable class #c millions only will then remain4 ,a hundred thousand men1 all stout1 vigorous and skilful1 constantly withdrawn from that class1 occasion a vacuum of about a twentieth in the productions of the land1 and of the arts1 that is to say1 7for there should be no illusion in the case7 the twentieth part of the possible wealth4 ,that portion of the impost1 which is set apart for the subsistence of those #ajj1jjj men1 is therefore1 in some manner1 burdensome2 since society is thus deprived1 not only of the produce of their industry1 but also of that part of other people's labour which they consume without contributing towards it3 but amends are amply made for those indispensable privations1 by the property being better secured1 and enjoyed in full tranquillity4 ,besides1 that part of ,society1 which suffers most thereby1 does not belong to the productive class2 the latter1 as has been already observed1 is1 in the richest as well as in the poorest countries1 ever reduced to that pittance which is but just necessary to keep up industry4 ,nations the most free differ in this point from those who groan under the most slavish despotism1 only by the insolence with which this scanty pittance1 if refused1 is insisted upon in a free country1 and the humble manner in which it is sued for in the others4 ,the difference of natural talents1 displayed in their utmost energy1 suffices to establish1 sooner or later1 amongst the freest people1 that enormous disproportion of wealth which gives offence elsewhere1 only because it is not always the proof or reward of labour1 abilities1 and conomy4 ,let any circumstance whatever1 either well or ill judged1 occur1 which may determine the nation to complete to #bjj1jjj the #ej1jjj sailors and landsmen that are sufficient in time of peace2 #aej1jjj more men will be taken from the productive class1 which must1 of course1 occasion a second vacuum1 viz4 the productions with which they would have enriched or amused their country4 ,but the loss will not end here2 other #cjj1jjj men1 many more perhaps1 from the same class1 constantly busy1 during the war1 in preparing the intended destructive plans1 will unavoidably occasion a farther loss of four or five other twentieths in the other enjoyments of peaceable times1 to which1 had not other occupations interfered1 they would have contributed3 and if the war should last for #c1 #d1 or #aj years1 it is evident that1 in the latter supposition1 the nation must lose all that increase of wealth which would have been effected1 had the principal1 swallowed up by the war1 been differently employed4 ,this loss is considerable1 immense1 and never can be retrieved2 for what was then omitted1 will never be done2 what will be effected1 might equally have been so1 without preventing the productions which would already have taken place4 ,all these deficits in wealth1 occasioned by the war1 are a substantial loss2 and the prospect would be dispiriting indeed1 were not the rival nation in the very same predicament4 ,but will this grievous loss be after the peace active1 as it were1 and felt by the community longer than the time required for the #b1 #c1 or #djj1jjj men1 employed during the war in forwarding the destructive schemes1 to resume their peaceable occupations2 or till the number of them1 who shall have died in ,america1 the ,indies1 of the scurvy1 or at the fatal tree1 be replaced by the ordinary course of population8--,this ,i cannot conceive by any means3 some of the reasons1 which ,i have to adduce1 will be found in the reflections ,i am about to present on the second part of the impost1 which seems to me not less useful than the first is necessary3 all my other arguments will appear in the other parts of this work4 ,if it can be concluded from the ensemble1 that all the evils brought about by a bad or ill-fated administration1 are naturally1 and without expence1 compensated under a wise ministry1 and that the most barbarous and most extravagant of them all could have no other means of ruining the nation than by destroying the people2 then1 made easy on the effects of the national debt1 we shall have courage enough to acknowledge1 that it is as sacred in the hands of those1 who1 having furnished the value1 are in possession of the vouchers1 as the crown on the head of the monarch2 and we shall enjoy the freedom of mind necessary to infer1 that although ,providence often seems to leave to chance the destiny of some individuals1 yet it is very far from being indifferent to all that concerns the whole species#b4 ,of that part of the ,impost1 which is more useful than grievous4 ,the part of taxation1 which now remains to be considered1 is that which1 at every instant1 presents to any one1 a secure and useful employ of all the capitals at his disposal1 and of all the savings which prudence hath induced him to make4 ,the utility of the public funds1 which are nothing else but the national debt1 might seem established by these few words2 but further details are necessary4 ,i have adopted the estimate by which ,england is supposed to contain #i1cjj1jjj inhabitants2 one-third cultivates the land1 one-third is engaged in manufactures1 and of the remaining third1 #fjj1jjj at most share among them the neat produce of cultivation and the arts1 in proportion to the capitals with which they keep in play those two engines of opulence4 ,all the remaining part of the people1 as dependents under whatever denomination1 look1 for their subsistence1 to the friendship1 humour1 pride1 or wants of the #fjj1jjj proprietors4 ,out of #gj millions1 at which the landed revenue throughout ,great ,britain is computed1 #cc millions are absorbed by the unavoidable expences1 and accessary charges attending cultivation1 or annexed to the property4 ,the proprietors share among themselves #bj or #be millions2 the other #ab millions go through the hands of farmers1 as a very equitable recompence for their trouble1 and as a liberal interest for a personal stock of #abj millions necessary to the produce of the revenue4 7,vide ,mr4 ,arthur ,young47 ,on the best use possible of these last #abj millions1 solely depends the increase of landed profits3 but it is only by degrees1 and the concurrence of favourable circumstances1 that the landed property can effectually receive the increase of the capital1 which is calculated to augment that produce4--,does it conduce to the interest of the ,state1 that1 till then1 the farmer should keep inactive the capital appropriated to so material an object1 or that he should lay it out to improve the lands before it is wanted1 or that1 waiting for the instant of need1 he should employ it in such manner as not to have it at command when the needful time is arrived8--,this question cannot be answered1 ,i think1 but in the negative2 and it appears to me1 that1 on this point at least1 ,i may assert positively1 that an establishment1 which puts into the hands of the farmer1 at the very juncture when he wants it1 that portion of his capital which had hitherto been useless1 and which however was1 till then1 7owing to such an establishment7 advantageous to some one else1 is1 of all others1 the most profitable1 wherever the object is1 to give to every capital that degree of activity and utility of which it is susceptible4 ,therefore1 a reimbursement which would deprive the capitalists1 farmers1 and active proprietors1 of a resource equally safe and profitable1 would not only prove fatal to the order of citizens especially interested in the landed revenue1 but to all those who1 whilst the money intended for the improvement of land1 is unapplied1 make use of it in some advantageous speculation1 which becomes important to the arts1 and to commerce4 ,we have already observed1 that out of the three last millions of inhabitants1 #fjj1jjj capitalists only share among themselves the neat profits of the arts1 and of cultivation4 ,there remain therefore #b millions #djj1jjj dependents1 who look up1 for their subsistence1 to the caprice1 the pride1 or wants of those opulent men4 ,now out of that number of dependents under every denomination1 servants1 clerks1 lawyers1 physicians1 c4 several thousands are to be reckoned1 who1 tired of their situation1 put by constantly1 part of the wages of servitude1 in order to secure to themselves and their posterity a more free and less equivocal existence4--,would the ,state be benefited1 were this class of men1 as essential as any other parts of society1 to bury1 as it were1 the surplus of their layings-out1 till they should have amassed the sum they might think sufficient for their intended purpose8--,would not the money1 thus lying idle1 occasion a chasm in circulation1 which would turn to the prejudice of trade1 thereby deprived of part of its resources8--,besides1 if the want of a chest1 safe from the attempt of robbers1 and other inconveniences1 a chest which is not only a security for them1 but affords an interest for the money therein deposited1 should necessitate them prematurely to embark in some scheme foreign to their occupation1 which must be either abandoned or neglected3 would not that knowledge1 which they have derived from experience in all matters relating to their primitive avocation1 be entirely lost to the public8--,a reimbursement therefore which would deprive that part of society1 much more wretched and dependent than either the mechanic or the cultivator1 of a resource which1 from its certainty1 induces the former to fulfill with more zeal and exactness1 the duties they have imposed on themselves1 would prove a measure as hostile to humanity1 as it would be contrary to sound policy4 ,in the immensity of commercial operations1 how many capitals to a considerable amount1 unemployed during two1 three1 four1 and six months1 are indispensably wanted at the precise period6 ,would it turn out to the advantage of the ,state1 if a considerable capital1 useless for six months to the holders1 and for the like space of time essentially wanted by those who possess none1 should lie dormant in the proprietor's chest1 till time should give it life1 and make it useful8 ,but it may be urged1 a man buying stock in the public funds1 would lend to the seller 7were no such funds established7 the sum which he gives for his purchase4--,that he might do so1 there is not the least doubt3 ,but could he depend on receiving the money at the time appointed for the repayment8 ,may not the best man to-day1 be a bankrupt to-morrow1 and break for a million2 and if the enterprise1 to the execution of which a merchant appropriates1 to be paid in six months1 that portion of his capital1 which till then has been to him unprofitable1 should require that punctuality which alone could insure its success1 will not prudence compel him to give up six months interest1 that his undertaking may not be left entirely to chance8--,will not the public have lost the fruit which might have been reaped from that dormant capital1 had the owner been at liberty to dispose of it8--,and1 will the same public flatter themselves that the six months interest which the merchant was obliged to sacrifice1 in order to secure the execution of his plan1 will not be reckoned in the expenditure8 ,some will say1 with no small degree of acrimony1 8,how many drones are supported at the expence of the public funds6 ,these are only an encouragement to idleness40 ,but do the persons before spoken of1 come within this description8 ,and1 if the man who has laboured in his youth1 chooses to repose himself in his old-age1 is this pretended idleness any thing more than that otium1 that leisure1 so justifiable1 and so sweet1 after a toilsome life1 when the state of the mind1 and of the heart1 cease to make labour necessary8--,and1 supposing1 that after his death his wealth devolves to an ideot1 must the son of an industrious father1 who has served the ,state both by his conomy and labour1 be deprived of his resource8 ,it might be objected1 that my reasoning derives its force from the bare supposition of a total reimbursement1 the possibility of which no one can admit2 but were it subjoined1 that1 by acknowledging the impracticability of the measure1 we suppose its expediency2--were it farther said1 that the public papers have often spoken of1 and do still point out as the readiest and surest way to effect it1 the application of the sponge2--were it added1 that the first geniuses of ,england1 ,france1 nay1 of all ,europe1 have advanced1 and do still maintain1 that such a measure will one day or other become unavoidable2--then we should be forced to acknowledge1 that it would be no inconsiderable service to humanity1 to spare no endeavours to convince the people1 that no greater ease1 power1 or happiness1 would accrue to them1 were the nation to resolve upon its own disgrace4 ,nor would it1 in my opinion1 be a more difficult talk to prove1 that from a real and gradual reimbursement1 no other advantage could result1 than bringing about by degrees and more imperceptibly1 an evil which would prove equally unprofitable to all4 ,i set aside the outcry against the interest yearly paid to foreigners1 as the produce of the sums vested by them in the funds1 because ,i think ruin impossible1 where the money borrowed at #d or #e1 is laid out at an interest of #f1 #g1 or even #aj per cent4 ,i likewise overlook the declamatory complaints on the fate of the handicraft and husbandman2 because the laws of ,lycurgus should be revived1 or the government must confine itself to protect those two classes of men against every sort of private vexation1 and to secure to them the trifling salary to which they are every where and forever doomed4 ,in spite of avarice the salary must be raised1 if the prices of every necessary should increase2 and were these to fall in their value1 mutiny itself could not prevent a diminution of wages4 ,that part of the people which truly deserves1 and should engage the attention of government1 is that crowd of dependents1 in the other class1 of which ,i have already spoken3 like the cultivator and artificer1 they have no other stock than the passions and wants of the capitalists4 ,these would be much more wretched than the others1 if the education they have received1 carrying their thoughts constantly and in spite of themselves beyond the present moment1 government should in a manner compel them to center them all within that narrow space4 ,the merchant never has more in the funds than that portion of his capital1 which1 for the moment1 is useless to his trade4 ,the farmer1 and the proprietor who manages his own estate1 considered under these two heads1 have at no time in the funds more than that portion of their capitals1 the actual use of which upon the lands they cultivate1 might turn rather to their prejudice than profit4 ,the annihilating of the public funds1 or1 in other words1 a partial reimbursement1 a gradual discharge of the debt1 could therefore affect those three orders of stockholders no farther than to deprive them of this way of increasing their capitals1 without running any risk2 and those are1 undoubtedly1 the smallest part of the sums which constitute the national debt4 ,which is1 then1 the order of citizens that receives the larger share of the interest funded for that debt8 ,it is that multitude of dependents whom the political conomy of society has doomed to toilsome occupations useful to that society1 or to laborious studies1 of which that very society daily reaps the benefit3 it is to that multitude of widows and orphans of both sexes1 whose future support the unfortunate class above-mentioned thought to have secured by means of the present privations which they had imposed on themselves3 it is to those children whose elder brothers are in possession of all the family real estate1 and whose parents hoped to have fixed their condition and settled their fortune by the only means that can effectually obviate1 not the injustice of an unequal division1 since it is admitted1 but the inconvenience resulting from the indivisibility of the landed property1 which devolves to the eldest4 ,yet if1 in a ,state1 we must be father1 brother1 sister1 widow1 orphan1 capitalist1 in fine1 or without a capital1 but with the faculty of acquiring one2 which1 then1 is the class of citizens interested in paying off1 either totally1 or in part and by degrees1 the national debt1 when once it is incurred8 ,besides1 if the reimbursement cannot be effected but at the public expence1 what advantage will the public derive from this operation8 ,objections of another kind against paying off the ,national ,debt4 ,the nominal amount of a loan which nothing obliges us to repay1 is a matter of a very little importance2 the interest agreed upon for the borrowed sum1 is the only thing that deserves attention4 ,the total of the interest in ,england is now about nine millions1 three millions of which could not be procured but by laying taxes on those objects which had hitherto escaped the penetrating eye of the financiers1 and by doubling or trebling the impost on those which appeared less liable to the inconveniences attending such an additional increase4 ,before ,i examine in what mode the taxes operate1 ,i shall suppose1 for the satisfaction of the sensible and benevolent mind1 that this formidable burden falls only on the consumer of such objects as are taxed4 ,the only plausible aim of a reimbursement1 is a diminution of the taxes which lie so heavy on that consumer2 but the misfortune is1 that the only means of refunding1 is to devise new taxes1 or increase the former ones4 ,besides1 if this increase be trifling1 the reimbursement cannot be effected in less than a century4 ,i freely confess1 that in this case1 the proprietors of the public funds would be less aggrieved1 having then sufficient time to think on the less disadvantageous modes of replacing their stock2 yet1 ,i repeat it1 not less than a century would suffice to discharge that very debt2 and the public being a little more burdened annually1 than they would have been had not the project of paying off the debt been started1 would have no other compensation for the additional burden1 than the distant prospect of a general release in a hundred years4--,if the intention is1 to bring about that release within a period which1 to the fiftieth part of the present generation1 gives the hope of enjoying the effect of it1 ,i agree1 that by means of one million of additional taxes1 and some financiering tricks1 the whole debt may be liquidated within the space of #dj or #ej years2 and then1 that part of the present generation which may exist at that most gracious period1 will1 perhaps1 bless the hand by which it shall have been relieved4 ,but would that same hand be1 till then1 entitled to the like blessings from the unfortunate who should be reimbursed1 and from those at whose expence this operation would be effected8 ,a first difficulty attending the objects under examination1 is1 that on every head requiring an explanation1 a multitude of questions occur1 which must be previously discussed2 yet1 with the utmost candour ,i confess1 that there is not one among them which is not above the extent of my abilities4 ,i shall therefore offer my thoughts on the subject with all that diffidence which results from such a consciousness4 ,partly by chance1 partly from some other circumstance1 as little glorious almost1 or as little humiliating1 ,i have been so often in the right1 and so often in the wrong1 that ,i should not be now more surprised at the one than proud of the other4 ,another inconvenience is1 that a picture1 which1 in its ensemble1 might hold out1 through a thousand incorrections and as many essential defects1 a grand subject which1 to become generally interesting1 seems to wait only for the pencil of a skilful artist1 viewed1 unfortunately1 by pieces1 7and indeed it cannot be viewed otherwise17 presents at each time1 nothing but a singularity1 an oddity1 which will cease to be so only when brought near to another2 and this last1 nevertheless1 will require the same indulgence in order to its being rightly understood4 ,the picture which ,i have presumed to take in hand is1 ,i think1 nearly of this kind4 ,my wish1 and a bold one it is1 would be1 that no judgement be pronounced on any of the particular parts1 till they have been seen all together2 for there are but few of them which1 till another has been examined1 is not liable to very just objections3 and under each head ,i have answered to those only which it was essential to refute1 that the reader might be able to go through the whole of the exhibition1 which1 had the plan of it been presented in the first page1 might have subjected the book to be committed to the flames without mercy1 and1 indeed1 without much apparent injustice4 ,i now resume my subject1 after a digression that may be looked upon as a preface1 which the reader may perhaps think might have been spared4 ,in the age we live in1 to justify a necessary impost1 by the pretence of paying off the debt1 would be1 of all state manuvres1 the most unpardonable4 ,to lay heavy burdens on the people now1 so as to liberate them in the space of a century1 is1 independent of a great many more improbabilities1 to suppose1 in the plan of administration1 an immutability which it cannot give itself1 and which does not1 nor ever can exist4 ,to leave the individuals of a nation in possession of all1 that it is not indispensable to take away from them1 in order that1 with what they have left1 they may acquire that which it will be perhaps necessary to deprive them of1 is a principle1 the absurdity of which it would be no easy matter to evince2 but1 to crush them under such an additional weight of taxes as would be necessary to exonerate them forty or fifty years hence1 would be1 in my opinion1 attempting a measure1 some of the consequences of which have no doubt escaped the attention of the proposers4 ,what may be the immediate effect of a considerable reimbursement1 which even solely depends on the produce of taxation1 and by no means of a real increase of specie in the nation8 ,it consists in refunding to the lenders a sum which must cease to be useful to them1 till it is replaced somewhere else2 and obliging them to vest it1 without loss of time1 on that portion of the debt which is not yet acquitted4--,but this privileged portion1 which1 previous to the reimbursement1 was supposed only worth #hj1 and produced four1 7it may be observed that1 in the numbers1 which ,i fix upon1 ,i only look for terms to explain my meaning7 will be worth #ij1 and presently #ajj1 yet will not bring in more than four4 ,it may be answered1 the stocks rise1 public credit increases4--,we are not yet come to this point2 but the fortune of the repaid stockholders1 which does not consist in a nominal capital1 but in the revenue it produces1 will therefore1 in fact1 suffer a diminution of one whole fifth4 ,what will then become of that fifth of the taxed objects consumed by them1 and which they can no longer purchase8--,it will1 in my opinion1 be necessary either to put a stop to the manufacturing of that fifth1 and throw so many hands out of employment1 or else lower the prices1 yet continue to levy the tax1 and then the manufacturer will complain of the burden2 or1 in fine1 this fifth1 now useless to the nation1 must be exported1 and this adds to the first inconvenience resulting from the tax imposed for the reimbursement3 for1 after all1 if taxation operates in the manner it appears at first sight to do1 that is1 if it diminishes the means of consumption1 then1 by laying #a1jjj1jjj of taxes appropriated to the liquidation of the debt1 you have diminished your home-consumption1 it matters not of what articles2 you have diminished it1 and still more so by the incapacity1 to which the creditors paid off are reduced1 of consuming that which they did consume previous to the reimbursement4 ,your exportation1 it may be said1 is by so much more increased1 and enriched4--,granted2--but at whose expence8 ,who is to profit by it8 ,in what manner are the returns to be made8,when foreign trade augments in proportion to the increase of the produce and home-consumption1 it is easily conceived1 that if the money imported does not exceed the proportion necessary to answer that double increase1 the progression being equal every way1 each article 7money among the rest7 will keep up to its value2 but if the number of representatives is increased without any addition being made to the objects represented1 is not the price of representation thereby diminished8 ,or1 in other words1 if you add to the real stock of money in the nation1 at the expence of part of your own consumption1 7which is the object in question7 will not the price of the other parts of that same consumption rise in spite of you8 ,besides1 by diminishing1 in any quantity whatever1 the general mass of home-consumption1 7and in the present supposition you may well think that it has decreased1 both by the tax imposed and the reimbursement made7 have the sums appropriated to that part of the consumption1 annihilated by you1 been withdrawn from the circulation8 ,if not1 then by adding thereto the increase of that balance in your favour1 which you pretend to receive from abroad1 by what means can you prevent a general rise in the prices1 in proportion1 not only to the quantity of that fatal money imported1 but also to that cash1 which ought to have been buried under ground1 that it might1 at least1 only prove useless1 after the home-consumption has undergone the diminution occasioned by the reimbursement and taxes8 ,this is not all2 the unfortunate creditors who have been paid off1 already reduced from five parts of what they enjoyed1 to four only1 will certainly1 soon after you shall have put the said balance into circulation1 become unable1 with the four that remain1 to purchase more articles than they could have procured with three1 previous to the tax and reimbursement4 ,will you pretend to say1 that this money does not circulate within the nation8 that it becomes the source of a new trade8 and that the exporters1 instead of over-loading ,england with that specie1 send or carry abroad the value thereof from ,spain into ,france1 ,germany1 and ,russia8--that is to say1 after having reduced the home-consumption1 the exporters1 who1 rightly enough1 are not willing to lose1 will contribute to extend the internal consumption of ,spain1 ,france1 ,germany and ,russia1 and of course the ways and means of these different nations1 as well as the produce of their taxes1 in the same proportion as those objects have decreased amongst you4--,could this seriously be your intention8 ,but if it clearly appear1 that the execution of the refunding plan would prove equally pernicious in its immediate tendency1 both to the creditors who would be compelled to accept of it1 and those at whose expence it must be effected1 what then might be the case1 if the interest of that debt1 which ingrosses so much the public attention1 being paid by all1 were1 in fact1 paid by no one1 but for so long a time as nature1 assisted by all the calculations of individuals1 may require to correct the errors of those upon a larger scale1 made by administration1 when administration is capable of making any4 ,in what manner the ,interest of the ,national ,debt will be probably paid off4 ,it is the most generally received and best respected opinion1 that taxes should in preference be laid on the articles of luxury4 ,there is not a man possessed of the least feeling and honesty1 who does not approve of this maxim1 and whose wish has not often been that the wealthy only should pay the taxes4 ,canting enthusiasts further add1 that the expence and luxury of the rich1 prove the ruin of the nation4 ,be it so4 ,but when the question is1 to define what is luxury1 in order to subject it to a tax1 every individual exclaims1 that it begins precisely with those articles which the mediocrity of his means1 places above his reach4 ,instead of laying a tax on beer1 would it not be better to increase that on hackney-coaches8 says a porter who is stopped at a crossing1 by one of the above vehicles2 whilst the supposed idler who sits in the coach1 and pays for it1 exclaims1 at the sight of a gilt carriage1 that crosses and stops his way3 ,what6 #ejjl4 laid out on a single article of luxury6 ,would it not be better to tax the owner by so much1 and apply the produce to the maintenance of fifty poor objects during six months8 ,but1 my dear ,sir1 the manufacturing of this very carriage has maintained a far greater number4 ,if you begin with the man who extracted from the mine1 that gold1 which1 with indignation1 you see glittering on the wheels2 if it is not beneath you to notice the child employed in driving away the flies that might have hurt the gloss of the varnish when first laid on2 and if you end your list only with those who1 instead of horses1 dragged the carriage into the coach-house of that stately man1 whose pomp gives you so much offence2 would it have pleased you more if all those hands had been paid for doing nothing8 ,the rich man alone1 say you1 ought to pay the taxes3 but it is impossible that they should be paid by others1 8if it be true1 that every man1 destitute of a capital1 can pay nothing but at the expence of the capitalist40 ,it would be a difficult matter to trace out1 with exactness1 the progress of the taxes2 but it appears to me1 that whatever be the mode of establishing them1 there is not a subject who does not contribute his share sooner or later1 unless nature should annul the burden1 even before the clashing of private interests should have succeeded in settling the division upon equitable principles4 ,the downfall of ,england was foretold at her very first loan4 ,this prophecy did not destroy the means of funding1 on a very solid basis1 in the year #agfb1 that part of the national debt1 till then unfunded4 ,now ,i would ask the man1 whom ,i should know to be most intimately persuaded of the dreadful effect that must be produced by a debt of #fd1bcd1eiel4 incurred from #aged to #agfb1 in addition to a still heavier one1 contracted since the time when the total amount of the landed revenue was rated at #cb1jjj1jjj1 and the value of the lands only at #cbj millions1 that is to say1 at about double the value of the whole national debt as it stands at present3 ,i would ask that man1 ,i say1 whether1 between the years #agfc and #agge1 he has been able to discover in any parts of ,england1 one single symptom of decay1 either in agriculture or commerce1 any diminution of public or private enjoyments1 or less insolence amongst the common people1 by which one may surely judge of the alterations which may happen in their circumstances4 ,this general observation may suffice to make us look on the period of #agge1 as presenting a state of things1 which1 supposing it had been prolonged1 could not have held out any alarming prospect4 ,every one worked or enjoyed1 and every body was paid4 ,all this1 methinks1 might have continued on the same footing to the end of the world1 without any alteration on the former or subsequent fortune of any one1 such only excepted1 as industry1 activity1 imprudence1 and foresight1 must occasion in all countries where justice is blind1 and has but one scale4 ,i readily acknowledge1 that at that period a grievous war broke out1 which did not conclude till #fj millions1 nominally #ajj1 had been added to the old debt1 or1 to come more directly to the point1 till the nation had been loaded1 or1 if you please1 crushed under the enormous weight of three additional millions interest to be paid annually4 ,but in what manner will those three millions1 so heavy1 so dreadful1 affect the interested parties8 ,in my judgement1 it will be the same with this additional burden1 as it has been with the six millions which the said parties were wont to pay before the last war4 ,it certainly must have been felt at first by every body1 except the trading part of the nation1 whose first operation ever was to add to the price of the taxed commodities1 both the amount of the tax1 and the benefit of the advance to the consumer4 7,,and ,,this ,,is ,,strictly ,,consonant ,,with ,,justice47 ,now these consumers are of two sorts1 viz4 the proprietor of lands1 and the proprietor of money3 the latter must also be considered under a two-fold point of view1 as a capitalist for himself1 or as a dependant who receives the money from either of the two proprietors4 ,the proprietor of money1 from the nature of this instrument of trade1 is a being merely passive2 twenty shillings1 which he is paid for interest1 can currently enable him to purchase such articles only as currently sell for #bj shillings4 ,if the taxes had increased1 by one tenth1 the price of all the commodities which he used to consume before the war of #agee1 it is clear1 therefore1 that in #agfc he had lost one tenth of all his possible enjoyments3 ,i say possible2 for the monied man1 ,i speak in general1 saves enough1 annually1 to strike an advantageous balance against the inconveniences inseparable from his capital2 ,i mean that progressive and unavoidable depreciation of money1 so long as there will be mines opened1 and taxes to discharge4 ,but he can effect it with the greater ease1 as his stock often returns #e per cent4 whilst the capital of the landed proprietor brings him in hardly four1 and often less4 ,the dependent proprietor of money had also his resource2 he1 by degrees1 obtained an increase of salary2 7,,and ,,this ,,is ,,strictly ,,consonant ,,with ,,justice47 ,neither was the landed proprietor without his resource3 he gradually raised the price of his goods1 and would have increased it to the level of the whole amount of the produce of industry2 7,,and ,,this ,,would ,,have ,,been ,,strictly ,,consonant ,,with ,,justice47 ,but nature very often anticipates the execution of that very equitable measure1 by another operation which is as infallibly the consequence of peace1 as taxes are the effect of war1 ever since the abolishing of personal service4 ,the #aj1 #ae1 #bj millions1 which government had borrowed during the war1 were nothing more than a part of the capitals which in happier times might have been laid out in the improvement of cultivation and industry4 ,peace brought them back to their destination2 an increase in the quantity of the produce of lands was the consequence2 and an equal increase in the demands of the productions of industry1 occasioned by the former1 kept up the price of every thing1 by facilitating to the one1 the means of purchasing what the other wanted to dispose of1 and by presenting an increase of resources to that increase of population1 which as certainly results from peace and plenty1 as mortality does from war and scarcity4 ,i now return to the three millions interest brought upon this nation by the last war2 and ,i demand1 what reason can prevent similar effects resulting from similar causes8 ,yet1 in order to obtain a complete idea of the whole burden of this formidable debt1 we must suppose that the full amount of it was contracted during the last war2 and then we shall see how many millions of guineas it would really cost ,england to pay off for ever the interest of all her successes and miscarriages from the beginning of this century1 if the #i millions of taxes should be now established in order to supply the interest of the debt of #bch millions4 ,it will appear hereafter1 that #i millions of taxes laid on the articles of consumption1 would increase1 by about #ad millions1 the price or nominal value of the whole produce of industry1 rated upon supposition at #ef millions4 ,now it seems to me equally unjust and impossible1 that the total amount of the produce of agriculture should not thereby be increased in the like proportion3 ,i beg to be allowed this supposition1 until ,i assign my reasons for it1 and bring proofs sufficiently positive to ascertain the fact4 ,be it supposed1 then1 that the collective revenue of land and industry do amount to #aab millions1 independent of the taxes4 ,let us equally suppose that #dj millions sterling1 in cash and paper currency1 would be necessary and sufficient for the circulation of the said #aab millions4 ,fourteen millions1 in taxes1 and in the advanced prices which must follow1 are one eighth of #aab millions revenue1 which1 by the necessary rise in the price of every thing1 is carried to #abf millions4 ,now1 #e millions in cash and paper currency1 are likewise one eighth part of the supposed #dj millions necessary for home circulation4--,it would then cost ,england only #e millions in cash and paper1 once found1 to secure for ever1 and in the most permanent manner1 the interest of a debt of #bch millions1 the very idea of which shook the firm nerves of the ,walpoles1 the ,humes1 and of the many experienced men1 on whose authority it was no weakness to tremble1 before investigating a matter1 which nobody1 in my judgement1 had hitherto attempted to examine4 ,all the operations of ,nature are slow1 gradual1 imperceptible2 and how is it possible to trace her out in her progress1 when1 in the measures which lead her to the general good1 she has recourse only to that multitude of private interests which seemingly tend to destroy it8 ,yet1 in order that we may form some idea of her operations in the point in question1 let us execute1 in an instant1 that which she would effect in half a century1 if it were possible within that space of time to incur a debt of #dbj millions1 without any augmentation or decrease taking place in the landed revenue4 ,first ,hypothesis4 ,let us suppose1 that1 instead of appropriating the capitals that have disappeared1 either to undertakings relative to agriculture and industry1 7which would have trebled the real revenue17 or to those wars1 either successful or grievous1 that have left behind them only a frivolous or bitter recollection--let us suppose1 ,i say1 that ,government should have1 till this day1 thought of nothing but making public establishments1 and that every contributor to the public expence1 being permitted at last to live up to the full rate of his means1 should find the fruit of his former privations1 in a multitude of monuments1 such as the most luxuriant fancy can conceive1 from the wisest disposal of the capitals1 and of the time necessary to incur a national debt1 the interest of which1 added to the increase resulting from the taxes1 should amount to #cb millions1 upon an aggregate revenue of #fd millions1 in which agriculture and industry should have an equal share4 ,such1 nearly1 was the state of the nation1 under ,william and ,mary1 as we have already observed4 ,the tax laid on the produce of industry would double the #cb millions3 this is just2 nor can it be doubted2 for there is not a manufacturer1 whose goods or produce have just been taxed1 but will acknowledge this truth4 ,besides1 the ,british ,parliament avows it4 ,what remains now1 is to convince the landed proprietors1 that by doubling also their #cb millions revenue1 they injure no one whatever4 ,it is needless to prove1 that if they act otherwise1 if they be only passive when the manufacturers are so justly active1 they must be reduced to plough those lands that acknowledge them for their lords4 ,previous to the tax1 the #cb millions landed revenue1 used to cost1 annually1 to the landlord and farmer1 #i or #aj millions1 paid to the cultivators1 and laid out in other expences4 ,such is the rate2 nearly one third of the revenue1 7,see ,a4 ,young's ,political ,arithmetic47 ,before the tax1 industry must have laid out amongst the handicraftsmen1 nine or ten of her #cb millions4 ,by doubling1 therefore1 the price of labour in agriculture and industry1 the labouring people of both1 will1 under the numbers #ah or #bj1 have what they had before under those of #i or #aj2 and these two great engines of national wealth will no ways be clogged4 ,as for the two capitalists in land and industry1 it is clear that each of them will have exactly the faculty of preparing1 buying1 selling1 consuming1 and saving1 under the denomination of #cj1 #dj1 #fj1 c4 all that they could prepare1 buy1 sell1 consume1 and save1 under that of #ae1 #bj1 #cj1 c4 ,before we attend to the lender1 let us advert to the ,state2 and let it be observed1 that in the case where #bj millions of cash and paper currency would have sufficed for the circulation and national transactions of all kinds1 at a time when both revenues amounted to #fd millions1 it is enough to find out #bj millions more1 whenever1 by the effect of taxation1 those said revenues are raised from #fd to #abh millions2 and from the instant that those #bj millions in cash and paper currency are obtained1 you may flatter yourselves to have established1 funded most firmly and for ever1 the interest of a national debt of #dbj millions1 the interest of which1 would at #e per cent4 amount to #ba millions4 ,it is not yet time to examine what influence so considerable a rise1 in the price of every thing1 might have upon the foreign trade2 but let us turn our thoughts to the interest of the stockholder1 who has so generously lent his money4 ,it will be said1 that he is evidently injured3 the interest due to him on account of his loan1 was equal to two-thirds of the landed revenue3 the land is mortgaged to the creditors of the state3 two-thirds of the neat revenue belong therefore in fact to the lender4 ,a few years more1 employed in erecting useful buildings1 bridges1 causeways1 c4 the whole landed revenue must have been absorbed1 and the lender have entered into possession4 ,such is nearly the result of ,mr4 ,hume's reasoning on this pretended mania of supplying the wants of the ,state1 by mortgaging its revenue4 ,let me be permitted to urge a few words in answer1 on behalf of the landed proprietor4 ,whatever use the sums borrowed are put to by government1 in this respect the nation and the lender stand nearly in the same predicament as two individuals who should have set up an undertaking at a joint expence3 when it is completed1 each of them first takes back his capital1 before they share the profits4 ,in point of national enterprises1 is war the object8 ,the profit is existence and glory1 if the war has proved successful4 ,are public establishments in prospect8 ,then the lender shares in their utility and comfort4 ,has the employing of the capital been productive neither of glory1 nor public establishments8 ,in a word1 is the ,state reduced to its primary and bare existence8 ,the capital lent will not1 at least1 be lost to the lender1 if administration think fit to observe how little it costs to be just2 and the lender1 on his part1 will reflect1 that he should not have been a greater gainer1 had he buried his treasure during the time of national distress and that1 had he lent it to individuals1 he might have lost it entirely4 ,what ,i have just said1 will1 ,i think1 suffice to refute the extravagant pretensions which ,mr4 ,hume is pleased to suppose in the lender4 ,what ,i shall add1 will also be sufficient1 ,i hope1 to quiet the scrupulous minds of those who might entertain some doubts on the injustice of despoiling the landed proprietor2 ,i mean1 the injustice of any kind of spoliation1 but that which may be the consequence of his own extravagance4 ,that man who gives up his land for the annual quit-rent of a quarter of wheat1 and two shillings when the wheat was at four shillings only1 supposed he had entitled himself and his heirs to an income of a quarter and a half of wheat2 yet his representatives enjoy1 at this day1 only one quarter1 and the #ahth or #bjth part of another4--,will these insist1 that the meaning of the landlord having been to secure1 and that of the tenant to grant1 such a portion of the landed revenue1 as might be at all times equal to a quarter and a half of wheat1 it is unjust to act in direct opposition to the intention of the contracting parties8 ,this objection would appear very forcible1 and yet would go no further than to prove1 that1 when a proprietor gives up his land for an annual consideration1 he ought to stipulate that it should be paid in kind1 if he means to keep up to the same income2 if not1 the landlord must be referred to the terms of his contract4 ,the state-creditor stands in a far more disagreeable predicament2 he cannot even suppose1 on his part1 an intention hostile to the general good4 ,whoever lends to the ,state1 knows that the latter cannot pay the interest it submits to1 but by taxes1 which1 in the long-run1 affect every thing alike2 and that one must cease to be a consumer1 if he would forbear coming in for his share4 ,now1 whilst the exigency of the ,state requires fresh loans1 and course additional taxes1 whoever advances of the stock1 the interest of which is paid by means of those very taxes1 cannot entertain any hopes of avoiding their effect1 unless it be for a short period1 which depends entirely on the adopted scheme of finance4 ,some of these schemes extend1 others shorten the round such taxes must go through1 before the burden falls equally on every shoulder1 and becomes null by its universality4 ,i say null1 all injustice set aside1 which is inseparable from some sorts of taxes1 of which ,i shall speak hereafter2 but1 ,i add1 strictly null1 even in regard to the lender1 although the price of every article be raised1 whilst his revenue alone continues on the same standard4 ,and ,i ground my opinion on the following reason1 which appears to me unanswerable3 ,the difference between the interest of money1 and that of landed property1 is always a sufficient indemnity to the monied man for the rise1 occasioned by the taxes1 on the prices of the produce of land and industry2 but nothing can compensate the landed proprietor for that pretended increase of wealth called ,money1 or that supposed poverty known by the name of ,taxes1 but a proportionable increase in the price of his goods#c4 ,a word more on the lender4 ,one may take the part of that important individual1 who accumulates those savings by which the ,state is to profit4 ,it is allowed1 ,i say1 to support such a man even against the ,state1 when the ,state attempts to reduce him by an useless reimbursement1 by an unnatural operation2 but he should be assigned his real rank in the ,state1 that he may not complain of the natural reductions4 ,in this case1 ,i think1 we should be more just1 more humane1 and more equitable1 than ,mr4 ,hume1 when1 in the continuation of the scheme of national loans1 he offers to the posterity of the present owners of landed estates1 no other prospect than that of serving1 as coachmen1 the descendents of their footmen1 and no other means of averting the prophecy--but a bankruptcy4 7,vide ,hume's ,public ,credit1 ,essay ,,ix47 ,reflections on the two foregoing ,articles4 ,if it were very true1 though upon the first blush rather strange1 that after an operation so simple as that of increasing the price of the whole mass of commodities1 or rather suffering it naturally to increase1 in proportion as the taxes and the effects produced by them enhance the price of all the products of industry1 which are to bear those taxes--were it true1 ,i say1 that after so plain1 so simple an operation1 it would suffice1 in order to secure for ever1 in the most efficacious manner1 the payment of the interest on any given national debt whatever1 to find1 once for all1 in cash and paper1 a sum which would exactly be1 to the mass of the specie and paper already in circulation1 as the interest of the debt1 and the reactions of which ,i shall speak in the sequel1 are to the mass of the two revenues--were it equally true1 that those who are to be paid that interest1 should1 after these two previous data1 have nothing in the world to dread but the reimbursement of a principal1 the interest of which should appear so oddly secured1 it would then be impossible not to confess1 that ,england has hitherto been a prey to great uneasiness1 with very little foundation4 ,it would then be necessary to conclude1 that all other nations were greatly in the wrong to think that ,england had any reason to be alarmed4 ,it must1 in this case also1 be acknowledged1 that ,france1 in #agbj1 very unreasonably cut asunder the ,gordian knot of her difficulties1 by declaring in substance that she owed no longer #ae millions ,tournois of the debts which she had contracted2 since1 without so barbarously cutting the knot1 and thereby effecting the ruin of thousands of wretched beings1 she would have secured their fortune by imposing without mercy1 or rather with judgement1 a tax of #ge millions on all the produce of industry1 which this tax would not have raised by one twentieth part2 whilst an ,arrt from the council1 permitting then the exportation of grain1 which was not allowed till #ej years after1 would have proved more than sufficient to enhance1 as it must have done1 the price of commodities1 in order to make amends to the landed proprietors for the increase which they would have found in the products of industry4 ,above all1 it would be necessary to admit1 that no minister1 in any country1 could1 for the future1 without a horrid perverseness1 without a want of judgement bordering upon insanity1 propose1 neither all together nor separately1 expedients as shameful as they would prove useless2 and that no individual could hereafter dread such measures1 without being guilty of folly4 ,what a security1 then1 for the ,subject6 what an advantage to the ,state6 what a facility for ,administration6 ,under this point of view1 the idea ,i start deserves to be examined2 but ,i once more entreat the reader not to pronounce finally upon it1 until it has undergone the full exposition which ,i propose to give it4 ,nor shall ,i think ,i have written in vain1 if ,i succeed only in making it appear so feasible1 as to induce some abler hand more deeply to investigate it4 ,where is the man who would not wish to find it true8 where is the man who could have an interest in finding it otherwise8 ,i confess1 perhaps to my shame1 that it has engrossed my attention for a long series of years2 ,i apply it to every thing1 ,i square it with every thing2 and the more ,i consider it under all the suppositions which my fancy suggests1 the more ,i compare these suppositions with all the facts which it is possible to ascertain1 and which seem to bear any relation to the subject1 the more am ,i convinced1 not only that the matter stands thus1 but even that it is impossible it should be otherwise4 ,in fact1 if ,i return to ,great-,britain ,it would be absurd to suppose1 that the taxes necessary to discharge the debt incurred during the late war1 exceed the twentieth part of the value of the products both of foreign and national industry1 consumed within the country4 ,in this case1 is it not impossible that the additional tax of a twentieth1 in whatever manner it may be assessed on the mass of those products1 should not enhance1 by a twentieth1 the value of this very mass8 ,let us call it a fifteenth2 all kind of reaction included4 ,is it not impossible that this additional fifteenth on the price of the products of industry1 be not followed1 sooner or later1 by an equal augmentation on the productions of the earth1 unless the proprietors of land should submit to diminish1 by one fifteenth1 their own consumption1--the home consumption 7the only one that secures the prosperity of the ,state7 and diminish it1 in order to increase1 by so much1 the exportation1 according to the ideas commonly adopted which would be as contrary to the facts that ,i shall adduce hereafter1 as it would prove hostile to the interest of the ,state1 to the interest of the proprietors1 and would operate in direct opposition to the spirit of the tax1 which is certainly to produce its own amount1 without taking the trouble1 every year1 of going in search of it to ,lisbon4 ,is it not impossible that the augmentation of one fifteenth1 upon the price of every produce in circulation1 should require any thing above an additional fifteenth1 in the sums which had been hitherto sufficient for brokerage1 and the transports of all kinds of property8 ,is it not impossible that this fifteenth1 both in new specie and paper currency1 once obtained1 the interest of the latter part of the debt should not be very firmly established1 funded1 without any one being the worse for it1 if the price of labour increases like that of its produce8 ,such1 ,i repeat it1 such will be1 in the last analysis1 the result of the underworkings of nature2 of nature1 ever more slow1 but ever more skilful in repairing evil than men are in creating it2 of nature1 who1 as good at all times as the bread which she breaks to her children1 fills up without intermission1 incessantly levels1 behind them1 and unknown to them1 whilst they are amusing themselves or playing tricks upon each other1 all those little furrows which they imagine will be left to the care of their posterity4 ,some one1 no doubt1 will exclaim against this additional fifteenth upon the prices of every commodity2 an augmentation which ,i have represented as the only remaining trace of a war1 which1 for five years1 attracted in both hemispheres1 the eyes of all whose brains were not heated by it4 ,i shall grant therefore that it was necessary to add thereto1 ,first1 the trifling difference which must result from the impossibility of a thorough good understanding between the interested parties1 together with the intention1 not very liberal1 but natural enough to each of them1 of gaining more than they can lose4 ,secondly1 the difference1 perhaps more sensible1 which must follow the method so much boasted1 of taxing in preference1 those objects which are consumed by the rich2 as if it were possible to apply to any object1 an extraordinary portion of a given revenue1 without taking off that very portion from some other article1 the consumption of which is equally necessary to the subsistence of artizans of another kind4 ,thirdly1 and in fine1 the far more considerable difference which must be produced1 especially in ,england1 by another kind of taxation1 of which ,i shall speak hereafter4 ,nothing contributes so much to render a question undeterminable1 as to perplex it with a multitude of accessaries1 each of which would require a separate dissertation2 consequently1 nothing can render the solution easier than to reduce it to the smallest compass4 ,some other person will1 no doubt1 do much better1 what ,i can do only according to the extent of my abilities2 nor did ever an author peruse his own work with more pleasure than ,i shall read the production of any one who shall throw the light of evidence where ,i can only form surmises4 ,but if it be true1 that after a short space of time1 without any other assistance than the natural clashing of one interest with another1 taxes1 judiciously laid1 are hurtful neither to individuals nor to the ,state1--would it not be better to labour with care to lay them judiciously1 than to think of a reimbursement1 the only effect of which will be to diminish1 for a short time1 amongst some individuals1 the power of paying those very taxes8 ,i beg permission to add a word more on this fatal reimbursement4 ,a ,thought substituted to that of a ,reimbursement4 ,to write in ,england1 nay1 to write with obstinacy against the plan of a reimbursement1 the necessity of which is acknowledged by the whole nation1 who expect wonders from its execution2 to write for the purpose of persuading that such a step would equally militate against the interest of the ,state1 and that of the subject2 and especially to hazard such visionary ideas at the moment when ,france1 so clear-sighted on her own interests1 is herself busy in effecting a like reimbursement 444 must surely be the attempt of a man hired by the ,french1 to excite1 if possible1 some ferment in those heads which are all wound up to calculation2 and to raise1 during the little time the calculations will require1 some plausible doubts1 in order at least to delay the effect1 of so salutary1 so essential an operation2 for1 ,france is so interested in the ruin of ,england1 that she ought to spare no means to stop her1 were it but for an instant1 at that point which it has not been possible to prevent her from attaining4 ,on the other hand1 to write in ,french1 and endeavour to introduce into ,france1 a pamphlet in which the author does not profess himself an admirer of a reimbursement1 the possibility of which1 now clearly demonstrated1 has excited there a general enthusiasm1 a kind of rapture the more excusable1 as the most evident disorder in all parts of the finances1 during the space of #hj years1 did not permit even the humane and sensible mind to form a single wish for that very measure of which the execution is so certain1 and the advantages pretended to be so positive4444 ,it is suing with impudence for the good graces of a nation1 to which ,i have1 as it were1 been turned over by the cession made to it of the country where my fortune lies3 it is ridiculously flattering myself that ,i shall justify by a trait of unbridled licence1 the title of ,englishman1 conferred on me by the treaty of peace4 ,it is certain1 that more than once a man has been most secretly accused1 tried with the greatest expedition1 condemned without being heard1 and punished with merciless severity1 in consequence of charges much less specious than the above2 for ,i confess that there is a faint glimmer of plausibility in the heads of accusation which ,i have brought4 ,but1 in the end1 justice must be done2 and1 thank heaven1 my present trial is on the very first instance1 brought to its last stage2 the public shall be my judge2 they shall be put in possession of all the documents relating to the trial2 and ,i presume to hope1 that no one of those who shall be able to bear the perusal of them1 will suspect my sincerity when ,i protest1 that1 without any other motive but that which has at all times invariably guided me through life1 ,i would burn this paper1 if ,i could find therein a single word that might be hurtful to ,france--,i would burn it1 were ,i to find therein a single word that might be hurtful to ,england--,i would burn it1 were ,i to find therein a single word that might give offence to any individual of either of the two kingdoms4--,but ,i freely own1 that my ambition would be far from receiving its full gratification1 were this work to prove useful only to those two parts of the world1 however brilliant the part they act therein4--,,urbi ,,et ,,orbi4--,shakespear says that the ,warrior seeks 8the bubble glory in the cannon's mouth30 a man who presumes to think1 looks for it in the bottom of his inkstand3 their hope is not always crowned with success2 nay1 very often1 the one meets only death1 and the other contempt4 ,yet there are some lucky chances3 sometimes the former saves his country1 the latter is sometimes serviceable to all mankind4 ,be it as it may1 ,i intreat the reader to observe1 that the principles ,i lay down do not tend1 by any means1 to lessen the public credit1 to spread any doubt on the faculties which ,france and ,england have of effecting the reimbursement which both these nations have in contemplation2 ,i maintain1 on the contrary1 with the simplicity of a child1 that it is a childish play1 for the one as well as for the other4 ,i say1 that the one who appears the most distressed of the two1 and is the most taken up with her pretended distress1 has only to take from the pocket of one1 what he will be very averse to give1 and put it into the hands of another1 who will be equally averse to receive4 ,i say1 with respect to the nation1 which now acts the most brilliant part1 that all she has to do1 is to give1 to those who do not ask for it1 a sum of money which she receives1 and has no occasion for2 to give it1 ,i say1 for fear of being solicited1 importuned1 and teazed1 to make a bad use of it1 or else be obliged to hoard it up1 to the very great detriment of circulation4 ,i shall add now1 that a business1 which to me1 does not appear a childish one1 but really that of a man1 would be to examine1 whether the #dj or #ej millions of livres annuity1 which are about to expire by degrees in ,france1 and the million1 or million and half sterling of taxes to be levied in ,england1 over and above the sum necessary to pay the interest of the national debt1 and other state expenditures1 will be better employed in the diminution of some private revenue than in the increase of the general wealth in both ,states2 that is to say1 whether it is most advantageous to pay off the creditors1 who1 by such a reimbursement1 will be compelled to place at #d and at #c1 what brought them in #e and #d per cent4 than to lay out the money1 for the purpose of increasing1 perhaps by one fourth1 the products of agriculture and industry1 by a faithful and judicious repartition of those sums upon the cultivation of some millions of acres1 which now yield nothing but brambles1 or yield only the half of what they ought to produce4--,how many of this description are to be found both in ,england and ,france6,this is not all3 how many kinds of taxes1 the effects of which have not been sufficiently searched into6 ,how many more1 whose pernicious consequences are fully known6 ,how many more1 the levying of which can be justified only by reason of their produce being wanted1 or by the supposed impossibility of a commutation6--,ought the ,state to reimburse1 before those have been scrutinized1 these repealed1 and all commuted which shall appear evidently to militate against sound principles8 ,the great art does not consist in finding1 at pleasure1 one million sterling more in ,france as well as in ,england1 or vice vers4 ,heavens6 what kind of minister would that man be1 whose genius could not discover1 in either kingdom1 in the multitude of objects truly susceptible of taxation1 a number of articles capable of furnishing that million annually1 without injuring the general consumption1 beyond the first year at the worst8 ,the only difference which1 in this respect1 ,i might point out between the two nations1 is1 that in ,france the impost would be registered1 and paid after the usual remonstrances2 and that in ,england1 were the tax to have been devised1 even by ,supreme ,wisdom1 on the actual system1 all those who might think themselves directly or indirectly interested in the operation of the tax1 would not fail to clamour as loud as possible1 and not without reason2 for1 after all1 if the objects taxed1 are equitably taxed1 and in a due proportion with all the rest1 why1 out of #afj objects and upwards1 already charged with equity1 should ten be picked out to be overloaded with a new burden8--,has at least a rotation been established for the future8--,on what principles8 ,or does it evidently appear that there can be no fixed one adopted on so important a matter8--,if a tax is offered to be laid on such articles as have paid none hitherto1 then ,opposition stands on firmer ground2 for1 are not those objects1 by their nature1 evidently as sacred as the ark of the ,lord8 ,did ever the least scrupulous1 the boldest ,minister of the finances1 dare1 to this day1 to lay his hand upon it8--,would he have respected it1 if he had not trembled for his head2 that is1 in plain ,english1 for his place8 ,for1 thank ,heaven1 there is no necessity1 now1 for the ,english to be more hot-headed than any other nation in ,europe4 ,it is generally acknowledged among themselves1 with true ,english sang-froid1 that1 on the part of those champions of patriotism1 who1 according to the interest of the day1 charge each other by turns with selling the people1 and betraying the ,,sacred constitution1 all terminates now in the most exact change of admirable sarcasms1 and exquisite railleries4 ,the pleasure of being a ,minister because the minister alone can do what is good1 and the concern at not being a ,minister1 because the minister alone can do what is good1 are now productive of nothing more in ,england2 and the ,people1 as well as the ,king1 are not worse served for it1 nor are they worse informed3 witness the speeches on both sides4 ,amongst the questions which ,i have mentioned1 and many others always appropriated to the subject1 there are some sufficiently weighty to puzzle1 in ,england as well as in ,france1 the respondent who should be obliged1 before a tax is laid1 to answer them in a satisfactory manner4 ,luckily1 as ,i have already mentioned1 in ,france1 thanks to the monarchical constitution1 the ,king commands1 the ,parliament remonstrates1 registers1 and the ,people pay3 and1 as is known to all the world1 thanks to the free constitution of ,england1 there the ,king demands1 the parliament debates1 grants1 and the ,people pay4 ,with that facility which exists every where1 of doing what is not palpably absurd1 ,i think it might be possible now1 without bringing credit or authority in question1 to renounce the little vanity of devising a productive tax2 and that a man of common abilities ought to confine himself to the establishing or maintaining order and clearness in the accounts1 to the diminution of expences in collecting the revenues1 and to fidelity in the use of them4--,but the true1 the unacquired glory to be obtained by a financier1 would be1 ,i think1 to hit upon a simple scheme1 the application of which might be obvious in all cases1 a scheme productive of no fruitless evil1 permitting all possible good1 and which might1 by degrees1 be substituted to those vague taxations1 to those taxations founded on false principles1 to those wild notions1 which1 by adding five to an article not worth three1 raise nevertheless that object to eight1 and leave the trader at liberty to sell that for fifteen1 which he sold formerly at four4 ,it is true that1 on the first exigency of the ,state1 they pretend to remedy the abuse by an additional tax called licence1 or by any other name which answers the same purpose1 and compels the peculator to refund part of his extortion4 ,but what does this licence come to1 after all8--,to sell to a man the right of ransoming more severely the public1 after having previously furnished him with the means and pretence for doing it4 ,no one doubts1 in ,england1 but that the system of ,french taxation is a very bad one2 nothing so self-evident as the reasons adduced in proof2 every thinking man in ,france approves of those reasons3--but does it clearly appear1 that in ,england some parts of that system are not adopted8--,is it not true1 on the contrary1 that it has prevailed1 for a long time1 in one point truly essential1 in regard to which they have but diminished its inconveniencies1 without thinking perhaps of the injustice1 which is as inseparable from it1 as it is from those wherein it appears more evidently8--,the advantage of taxing the consumption is generally acknowledged2 it is as generally believed that the way of bringing this system to perfection is by taxing1 above all1 the consumption of the rich3--yet1 were it to happen that the poor should be more injured1 and that for a longer time1 by a natural effect of the very operation devised for their release1 than he could be aggrieved if nothing should escape the tax4444 ,i shall venture to throw out some thoughts on these different objects1 after ,i have examined whether the necessity of a balance of trade1 constantly favourable1 be not as doubtful as that of a reimbursement1 and a bankruptcy2 and whether that balance is really such as many people imagine it4 ,general ,balance of ,trade in ,england4 ,when the proprietor of a considerable sum in the ,english funds examines ,sir ,charles ,whitworth's truly valuable work1 ,state of the ,trade of ,great-,britain2 he thanks his stars1 and says1 8,i have nothing to fear whilst the balance of trade continues in favour of this kingdom2 but the moment it shall turn against her1 recourse must inevitably be had to the expedient so long postponed3 the application of the sponge is inevitable40-- ,i have perhaps already said enough to animate the greater part of those1 who are concerned in the public funds of every enlightened nation1 against every other fear but that of a reimbursement2 but1 as it may be believed1 with regard to the public funds in ,england1 that ,i have reasoned on the supposition1 generally admitted1 of that balance in their favour1 of which the ,english are so jealous1 ,i would wish doubly to strengthen the mind of the parties concerned1 by proving to them that their fortune rests on a basis much more solid than that of a pretended favour1 which the private interest of every merchant1 vigilantly repels1 whilst the fancy of the body at large happily confines them to believe in the idol1 and to invoke it4 ,i am indebted to the details contained in ,sir ,charles ,whitworth's work1 for the advantage of applying to real facts1 many reflexions which ,i had digested before ,i had read that work2 but ,i was1 till then1 reasoning on hypotheses2 ,i now reason on what so nearly approaches reality1 that it is necessary to controvert my arguments1 instead of consigning their foundation to the system of chimeras4 ,by means of that valuable work1 ,i see1 from the year #agjj to #agge1 and that in the greatest detail1 strengthened by all the proofs that the nature of the subject can admit of1 a constant superiority of exports1 which1 in the space of #ge years1 amounts to the enormous sum of #bfg1ggd1gfil4 7,i have overlooked the fractions of each article47 ,this is1 in the total amount1 much more than one half of the gold and silver imported into ,europe from ,america1 during the same lapse of time2 but1 of this period of #ge years1 #cj must be attended to1 wherein the superiority of ,english exports comes up very nearly to five-sixths of the general importation of those two precious metals1 which were to make good so many other balances4 ,we should also observe1 amongst those years1 a most flourishing one1 wherein that ,english favour absorbs1 as it were1 all the silver imported into ,europe2 and five other years still more wonderful1 where it surpasses that general importation by #aj1 #ab1 and even #a1cjj1jjjl42 for1 in #agej the general exportation of ,english goods exceeded the importation of foreign produce1 by #g1cei1ifdl4 and yet all that product of the mines1 belonging to ,spain and ,portugal1 is estimated only at #f1jjj1jjjl4 sterling per annum4 ,i shall suppose1 for a moment1 that1 during the space of time ,i have just mentioned1 the balance of trade did1 in reality1 produce to ,england an importation of money1 to the amount of #bfg1ggd1gfil4 7for the reports of the ,custom-,house1 as stated by ,sir ,charles ,whitworth1 brought in as a proof of that pretended1 uninterrupted balance1 in favour of the nation1 mean what ,i have said1 or mean nothing at all1 in regard to this matter2 they do not prove one penny if they do not prove the whole sum74 ,it is true that1 according to the same reports1 we must deduct for the money exported from ,england1 during the course of those #ge years1 about #aje millions1 by which the nation at least got rid of a surplus which would have strangely disparaged the price of that which was preserved in the country3 but is it very certain that the #afb1ggd1ifil4 the precious nett of the pretended balance1 was actually preserved8 ,this appears to me impossible1 for the following reasons1 which may perhaps furnish us with the means of knowing1 precisely enough1 in what the true balance consists4 ,since the beginning of this century1 the real and nominal value of the revenue in the other parts of ,europe1 has doubled1 as well as in ,england4 ,now this augmentation1 in the products and prices1 has required1 every where1 a proportionable increase of the means of circulation2 and ,spain and ,portugal are nearly the only two sources from whence that increase of means could be procured4 ,in the supposition that the revenue of ,england constitutes one tenth of that of ,europe 7it is a great deal71 the other nations composing that part of the world were of course obliged to endeavour to secure the nine tenths of the money necessary for their own circulation2 and their success in this is the less questionable1 as1 in case any one of them should be short of money for the circulation of its property1 the ,english themselves would eagerly supply that part of the precious balance1 which it might want1 because1 in this case1 the importation of money into such country would prove more profitable than an importation of fresh goods1 whilst the old ones1 carried there already1 waited for money to circulate them4 ,hence it may be concluded1 that the ,english never had1 or at least have not preserved1 more than their tenth1 twelfth1 or rather1 more than their natural portion in that absolute mass of gold and silver necessary to the circulation4 ,i shall now say1 that it is not even probable that they have preserved that quota1 necessary every where else for the circulation of a revenue similar to theirs1 because ,england is1 of all known nations1 the one where the circulation of property of all kinds1 requires a less quantity of real cash3 the merciless severity of the laws against debtors1 the general credit which it encourages1 the use and indubitable value of paper currency1 which are derived equally from both1 are three objects which1 in this respect1 set ,england far above par1 in comparison with all the other nations who have neglected to secure to themselves the same advantages4 ,might we not further say1 that ,england evidently has not thought proper to get that quota1 which she might have claimed1 since one third1 and perhaps half of her circulation1 is effected by paper-money with more dispatch1 with more facility1 and with as much solidity as if it were effected by cash8 ,it will be asked1 perhaps1 if ,i pretend to infer at last1 that the exportation has not been so considerable as it ought to be supposed from the statements of ,sir ,charles ,whitworth8 ,i shall answer to this1 as to many other queries2 it may now be seen that a few millions more or less1 are a matter of perfect indifference1 in regard to my main object4 ,the exportation from ,england is clearly prodigious2 its immensity is proved by that of the tonnage of the shipping employed for her trade1 #gge1fbd tons in the years #agga1 #aggb1 and #aggc1 7see ,chalmers's ,estimate72 this point is established beyond all equivocation4 ,what ,i refuse therefore to the imagination of the trader1 is solely what appears to me chimerical and useless in that favourable balance of money2 and this ,i refuse1 because ,i cannot possibly but acknowledge1 that every trader has too much good sense to act against the general interest of trade1 when such operation must1 at the same time1 prove contrary to his own interest4 ,nay1 is much more than plain instinct wanted1 not to import money which yields a very trifling benefit when there is no demand for it1 whilst one may take up foreign goods1 on which there is a certain gain of #aj or #ab per cent4 because they are eagerly sought after8 and when1 besides1 the nation1 on a certainty1 will not finally pay for them but with national goods1 since she has no mines of her own8 ,i must observe1 indeed1 that this very trader1 guilty of such an act of impatriotism1 of this national crime of importing merchandize instead of gold and silver1 cries up1 as loud as any other1 the necessity of striking a favourable balance2 but private wisdom gets the better of public folly2 every one imports such goods as he is in hopes to sell to advantage1 and leaves to his neighbour the care of importing that favour on which no profit can be got4 ,what is then the quantity of bullion really imported every year into ,england8 ,it is incontestably1 in the first place1 so much of it as is necessary to answer the progressive increase of the prices and products1 both of the land and industry2 the bank-notes cannot suffice to that augmentation1 but in their ordinary proportion to the real specie in circulation2 all supplement of bank-notes1 which in the needful hour exceeds that proportion1 must soon be replaced by real specie2 on this exactness stand the credit of the ,bank1 and the vast advantage accruing therefrom to the public1 and to the ,state2 but from thence also results a greater inutility of accumulating money before it is wanted4 ,it is1 in the second place1 all the bullion necessary for the labouring gold and silver-smiths1 from the first gold-smith in ,london to the last plated-button maker at ,birmingham4 ,it is1 thirdly1 all that importation which is required to make good the deficit occasioned by petty stock-jobbing1 and the melting down of guineas1 which no workman will ever scruple1 when there will be a few more pence to be got that way1 than by the purchase of bullion1 or as often as1 having no bullion at hand1 he shall find himself in the immediate necessity of working4 ,it is1 fourthly1 all that which is wanted to replace the few guineas carried away annually from ,england by travellers1 smugglers1 or by means of some inferior transactions in trade1 and which cannot always be exactly balanced by the contraband trade carried on elsewhere by the nation4 ,ever since the ,english have acquired the immense landed revenue which they possess in the ,east-,indies1 it is probable they do not carry there so much money2 yet some must be sent there4 ,the above five articles are the only ones ,i know of1 which may render necessary an annual importation of money4 ,the first of those articles is absolutely independent of the caprice of any one2 it is always subservient to the quantity of effects to be put into circulation1 as well as to their price2 and can at no time deprive the other parts of ,europe of their share in the mines of ,america4 ,the third and fourth are in a manner included in the first2 nor can they1 when viewed separately1 be very considerable3 ,the second alone is truly prodigious1 but is likewise subservient to the demands of that very silver when wrought1 that is to say1 converted into some articles of luxury3 ,but it is necessary to observe1 in regard to this1 that great care is taken to find out purchasers for that metal thus improved by the hands of the workman1 not only in ,england1 but wherever people can possibly be found willing to take from her1 that part of the precious balance1 which she had taken upon herself1 only in hopes of getting rid of it4 ,this ,i think is sufficient to demonstrate the impossibility of that pretended favourable balance1 amounting1 in the space of #ge years1 to #afb1ggd1gfil4 the existence of which many people imagine to be real1 from the statements of ,sir ,charles ,whitworth3 for1 if they would confine themselves to say1 that1 in the course of #ge years1 ,england has profited in trade to the amount of #afb1ggd1gfil4 ,i have proved much more1 since ,i proved 7p4 #ag to #bb7 that all the benefits which have accrued1 and might now be spent1 form together a solid mass of clear and palpable savings2 and that this mass would now be1 without doubt1 #ccb millions1 instead of #afb1 had the #ahj millions1 lent by the subjects to government1 and swallowed up by the war1 been laid out in the improvement of lands and industry4 ,as to the inference that might be drawn from the apparent exportation of #aje millions of money1 during the same period1 according to the above statement1 it is also necessary to make an observation on this matter4 ,in any grand mercantile operation1 where prompt and certain remittances are required1 be the motive of such operations what it may2 if there goes out of ,england1 we shall suppose1 #djj1jjjl4 in bullion1 this very same bullion1 after the bargain is struck and fulfilled1 either in goods or in bills of exchange1 comes back to ,london1 to resume if necessary1 the same course three weeks afterwards3 ,for the space of #dj years1 therefore1 the same sum may an hundred times be placed in the catalogue of exports1 and perfectly answer to a capital of #dj millions1 the place of which it has really supplied3 ,this is a well-known resource2 nothing then can be concluded in regard to the #aje millions of bullion exported1 according to ,sir ,charles1 but1 that there ever has been1 and probably ever will be1 in ,england all the bullion necessary to answer the exigencies of the most unforeseen and extraordinary negociations of all kinds1 and industry enough to recall in time1 that bullion which had only been given as a pledge4 ,it is like a jewel worth #ajj1jjj crowns1 which1 for the space of #bj years1 is said to have passed ten times backwards and forwards from ,paris to ,amsterdam1 but finally remained at ,amsterdam1 by a reason contrary to that which keeps up the commercial shuttle between ,england and ,holland4 ,in order to come as close to the point as it is necessary1 on a matter1 besides1 of which it is equally useless and impossible to obtain an exact knowledge1 here follow some facts1 the essential results of which by no means depend on more or less exaggeration in the exposition either of the sale1 or of the credit4 ,the period from #agfd to #aggc1 must be allowed to have been the most flourishing era of ,great ,britain4 ,during those ten years the exportation of ,english merchandises into ,spain1 has exceeded the importations from ,spain into ,england1 by #e1jie1iihl4 ,in the same space of time1 the balance of trade between ,england and ,portugal has been #c1bgd1accl4 in favour of the former4 ,the two favours united1 amount all together to #h1cgj1acal42 add thereto the favourable balances of ,madeira1 and the ,canary ,islands1 paid probably in ,spain and ,portugal1 amounting1 in the same space of time1 to #eaf1hfcl4--the total presents us with the aggregate sum of #h1hhf1iidl4 which1 divided by #aj years1 proves an annual balance1 in favour of ,england1 of #hhh1fiil4 real money4 ,the light of probability now begins to dawn upon me3 at least ,i here find myself at the source of money2 and1 as ,i know1 first1 that ,england must absolutely be provided with a certain quantity of it1 whatever that quantity may be1 for the five articles before mentioned3 ,secondly1 ,that she exports1 of her own goods1 fifteen times as much as she need to do for that purpose3 ,thirdly1 ,that gold and silver are to ,spain and ,portugal1 what wines are to ,france1 silks to ,piedmont1 hemp and timber to ,russia2 and that1 in order to procure those different articles at the easiest rates1 they must be fetched from ,france1 ,piedmont1 and ,russia3 ,fourthly and lastly1 that ,spain and ,portugal stand exactly in the same need of making away with the surplus of their gold and silver1 as ,england does of acquiring it1 by getting rid of a surplus of her manufactures3 ,i cannot therefore entertain the least doubt1 but that it is at ,cadiz and ,lisbon that ,england procures all that gold and silver which is indispensably wanted for the five operations spoken of2 and ,i must positively conclude1 that there she has taken the whole quantity which she had occasion for2 but ,i as positively conclude1 that she took up only so much of it as was wanted1 when ,i see that it depended entirely upon her to take more1 and that she has not done it3 ,a decisive point1 which ,i cannot by any means call in question1 when ,i have convinced myself1 by ,sir ,charles ,whitworth's statements1 that this sum of #hhh1fiil4 which ,england1 if so disposed1 might have procured annually during the ten years above mentioned1 is no more than the balance of #a1ghe1hbfl4 in goods exported there1 one year with another1 during the same space of time3--,for1 after all1 why should not ,england have taken in money the amount of #hig1aegl4 of ,spanish and ,portuguese goods1 taken by her ships in return1 were it not that the value of money1 as that of all other kinds of merchandise1 is always tyrannically fixed by the demand8 ,it seems1 therefore1 probable enough1 that the money annually imported by ,england1 during the period aforesaid1 does not exceed the #hhh1fihl4 of the balance which appears against ,spain1 ,portugal1 ,madeira1 and the ,canary ,islands3 ,but here follows a strong conjecture1 that it is not so considerable as it appears by those accounts4--,it is an uncontroverted fact1 that the article of exportation is always exaggerated more or less2 the man who first bethought himself of this harmless cunning1 fancied that his own importance would appear more conspicuous to the nation1 by reason of the quantity of goods which he might seem to export3 this is now the secret of the play-house1 every body knows it2 but this practice is in a manner become necessary3 one must unblushingly raise himself above his level1 in order to be thought in his real place2 the only way of deceiving in this respect1 would be to speak the truth2 and1 in this case1 the deceit would fall on the deceiver himself1 and that just regard which the exporter has a right to claim1 would be lost to him3 ,add to this necessary artifice1 which is no longer a cheat1 the usual mode adopted in regard to importation1 the value of which is always a little under-rated1 but only a little1 because there might be some inconvenience in cheating ,government to excess4 ,with these trifling modifications1 ,i think ,england will be found not much above the par of her quota1 in the gold and silver imported from ,america4 ,now1 out of these #f or #gjj1jjjl4 in money1 which ,i believe are really and annually imported into ,england1 what quantity is sent to foreign markets1--not1 indeed1 before its value is considerably advanced by the workmanship8--,but1 if this metal be so precious1 why part with it when once acquired8 ,why not employ the workman upon objects1 the price of which would have received a ten-fold increase by his labour8 ,why should these continual prophanations of the sacred metal be permitted8 ,why give encouragement to that kind of prostitution of gildings of all sorts1 which daily consume such quantities of gold8 ,it is said1 that in ,birmingham alone1 they consume #cj1jjjl4 worth per annum3--,and shall it be on a metal thus lavished away1 shall it be on that pretended balance1 that ,england will build her resources1 and the security of her creditors8--,in what consists1 then1 the wealth of the nation1 that wealth which is truly independent of all circumstances1 and which will ever be superior to the national wants8 ,it consists in any sum whatever1 money and paper currency1 which is required to keep in the utmost activity1 #c1jjj1jjj of cultivators1 #c1jjj1jjj of tradesmen1 and #c1jjj1jjj of other consumers1 as indispensable to realise the value of the objects by them consumed1 as the tradesman and cultivator are necessary to produce them3--,and if any question should arise on the number of inhabitants1 ,it consists in the number of men necessary to furnish annually exports to the value of fifteen or sixteen millions3--,and if it should be urged that this exportation is over-rated1 ,it consists in the number of men capable of making up that quantity of exports1 which is annually required for a trading navy of #gge1jbd tons1 on the statement of which there cannot arise a single doubt4 ,it consists in a population necessary 7which doth really exist1 and could not be dispensed with7 to find1 without any other inconvenience but a momentary sensation1 the #ajj1jjj seamen of the royal navy1 the #gj1jjj national soldiers1 and the #c or #djj1jjj artificers1 and other persons employed in every way1 who1 by the last war1 were for some years taken away1 from their daily and useful occupations1 some monuments of which would probably have been transmitted to posterity1 in order to their being employed in all the accidental operations that were requisite to carry on those destructive plans1 which have left nothing but a sad remembrance behind3 ,a remembrance1 nevertheless1 of which the most allowable pride should allay the bitterness4 ,it consists also1 perhaps1 in that revolution1 which must have been effected in the mind of every intelligent ,briton1 by the demonstration grounded on experience1 of the impossibility of doing beyond a few minutes1 with a given number of men1 more than that same number is capable of effecting habitually1 and without fatigue4 ,it consists in the impossibility of not doing1 even to the end of ages1 with a given number of industrious men1 all that which the same number have executed during #hj years1 not only without exhausting themselves1 but rather1 on the contrary1 still increasing their strength and wealth4 ,it consists1 in fine1 in the demonstration which will become daily more palpable1 that labour alone is the source of that wealth2 that the more the sum of this labour shall augment1 the greater will be the increase of riches2 but that this same labour will not reach its last degree of activity in ,england1 till it is nearly in the same state in ,siberia2 and that there is no great harm in an ,english mechanic creating a cultivator in ,siberia1 or even in ,france1 provided a ,siberian or ,french mechanic1 create a cultivator or mechanic in ,england4 ,reflexions on some private ,balances of ,england1 both of the favourable and disadvantageous ,kind4 ,in the small number of disadvantageous balances1 the necessity of which is so grievous to ,england1 ,i distinguish that with ,russia1 which1 in the course of the ten years above mentioned1 amounts upon an average to #hbe1babl4 annually4 ,this1 in fact1 is more than enough to swallow up the #f or #gjj1jjjl4 of the favourable balance1 during the same period1 against ,spain and ,portugal1 the only sources almost of the precious metals2 luckily the expence of ,russia in gold and silver is ascertained1 as it is every where else1 first1 by the quantity of coin in circulation1 a quantity always proportioned to the price1 as well as to the number of objects to be circulated2 and1 secondly1 by the degree of ease1 riches1 and pomp1 which the generality of private faculties can admit of1 in the articles of furniture1 plate1 and dress3 ,the introducing of gold and silver1 above the quantity necessary to answer those various purposes1 would1 as the case is every where else1 prove entirely useless2 for it can hardly be imagined1 that so wise a ,princess as the ,sovereign who now holds the sceptre of ,russia1 should think of hoarding up1 before her #bj1jjj1jjj of subjects be as rich1 that is1 do produce and consume as much as a similar population might produce and consume in ,france or in ,england3 ,now1 to hoard up would be the infallible means to prevent it4 ,let us now suppose1 that the annual importation of bullion necessary for the circulation in ,russia1 amounts to one half1 or even to an equality of what is wanted by ,england for the same object3--,it is probable that ,england contributes thereto no more than her proportion1 as the other maritime ,states1 who1 like her1 are obliged to provide themselves in ,russia2 and1 consequently1 the disadvantageous balance of ,england with ,russia1 can no more demonstrate that the former exports there annually #hbe1babl4 than the balance in her favour against ,flanders1 clearly proved by the accounts of ,sir ,charles ,whitworth1 can demonstrate that the above province is by her stripped of #eba1bjal4 annually4 ,a publication truly interesting1 would be a work containing a particular account of the trade of each country1 were it only such as that which ,sir ,charles ,whitworth has given on the trade of ,england2 but though such a treasure is wanting1 yet it appears to me1 that to have a clear idea of such a work1 would be sufficient to foresee what would be the result of it4 ,all men are alike3 one may therefore1 without fear of deceit1 suppose in the merchants of every country1 the same attention to swell up the list of articles which pay no duty1 and which give a trader the petty consequence of a more considerable exportation2 every where might be found the same exactness1 in a contrary sense1 in regard to goods liable to an importation duty2 consequently the balance struck at last would be in favour of the nation whose accounts should be then inspected3 but deduct from all those favourable balances1 that which might have been farther declared on the articles which are duty-free2 add to the total of the exports1 what has been declared short of the true amount on the objects which must pay2 it would then be found that 7the five articles excepted7 all is paid literally without having laid out any cash1 and that each nation is wisely reduced to the only real advantage of trade1 the exchange of want against fancy1 the exchange of one fancy for another1 or the exchange of one want against another want4#d ,in fact1 how can it be supposed1 that a nation who should not sell to one1 or to six others1 exactly as much as she has purchased from a seventh1 should not be1 a little sooner or a little later1 compelled1 either to give up a trade which she must support with real specie1 or to sell that at home for five in cash1 which fetched ten before8 ,is it not evident1 that a nation which should not purchase from one or six others1 as much as she sells to a seventh1 must1 sooner or later1 find herself in the necessity1 either to hide her money under ground1 or to lower its value1 so far as to sell at home successively for #f1 #h1 #aj1 and #bj1 that which was sold before at #e8 ,this would exactly have been the case with ,russia1 had the annual balance of #hbe1babl4 been effectually paid to her in coin1 either by ,england1 or by those who stand on the debtor side with ,england1 and had the former put it into circulation1 instead of laying out the surplus of that balance in the purchase of goods from six other countries1 to whom the ,english sold articles to a similar amount3 ,now the ,russian trader does not in ,russia charge #bj1 for that which1 #ej years ago1 was sold there for #e3 the value of money is not debased there1 though ,russia has annually a claim upon ,england for a balance of #hbe1babl4 and1 probably1 demands not less considerable upon the other maritime powers2 ,russia1 therefore1 has cautiously avoided receiving those different balances in coin4 ,besides1 money fetches but its price in ,flanders1 although1 according to ,sir ,charles1 that province is indebted to ,england in a yearly balance of #eba1bjal4--,nor is money worth above its price in ,germany1 though the latter owes likewise to ,england a balance of #ibd1gjil4 annually4--,in ,ireland it goes for no more than its worth1 though there is another balance due by that kingdom to ,england1 to the yearly amount of #ggj1iafl4--,nor is it above its value in ,france1 who owes to ,england an annual balance of #ajh1jgcl4--,now1 if money is every where nearly of the same value1 we must conclude1 that there does not exist a nation which has not found in her annual importations of gold and silver1 either considered as money1 or as materials for some articles of luxury1 all that she stood in need of to keep up circulation1 and provide for that degree of luxury1 which the actual degree of her industry requires1 as much as it allows2 in this case the final balance1 deemed unexact1 that is1 in favour of ,england1 has1 in fact1 been kept perfectly even4 ,each has sold here or there1 as much as he has purchased1 and vice vers2 and the prejudice ,england entertains on the necessity of a favourable balance1 has not1 in practice1 dazzled the eyes of the merchant who carried on her trade3 ,he has rejected the gold tendered to him1 when his profit upon it would have been but trifling1 with as much judgement as he has1 with care1 sought after such goods as could then yield him a greater benefit4 ,state of the ,balance between ,england and ,holland4 ,sir ,charles ,whitworth1 in his ,state of the ,english ,trade1 rates the annual balance due by ,holland to ,great ,britain1 at #a1cgb1behl4 upon an average of #aj years3 ,this is the most considerable4 ,there can be no illusion1 in regard to the effect this balance has upon the money in ,england2 it is well known that it does not increase it2 nay1 it is thought that the debt due to ,holland1 lessens it annually1 not only by the whole amount of the favourable balance which would revert to ,england were she not indebted to the ,dutch1 but of one million more1 which must be found to pay them off4 ,i have already said1 and repeated1 that in every circumstance where it is necessary to borrow or to displace a capital1 it is better to borrow1 even at #e per cent4 than to remove a capital which returns double that sum2 and that1 on the other hand1 it is more advantageous to lend any sum abroad upon good security at #e1 or even at #c per cent4 than to lend the same sum at home1 where it would yield only #b per cent4 or to bury it in the abyss of a ,bank1 whence nothing returns4 ,now what proves that ,great ,britain and ,holland are in this case with regard to each other1 is1 that ,england seldom or never opens a loan1 but what the ,dutch take a share in4 ,what do they give for the purchase8 ,nothing more than the surplus of the ordinary profits arising from a trade1 which they cannot extend sufficiently to employ the whole amount of their savings4 ,and why has this part of the ,english loan been given up to the ,dutch by the national capitalists8 ,because the latter could find in their own trade1 susceptible of a farther extension1 a way of employing their capitals to greater advantage1 that is to say1 of reaping a benefit superior to the interest offered by the loan3 ,how can this be doubted1 when we see that the loan falls into the hands of a small number of merchants1 who soon afterwards make over their debt8 ,would they transfer it to any one1 were not the interest it brings in1 interest secured by the nation1 inferior to the ordinary profits of their commerce8 ,therefore1 if the balance due to the ,dutch is thought burdensome1 only in the supposition that it serves to pay burdensome interests1 it cannot be looked upon in the same light1 when the matter rests upon a debt1 by which the borrower clears a benefit superior to the interest that he has to pay4--,i shall present this question under another point of view4 ,in the war which was terminated by the treaty of ,paris1 the most considerable part of the debt contracted for its support1 was acquired by the ,dutch3 ,why so8 ,because the ,english1 carrying on1 without any opposition1 an exclusive trade with every part of the world open to them alone1 found therein the opportunity of employing their capitals to a far greater advantage1 than that held out by government in the interest of the loan4 ,during the last war1 on the contrary1 the ,english1 being more narrowly circumscribed in regard to their commercial operations1 by a navy1 the possibility of which they did not even suspect1 much less its real existence1 and being kept more circumspect by a new system which opened a free navigation to all the powers not involved in war1 thought themselves happy to find1 in the national loan1 an employment for that portion of their capitals1 which1 from circumstances1 was become useless4 ,the interests of the last debt are then due and paid within1 and by ,great ,britain2 but will it be said1 that ,england would not be so rich1 were the #c millions additional interest1 with which she is burdened1 due to ,holland1 and had the ,english1 instead of employing their capitals1 as they have done1 in support of the last war1 made use of them in the same profitable manner as in the year #agee8 had that money1 for instance1 been laid out in the improvement of their waste lands in ,europe1 whilst ,dutch cash should have fought against ,french money1 to determine how many ,european nations ought to be permitted to carry to ,north ,america1 the goods of the other parts of the globe6 ,as to the full acquittal in money1 real and effective1 of the #b1jjj1jjjl4 interest1 due to ,holland for her previous loan1 it is improbable1 impossible1 and useless4 ,it is improbable1 because ,holland1 being already overstocked with money1 and carefully intent on getting rid of her surplusage in this particular1 at the first opportunity of placing it with security1 would still lower the price of it at home1 were she to increase its mass2 and that1 on the contrary1 whilst ,holland takes in goods instead of money1 she keeps up the interest of the one1 by securing to herself a benefit upon the other4 ,it is impossible1 because ,england importing bullion from ,spain and ,portugal1 to the amount only of one third1 and being very cautious1 as observed before1 not to import more than one third of what she owes to the ,dutch1 and this1 not to pay them1 but because this third answers sufficiently to the five articles of which ,i have spoken before2--,england1 then1 cannot give to the ,dutch what she has not received from another1 and which she has not of her own4 ,it is useless1 in fine1 because all accounts whatever are balanced with more ease1 in the age we live in1 by bills of exchange1 than with cash1 and because the claims of ,holland are more naturally paid off1 by another debt due to ,great ,britain1 for the produce of her exports to some other parts of ,europe1 from whence the ,dutch carefully avoid1 as much as possible1 to import any thing but merchandise4 ,but would it not be better to owe nothing to foreign nations8 ,for to this one point we ought to confine all the lamentations about ,dutch creditors4 ,the above question1 so apparently simple1 so readily to be resolved in the affirmative1 would grow perhaps more intricate1 were it ushered in by some previous queries1 which might permit us to foresee the effect of the national wish1 when accomplished1 if it could be obtained by the easiest answer that could be given2 for the case1 no doubt1 is not to examine1 whether it would not be better to have borrowed1 without being obliged to return1 than to pay an interest after the money has been borrowed4 ,in the state of things1 the question alluded to1 to be fair and within the pale of common sense1 must mean nothing more than this3 ,would it not be better1 that the proprietors of the two millions interest1 paid to a foreign nation1 should make their residence in ,england8 ,and in this case it leads us1 by degrees1 to the following query3 ,would it not be better1 if all and every man in the world1 who has money to spare1 should come to spend it in ,london8 ,then indeed ,london would be a dear place to live in6 ,and this is1 methinks1 the most dreaded effect arising from taxes4 ,o ye1 whose covetousness knows no limits but the bounds of the earth6 do ye pretend to be the sole inhabitants thereof8 ,can ye draw off the capitalists of a country1 without completing its ruin8 ,can ye effect its ruin1 without losing both that portion which the produce of your soil secures to you in the produce of that nation's industry1 and the share which the produce of your industry has secured for you in those of her soil8 ,what then appears to me to be the result of this fatal interest of two millions due annually to ,holland8--,that the latter is essentially interested1 not in an increase of the power of ,england1 who might make a bad use of it2 not in an increase of specie in ,england1 which1 by lowering its value1 must compel her to return that of the ,dutch1 already so much disparaged in their country2 but to a further extension of the ,english trade1 or rather of the general commerce1 which can alone1 by advancing constantly1 and every where1 the quantity and price of the objects that are to circulate1 increase in the same proportion the necessity of the instruments indispensable to every kind of circulation and undertaking1 and keep up in every part1 for the interest of ,spain and ,portugal1 as well as for that of ,holland1 the value of the sign intended for a general representation1 which ,holland in her proportion will ever have in greater plenty than all other nations1 thanks to the narrow limits of her territories1 and to the manners of her inhabitants1 which1 in all probability1 are the consequence of that limitation4 ,balance of ,france with ,england4 ,of all the balances of ,england summed up by ,sir ,charles ,whitworth1 that which is most to be wondered at every where but in ,japan and ,china1 where foreign trade is but poorly encouraged1 is the balance between ,england and ,france1 these two nations being parted1 as they are1 only by a simple brook4 ,the wonder cannot but increase1 if we consider with what eagerness those two countries are intent upon improving their trade4 ,the wonder will still increase1 when it is observed1 that the ,french carry to the highest pitch their rage for ,english modes1 whilst the ,english experience the same kind of frenzy for ,french fashions4 ,the wonder must increase still further1 when it is observed1 that the same nations1 in possession of the most active and most intelligent industry1 are also possessed of all the cash necessary to give an additional activity to that industry1 which might be required to carry on a branch of trade1 as it were1 at their door1 but which is neglected1 out of regard for old and absurd prejudices4 ,still must the wonder increase1 if it is observed1 that a first capital of #bjj1jjjl4 laid out in that trade by the two nations1 would occasion in both1 more work in cultivation1 as well as in the arts1 than #fjj1jjjl4 which each of them might employ in a trade to ,china1 if it were possible to lay out such a sum upon it8 ,the wonder will be still greater1 when we consider that1 by favouring1 with equal care1 the imports and exports to and from one country into the other1 the two nations would1 without the least inconvenience1 acquire the means of increasing the revenue of their customs respectively1 according to their wants1 by agreeing mutually upon a tarif1 which would be rated upon the average of those wants2 a tarif1 which the rest of ,europe might adapt to its circumstances1 if it were the general intention to increase1 every where1 the revenue of the ,state and the industry of the people1 in a like proportion4 ,this is certainly what the two nations might have compassed4 ,that which follows1 is what they have done4 ,in the year #afii the exports of ,england to ,france amounted to #bhg1jejl4 and her imports from ,france to #id1fdal3-- ,in #aggc1 the period at which ,sir ,charles ,whitworth closes his statements1 the exports from ,england were rated at #bhe1ggfl4 and the imports from ,france at only #dd1dhdl4--,on this the enthusiastic admirers of the ,balance in favour bless their stars that their country imports now #ej1aegl4 less in ,french goods1 than it did in #afii1 and that1 in order to secure this advantage1 ,england experiences no other damage than that the ,french are fallen in their imports from ,england only #abgdl4 since the year #afii4 ,further ,reasons why all ,ideas of a favourable ,balance in ,money1 different from that which ,i have supposed1 should be rejected4 ,great-,britain is not the only nation that claims a right to that kind of favour1 which would reduce all ,europe1 in all transactions1 to the use of paper-money2 but ,i only speak of ,england in this place4 ,money is not hid under ground in a country where administration is convinced1 both of the impossibility of the people paying exorbitant taxes1 without proportionable riches1 and of the impossibility of being as rich as is requisite for the discharge of enormous taxes1 when individuals are compelled to appear less rich1 that they may be less burdened with imposts4 ,money is not laid under ground in a country1 where the smallest sum1 as it were1 equally with the largest1 may be placed most securely1 till the very moment1 when1 led by fancy or want1 one may think well to withdraw it1 and which1 from the time when it has been placed1 to that of recalling it1 produces nevertheless a sure interest1 which never was delayed a single minute2 an interest1 which is a matter neither of reproach nor of shame4 ,money is not laid under ground in a country1 where the reputation of being rich exposes not the subject to an arbitrary taxation1 nor to demands equally ruinous1 to informations1 extortions1 or at least to some injustice in case of a refusal4 ,money is not laid under ground in a country1 where regard is the appendage not only of wealth1 but of credit also1 which carries the appearance of1 and can procure the former4 ,nor is money hid under ground in a country1 where it shews the value of a man as positively as that of a piece of goods2 in a country1 where it is frankly said1 this man is worth a million2 whether this expression be made use of to signify that the possessor of a million is1 at least1 by the whole extent of that million1 far from being guilty of meanness and injustice1 or that it be understood that nothing but the offer of another million could tempt him to commit anything base or unjust4 ,money is never buried under ground in a country1 where it acts so essential a part2 it cannot then be its fate in ,england3 all the money in the possession of ,england stands in full evidence2 it consists1--#ast1 in objects of private luxury1 the quantity of which is by no means extravagant2--#b;dly1 in the mass of cash in circulation4 ,now this very mass is despotically determined by the number of affairs transacted1 and likewise by the prices and quantity of the property which is to be circulated2 yet this mass is1 perhaps1 in ,england one half less than it would prove any where else1 supposing the same objects to be attained2 that universal mobile is too justly appreciated there1 to be lavished1 that is to say1 to be turned into cash1 beyond what is required to give credit to the paper currency substituted to cash4 ,i shall therefore ask1 ,in what public funds abroad the ,english merchants vest annually the four or five millions of that pretended favourable balance in money1 since they do not bury it at home8--,there might1 it is true1 still exist another resource2 the general balance is only the aggregate of all private balances4,but is it very certain that1 upon an average1 the private balances of all the merchants in ,europe1 who correspond with ,england1 are annually charged by one fourth of the amount accruing from that correspondence8 ,for if the ,english send them #af every year1 and every year import only #ab1 their correspondents are consequently indebted to them annually #d more than they were the preceding year4 ,the favourable balance1 as it is commonly understood1 is then a mere chimera1 which1 if realised1 would produce no other effect than to advance1 at some period or other1 the price of a pound of bread to that of a pound weight of gold2 yet it results1 methinks1 from the exports of ,england1 almost trebled within a century1 that each nation1 with whom the former has trebled her trade1 has increased her own1 at least1 by the whole amount of the balance due by her to ,england2 for it is beyond a doubt1 that one must have three times more to sell1 in order to be able to purchase constantly1 and pay three times more than he used to do4 ,but from this principle may it not be inferred also1 that every nation1 wishing to increase her trade1 is interested in an increase of the commerce of all those with whom she means to correspond8--,if1 in order to reduce into practice1 if to establish on the most equitable and most solid foundation1 a system so truly advantageous to society1 ,nature had nothing more to combat than private cupidities--they balance each other4 ,but how many national prejudices1 how many maxims sacred to each nation1 how many absurd regulations1 springing from those very maxims and prejudices1 is she not obliged to modify1 as it were1 underhand1 in their effects6 ,what a number of smugglers does that good mother employ1 for the purpose of bringing all things nearer to that equilibrium1 from which many are still persuaded it is so very material to deviate6 ,equilibrium necessary in all things4--,on the surest means of establishing it4 ,it is a difficult matter to guard against a prejudice in favour of liberty1 when we consider1 that1 thanks to the freedom which has always very generally prevailed in those parts of ,science1 wherein policy disdained to restrain it1 we have been taught to weigh air1 before any precise idea was obtained on the rule of proportion1 which ought to regulate matters of exchange4 ,every thing1 in this last particular1 is even still merely mechanical2 and perhaps if the matter were thoroughly examined1 it would be found that there is never too much1 nor too little in one of the scales of the balance1 but from an effect of the means devised to establish or preserve the ,equilibrium4 ,i do not pretend to lay down1 for an absolute principle1 that the hand of man1 like that of the harpies1 is only capable of poisoning whatever comes within its reach1 and that the wisest conduct would be1 to keep it with care from every thing that one should wish to preserve from corruption2 such a proposition would1 no doubt1 prove rather too general2 yet one cannot help observing1 that there are but few countries where administration has not often1 owing to the grossest ignorance1 or some principle of injustice1 or of a cupidity almost equally blind1 restrained some very lucrative cultures1 to which the nature of the soil and of the climate would have given a perfection that could be attained no where else2 or have not encouraged some costly produce1 to which ,nature refuses those qualities which she liberally bestows under another sky4 ,neither can one refrain from remarking also1 that from those regulations1 and from many more of the same kind relative to manufactories1 no other effect can result than that of buying up at home1 very dear1 and often of a bad or indifferent quality1 that which might be purchased abroad of an excellent kind1 and at a cheaper rate1 and which might be paid for with the productions of the earth and industry1 better suited to the climate of the purchaser4 ,it is also observed1 that1 without the interference of administration or of philosophy1 the balance between want and the relative quantity of the different productions of the earth1 is always1 upon a medium1 admirably supported by the sole interest of the cultivator1 ever perfectly and solely guided by the common demand for each of these productions4 ,it is also remarked1 that a second balance1 and a very necessary one1 between the mean price of those different productions1 is also mechanically established1 on the difference of labour and of the capitals1 which the same cultivator lays out upon each of them1 without any other motive but that of employing with discernment1 his hands and his capital1 to derive from them the greatest benefit4 ,he never thinks of restoring the equilibrium between the general prices1 when the price of the product ,a has fallen1 and when a continued advance on the product ,b invites him to multiply the latter1 by transferring to its cultivation1 a more considerable share of his labour and of his capital4 ,nor does he think of it1 when laying out new supplies of labour and money if the price of the product ,b keeps up whilst that of the product ,a goes on increasing2 he does not think of it2 and yet1 without any other reason or motive than his own interest1 he restores that necessary equilibrium4 ,much less still does he think that an increase maintained in the price of one object1 without diminution in that of other articles1 bespeaks an increase of the general consumption1 which soon must raise the price of every thing4 ,nay1 it is very probable that he will not take notice that he sells all his goods at a higher rate1 and that he will soon complain of the general advance in the price of all those which he buys1 because his interest is his only guide3 but this interest is opposed by that of industry2 and from this clashing1 in spite of the two opponents1 arises a new balance1 more loaded1 no doubt1 than the first1 but not less necessary1 not less equitable1 and yet no one has meddled with it4 ,all these things may be easily observed2 but what ought to be more particularly attended to1 and what is most overlooked1 is the impossibility of ascertaining the difference between the hand-labour and capitals to which we owe the productions of the earth1 the knowledge of which is within the reach of every one1 and the labour and capitals to which we owe the productions of industry1 in which the workmanship of an article often constitutes the half1 and sometimes #ii hundredths of its value3 it is a disadvantage against which agriculture cannot be effectually protected but by a competition1 which can be the result only of the greatest freedom4 ,the absolute passiveness1 which1 in the above stated circumstances1 is sufficient1 on the part of ,government1 to effect the greatest good1 appears here indispensable1 to avoid acts of injustice4 ,why should the trading part complain of that passiveness1 whilst a number of cultivators1 proportioned to that of the artisans1 produce in the ,state a revenue equal to the maintenance and support of industry8 ,now the fact appears the more certain1 as1 upon the least reflexion1 one may be sensible1 that if an epidemic disorder should break out amongst the husbandmen only1 and thus deprive cultivation of one half of its proper number of hands1 the survivors would not fail to increase the price of their labour1 and the farmer that of his farm1 by so much as would indemnify agriculture for the loss which she might have sustained1 and that the advance in her prices would fall off only in proportion as the handicraftsmen without employment1 by the uselessness of that portion of the produce of industry1 hitherto consumed by the cultivators who fell victims to the disease1 would themselves turn cultivators2 an operation which would soon restore the proper balance between the two revenues1 as well as between the prices of labour1 from which all kinds of produce originate4 ,let the effects of the disease be transferred from the cultivators to the handicraftsmen1 the same manuvre will be played off by those who preside over industry4 ,should another reason be wanted to strengthen my argument in its most essential part1 ,i could adduce an incontestable fact1 as little controverted in ,france as it is in ,england1 namely1 that in both countries the whole of the landed property does not yield three fourths of what it ought to produce4--,then1 either the respective industry of the two nations ransoms agriculture1 and binds her up1 without being suspected of doing so1 to that state of mediocrity to which she is reduced2 in which case1 single out of your regulations1 those which favour industry at the expence of cultivation1 and endeavour to expunge them1 since agriculture stands clearly in want both of hands and capitals2 or your industry and agriculture are neither of them nearly arrived to that degree of perfection which they are calculated to reach2 that is to say1 you have not the number of cultivators which your land can nourish1 nor of course1 so many artificers as your land can maintain2 in this case also1 revise your regulations2 there is not one of them which does not affect your agriculture in a direct or indirect manner2 by her you must begin3 cultivators1 unthinkingly and without regret1 give birth to a race of artisans2--it is1 on the contrary1 as it were in spite of industry1 and by a kind of reaction which she spares no endeavours to retard1 that cultivators are produced by artisans4 ,never will industry lay out a shilling upon the land if she can employ it in any other enterprise4 ,but1 would the inland trade1 without which agriculture cannot subsist1 flourish1 if foreign commerce should not be encouraged in a particular manner8 ,and were any circumstances whatever1 combined together so as to occasion such an alteration in the price of necessaries1 as would deprive industry of the proper means to support abroad a competition which cannot possibly subsist but by an equality of means2 would it not then become necessary for government1 to shew a special favour to commerce1 intrusted with the care of that competition8 ,the manufacturers1 in all countries1 insist so forcibly on such a necessity6 ,the ruling powers in every nation are so convinced of the truth of the above maxim6 ,this question1 truly important1 requires some details on the different causes productive of the alteration in the prices4 ,although ,i may often appear1 in the following suppositions1 to lose sight of the revenue arising from industry1 and pay attention to that of the land only1 we must not forget the mechanical principle1 or rather the force of ,nature1 who1 sooner or later1 in spite of all the subtilty of man1 keeps an exact balance between those two sources of national wealth1 and causes all the revolutions of the one to be unavoidably felt by the other4 ,various ,causes of the ,alteration in the ,prices4 ,as long as we shall suppose1 in a country standing by itself1 the same products1 the same consumption1 the same quantity of money1 the same freedom1 no reason can ever be assigned for an increase or falling-off in the price of any article generally known1 and of general use2 but1 ,second ,hypothesis1 ,let us suppose1 that population is doubled as well as the revenue2 no alteration can certainly take place in the real value of things2--that value will remain for each article1 the same as it was before2 that is1 the sum of the labour requisite for the production of that article3#e neither will the relative value undergo any change2 the quantity of labour known1 or supposed1 in two different objects of a certain consumption1 will remain1 as at first1 the sole criterion for fixing the difference of value in the one and the other4 ,the essential relation of general correspondence between the wants1 and the real resources1 remaining also the same1 there can likewise be no real difference in the situation of any individual whatever2 if there are every where two consumers to one1 the same increase will be found in the number of productors4 ,the only palpable1 and unavoidable alteration1 always grievous when it is sudden1 is that which1 in the present hypothesis1 must have taken place in the nominal value1 that is to say1 in the money-price of every thing2 for the quantity of coin which was in circulation1 being always the same in that country1 standing by itself as we have supposed1 and without mines1 whilst the objects representing the said quantity1 had successively doubled1 it had been indispensable1 successively1 either by degrees1 or by starts1 to come to the point of giving for #b in money1 that which could not be given before for less than #d1 or rather of denominating #d1 that same quantity of money which hitherto had been denominated #b4--;,if you look for a precedent of the first effects of a disproportion too considerable or too rapid1 between the wants and the demands1 or between the mass of coin in circulation1 and the number of articles to be circulated1 it will be found1 in the revolutions which took place in ,england1 during the space of two years only1 #abhh1 #abhi1 the quarter of wheat rose from #as4 to #bs4 then to #cs4 #is4 #abs4 came down again to #bs4 was then raised all at once to #bjs4 and fell at last to #afs4 where it seemed to support itself for some years 7see the excellent ,inquiry of ,mr4 ,smith1 into the ,nature and ,causes of the ,wealth of ,nations72 this is the man truly capable of dissecting1 as it were1 that subject1 of which ,i can1 at best1 but mangle the epidermis4 ,third ,hypothesis4 ,to remedy the evil in such circumstances1 how many expedients are tried1 which only serve to increase it6 ,how many avowed depredations upon pretended usurers1 before the ,sovereign boldly ventures to partake with them in the public execration by ordering a re-coinage1 which1 under the same denomination1 will give but a part of the weight1 or of the quality of the former coin6 ,yet this cannot be avoided4 ,but by ascertaining1 as we have done before1 a two-fold increase in the revenue1 and supposing one million and a half to have been sufficient to the circulation of the first revenue2 if the ,prince with his #a1ejj1jjjl4 instead of a coinage of three millions1 should have struck only #b1djj1jjjl4--after some fluctuation1 the balance will be restored between the price or nominal value of the negociable articles1 and the quantity of money in circulation2--but what had been sold for #e heretofore1 will then go for #d2 the prices will have fallen one fifth1 and the circulation will be clogged3--,but above all1 it should be observed1 that no one will be the poorer1 notwithstanding the diminution of the nominal value4 ,fourth ,hypothesis4 ,if the re-coinage has been in the proportion necessary to re-establish exactly the former facility in all the channels of circulation1 the former prices will return after the inevitable fluctuations2 the quarter of wheat1 for instance1 which at some period of the revolution1 will have been raised to #bjs4 will fall back to #es4 as it was at the beginning1 although the shilling contains only half the silver that it contained at that time1 #acj grains we shall say1 instead of the #bfj or #bfd it contained in the year #acjj4 ,fifth ,hypothesis4 ,now let us suppose1 what has happened in all countries1 that the ,prince and his ,ministers have laid hold of the opportunity1 the former1 to pay the debts he had incurred in the time of national distress and confusion1 the latter1 to procure a more rapid increase of their fortunes1 and that1 with the #a1ejj1jjjl4 supposed in circulation1 they have struck #f millions1 instead of the #c wanted to answer the real increase of the revenues and of population2--certainly when the calm returns1 #ajs4 will be the price of a quarter of wheat1 which sold for #es4 in the first hypothesis2--a most decisive argument this1 for the manufacturer to sell at #h that very cloth which went for #d1 and an uncontrovertible ground of right in the working people to charge #d;d4 for that which before they performed at #b;d4--,in these two points center all the practical inferences in which any individual in the ,state can be concerned3 yet the shilling will contain only #fe grains of silver1 instead of #bfj2--;and if the price of every thing be doubled1 it is not on account of the shilling containing only #fe grains in lieu of #bfj1 since1 upon this principle1 the quarter of wheat must have fetched #bjs4 instead of #ajs4--but it is because1 in all cases1 there are two pieces of money to answer the purpose of one1 and that it was necessary1 in order that the second might acquire one half of its former value1 that the first should lose that very half4 ,sixth ,hypothesis4 ,at this period1 let it be supposed1 that an epidemical distemper sweeps off three-fourths of the inhabitants1 and consequently takes away as much from the revenue3--,after the terrors usual in such cases1 and a score of prophecies1 foretelling that ,doomsday is at hand1 yet will it appear that the world is not destroyed3 it will also appear1 that the epidemical disorder has not carried off the money1 and that it would be wrong not to make use of it4--,the specie must of course1 lose nearly three fourths of its value if the whole should continue in circulation1 because #d pieces will present themselves to do the office which #a could perform before the time of the distemper2--the quarter of wheat1 at first rated at #e shillings1 sunk to #d in the second hypothesis1 then sold for #aj in the fifth1 will in the present one1 rise up to #dj1 without any one growing richer or poorer for it2 for1 most assuredly1 the price of labour will have increased in proportion to that of its own produce4 ,seventh ,hypothesis4 ,the effect would have been the same1 if1 instead of the distemper just supposed1 the general enthusiasm on the discovery of a gold or silver mine1 had induced the ,sovereign to add to the circulation three times the quantity of specie which had hitherto been sufficient4 ,eighth ,hypothesis4 ,in the supposition of an event the most opposite to that of an epidemic disease1 viz4 of the revenue being increased one half1 one third1 nay1 three fourths1 if you please1 as well as the population2 yet the mine yielding a great deal above what is necessary to answer to an increase in all kinds1 and the ,sovereign being resolved upon a recoinage of the specie1 on principles entirely different from the former1 that is1 by preserving exactly the same number1 standard1 and denomination of the coin2 the number1 because it is sufficient2 the denomination1 because there must be one1 and that it is indifferent which it bears2 and the standard1 because there is no further danger in fixing it2 but1 by advancing the weight of a shilling from #fe to #hf grains1 there will certainly be no alteration in the prices2 the wheat will keep up at #dj shillings1 and other articles in the same proportion2--and none will be richer or poorer for it1 although1 at the price of #djs4 the quarter of wheat1 they give1 without hesitation1 #cddj grains of silver for an article for which they gave #fej only1 previous to the epidemic disease1 or the opening of the mine1 which has produced the same effect4 ,ninth ,hypothesis4 ,when such revolutions are brought about by slow degrees1 no one is sensible either of the effect1 or of the cause2 but1 at last1 both are attended to4 ,let us then suppose1 that the generality of the people reflect that gold and silver1 considered as coin1 derive all their value from imagination2--that money is1 strictly speaking1 nothing more than a medium adopted to facilitate the division and transport of all other kinds of property2--that it is but a sign1 the place of which may be easily supplied by any other1 which by general consent may be honoured with the same distinction1 or ordered for the same use2--that its value1 in this point of view1 rises or falls unavoidably1 according to its quantity1 without influencing the intrinsic or relative value of the articles it represents1 a value constantly determined by the sum of the labour that produces them1 just as their relative1 common quantity follows1 servilely and closely1 the demand4--,all these remarks cannot prevent us from observing a value far more essential in gold and silver1 considered as metals susceptible of all the forms that can be useful1 or can please the eye1 while the nature and texture of their parts secure them from accidents equally disagreeable and dangerous1 to which all other metals are liable3 we should not therefore be surprised1 if some reflexions1 suggested by wisdom and humanity1 were to lead us to that point which first originated in the extravagance of ambition1 and the rage of politics2 ,i mean1 that1 after having considered that no manner of good was produced by that disparagement of coin1 which always resulted from its multiplication1 and that the health of man was1 on the contrary1 interested in putting to a better use those metals1 the quantity of which1 being doubled in circulation1 only served to double the price of every thing2--we should not be surprised1 ,i say1 not only that nothing was spared to encourage the goldsmith's trade1 but even1 that half of the coin was melted down1 and transformed into plate1 and the deficit supplied by a quantity of paper-currency1 answering to that of the coin thus employed2 a paper-currency1 which it would be sufficient to distinguish by some mark or token agreed upon1 to give it in circulation1 exactly the same properties as that part of the metals which was transferred to a more advantageous purpose4 ,in regard to the danger of paper-currency increasing above the quantity wanted1 it is as little to be feared1 and its superabundance would soon be made as sensible by its effect1 as that of a superfluity of coin4--,if you double the mass of money intended for circulation1 how will you prevent such articles as sold for #d only1 from rising to #h1 or the additional #d from becoming useless8--,and if paper-currency be in question1 how will you prevent the extravagantly-avaricious wretch1 who envies others the enjoyments he denies to himself1 how can you prevent him1 ,i say1 from observing that paper rots in the ground1 and that to bury his wealth he must exchange it for cash8--how will you prevent this want of money1 immediately felt1 from destroying1 without resource1 the credit which that mass of buried money had hitherto given to paper-currency8 ,so long1 therefore1 as the paper keeps up its credit1 one may rest assured that the public is not over-loaded with it4 ,i shall1 in the sequel1 venture some reflexions on the true cause of that part of the increase in prices1 which is attributed to the quantity of paper-currency in circulation2 contenting myself here with a recapitulation of what ,i have just said on the different causes of the alteration in prices1 according to the foregoing hypothesis1 by concluding1 ,first1 ,that a nation which should rejoice in being possessed 7for the convenience of covetous individuals7 of a vortex1 into which they could cast1 at pleasure1 without profit1 but also without anxiety1 an immense treasure1 which was the produce of the pains taken by so many useful and industrious hands1 would1 in fact1 only congratulate herself on being possessed of the effectual means of robbing the present and succeeding ages1 of all the advantages that must have accrued from the use made of that money1 in any part of the world1 where it might have produced1 and encouraged a new branch of industry1 the reaction of which would have turned to the profit of the nation in possession of such vortex4 ,secondly1 ,that a nation1 which should rejoice in being the owner of an immense quantity of coin in circulation1 would1 in fact1 congratulate herself on that want of credit which renders such quantity indispensable4 ,thirdly1 ,that as soon as government1 in such a nation1 should have solemnly given up the right1 supposed to be unalienable1 of paying its debts1 from no other motive but that of extreme honour and benevolence1 the nation might then part with half her coin1 and without impeding the circulation1 increase her enjoyments and her wealth1 which can be nothing more than the total of her annual labour1 together with the monuments still subsisting of the labour of preceding years3 a total1 which could not but increase in the case now supposed4 ,fourthly1 ,that1 in regard to the coin1 the most wretched paper-factory1 assisted with that credit which is founded1 not on kindness1 but on justice and interest1 is far preferable to the richest mine in ,america4 ,fifthly1 ,that the difference in the real value between one article and another1 is only the difference of the labour which produces it2 and that all regulation1 tending to throw a veil on the quantity of labour contained in one article1 is unjust2 since it turns to the prejudice of any individual in the community1 who is not the author of this unknown labour4 ,sixthly1 ,that the nominal price of the essential article1 to which that of the others must finally revert and conform1 fixed at first by its proportion in the quantity of articles to be represented1 and by the divisions and subdivisions of the mass of money then existing for that use1 this nominal common price will certainly rise or fall1 constantly1 and without the least inconvenience1 just as that first quantity of coin shall cease to answer1 by more or by less1 to the quantity of the objects of which it was calculated to transfer the property4 ,seventhly1 ,that1 supposing it to be a fact1 proved incontestably by the mint-registers1 and the average price at ,windsor1 that from the year #acjj to #acji1 wheat1 at its highest rate1 was not above #gs4 per quarter1 the shilling weighing #bfd grains of silver1 which made the quarter come only to #ahdh grains2 that in the year #aeea1 the same sold for #hs4 the shilling containing then only #fj grains1 which made it exactly #afj grains per quarter2 and that the same sells now1 ,i will say1 at #djs4 the shilling containing #hf grains1 which is #cddj grains for a quarter of wheat2 yet1 from these facts no inference can be drawn that could affect any individual whatever1 unless it should be proved1 that money makes part of our food1 or that it is impossible1 at this present time1 to procure1 with any given labour1 more or less wheat than that identical labour could procure at that period4 ,eighthly1 ,that the real difference between #ahdh grains of silver1 and #cddj1 which is perceivable between the prices of the years #acjj and #aghe1 would not even be sufficient1 were it considered by itself1 to invalidate1 or confirm this futile proposition1 that the mass or stock of money is nearly doubled in ,england2 for we have already found1 that1 supposing the case of an epidemic distemper1 which would have carried off three fourths of the people1 and consequently reduced the revenue in the same proportion1 the price of every thing must have increased fourfold1 if the three fourths of the coin had not been buried under ground2 we have seen1 on the contrary1 that it has been possible to withdraw from circulation half of the current cash1 and make good this substraction in a very advantageous manner1 by introducing scraps of paper in its stead1 without making any alteration in the general prices1 or in the least affecting the circumstances of any one1 poor or rich1 unless some collateral incident should intervene to bring about a change2 and the least reflexion will convince us1 that the mass of specie might be quadruplicated in a nation1 without any material variation in the prices1 if the sum of labour1 and of its products1 as well as of the consumption1 should augment proportionably4 ,but1 in stating that the only--the infallible reason for the variations of common prices in the foregoing hypotheses1 is the change of proportion between the mass of specie1 or of the paper-currency which represents it1 and the articles of which the one1 or the other1 is to transfer the property1 there is no inconsistency in persisting to pretend that taxes add to the former prices1 both the amount of the impost1 and the profit due to the trader who advances it4 ,but1 in both cases the progress is different3 in the former1 it is the quantity of the specie actually in being which necessitates and fixes the prices2 in the latter1 it is the necessary advance in the prices1 that necessitates and fixes the quantity of specie1 or paper-money which is substituted to it4--,luckily1 as we have already observed1 it has been enough for ,england to find1 once for all1 money to the amount of #e millions sterling1 7cash and paper7 for discharging to the end of time1 the interest of a debt computed at #bch millions1 the same currency4--,but upon a supposition that the debt incurred by ,france1 from the year #aggd1 should amount to #ae or #afjj millions tournois1 and the yearly produce of ,french industry in all its branches1 7at the common rate of #agge7 be of #b1djj1jjj1jjjl4--the interest of #hj millions and upwards1 to be paid for such a debt1 requires an adequate increase of taxes3--now1 #hj millions tournois constitute about the #cjth part of the annual revenue produced by ,french industry1 the nominal value of which must be increased by those taxes2--but as paper-money does not supply in ,france the place of cash1 it has been1 of course1 necessary to augment by one #cjth1 the mass of specie1 which proved sufficient before the rise in the prices1 occasioned by the impost2--this mass1 it is said1 was rated at #b1djj1jjj1jjj of livres1 the #cjth part of which is #ff1fff1fff #acs4 and #d;d4 tournois1 a very considerable sum indeed2 but nevertheless nothing more has been necessary1 to prevent any inquietude on the subject1 than to procure that sum1 once for all2 and1 once for all likewise1 to add thereto the effect of some re-actions1 of which ,i shall speak presently2 nothing more1 ,i say1 was wanted to secure1 in an indefensible manner1 the interest of a loan of #aejj millions1 and to secure it so as to raise in the minds of the holders of stock to so immense an amount1 no other apprehension than that of their being reimbursed4 ,some will say1 perhaps1 8this reasoning is frivolous1 and founded on the absurd supposition of a general combination1 a kind of universal conspiracy1 in order to raise the price of every thing proportionably to the taxes40 ,i know that such a combination1 such a conspiracy is impossible2 ,i know that there is not in ,france a single edict1 nor any particular act of parliament in ,england1 to enforce1 or even to permit it2 but ,i am sensible that such an act1 and such an edict1 would be perfectly useless1 when ,i see1 that in either of those countries there is not a rational being1 capable of reflexion1 who will not say1 ,taxes occasion a dreadful advance in the prices of every thing3 it is true that the order is sometimes inverted1 and then the cry is--,how cruel it is that the price of every article is increased1 whilst the taxes diminish our means of purchase6--,but if every article rises in a due proportion1 we must conclude that there is no alteration in the state of the balance2 for if every individual in a nation buys up1 every one sells also1 one his labour1 another his wares1 a third his corn2 and if every thing grows dearer1 except the article you have to sell1 you must own yourself completely in the wrong3 luckily the landed proprietors are as little in the wrong as they possibly can be2 for as often as they renew a lease1 they increase their rental1 just as if they had got possession of my little secret1 or as if there were corporations also in agriculture4--,the agents of industry are still less liable to be in the wrong1 for all their operations are founded on the following rule3--,for purchase so much1--for freight so much1--so much for taxes1--to these add my commission or profit--,the balance is so much1 which ,i must be paid1 as ,i shall settle with the members of my corporation4 ,besides1 the commercial part of the nation is too well persuaded how necessary it is to secure a favourable general balance1 to be mistaken in the means of equipoising their private ones4 ,it is my opinion1 therefore1 that one may1 without being a conjurer1 foretell that the last dreadful and convulsive shock1 almost generally felt all over the world1 will finally1 and in a very little time1 end in the loose remembrance of some thousands of hands having been1 foolishly enough1 taken from their peaceable occupations1 very favourable to population1 to employ them in forwarding destructive plans1 to which many thousands of men have fallen a sacrifice2 one might also add1 thousands of depredations1 some of which1 the most pardonable in their nature1 have been punished at the gallows3 perhaps even they will say modestly in ,france1 ,we have reduced the ,english1 but we were four to one--and then ,england will proudly answer1 ,we have been reduced1 but we were only one to four2 nor would it be at all unreasonable to lament1 that the value of #d or #e millions sterling in gold and silver1 fatuously ornamented with the escutcheons of ,england and ,france1 to consolidate for ever the interest of #adj or #aej millions1 which constitute the last debts contracted by the two rival nations1 be not humbly stamped with the puncheon made use of to mark the plate in ,london and ,paris 444 but1 to suppose that there will be in ,london or ,paris a single carriage less6 that ,france will lessen her importation of ,english goods1 or that the demand for ,french wines will be less from ,england--is an idea which cannot1 in my mind1 coincide with that of a population and industry which1 hitherto had sufficed in both nations to answer all those different purposes2 of a population1 ,i say1 and of an industry1 which will1 in all likelihood1 go on still increasing every day1 wherever they shall not be checked by the laws4 ,one of the most fatal effects that spring from that increase in the prices1 occasioned by the impost1 is1 as they say1 the impossibility to which a country is reduced1 of supporting abroad the rivalship1 the competition of a nation less burdened with taxes1 who of course can1 they say1 undersell every thing4 ,such is1 in fine1 the question which ,i thought the fastidious details ,i have entered into1 ought to preface1 and might render of more easy solution4 ,but ,i request the reader to examine previously1 #ast1 ,whether an accession of wealth1 an addition of gold and money to the circulation1 would not increase the prices of every thing1 as necessarily as taxes must do it2--#b;dly1 ,if that increase in prices1 procured by wealth1 would not be accompanied with the same inconveniences in regard to the supporting of a competition abroad2--and1 #c;dly1 ,if the stranger to whom we should declare ourselves compelled to sell him our goods dearer1 because we are grown richer than the rival nation1 would not have the same answer to give us1 as if he were told1 that the cause of the advance in the price is1 our being loaded more heavily with taxes4 ,if these three questions cannot be answered but in the affirmative1 we should then be obliged to suspect that there is something inexplicable1 ill judged1 and not better grounded in the clamours which resound in every part of ,england on this subject2 and this surmise might perhaps incline the reader to peruse1 without prejudice1 what ,i am going to set down1 with no other view1 than to find out some useful truths4 ,on the ,influence of the ,national ,prices on the ,sales in ,foreign ,markets4 ,the impossibility of a competition in trade with those who can afford cheaper1 in money1 the articles which are to be the object of such a trade1 is so affirmatively maintained1 and this principle is so self-evident1 when applied to two manufacturers in the same town1 circumscribed in their selling as well as their buying1 within the precincts of the same country1 where the one should always procure for #c1 what the other would have the stupidity to buy constantly at #d1 that it becomes pardonable 7if one carries the examination no farther7 to admit of this idea1 taken in a most comprehensive manner1 as one of those trivial truths1 which are not worth being searched into4 ,but ,i must own1 that my reflexions on the pretended necessity of keeping the commercial balance constantly in favour1 have made me rather circumspect in giving credit to opinions the most generally received4 ,it will not be in regard to the situation of a country1 which might allege a difference of #g or #h per cent4 in its prices1 as an insurmountable bar to competition1 that ,i shall examine in what manner that very competition might be established2 ,i shall suppose a nation in the #fth1 #gth1 and #hth hypotheses1 wherein wheat is rated at #djs4 per quarter1 by a series of revolutions in the coin1 or a multiplication of taxes1 or by an increase in wealth2 and ,i shall place it in opposition to another nation1 considered as paying few or no taxes1 and humbly consuming her wheat at the rate of #bf or #bgs4 the quarter4 ,in order to render the effects of the disproportion more sensible1 ,i shall further suppose1 that the shilling in both nations equally contains #hf grains of silver at the same standard4 ,before these two nations be represented as vying with each other in the foreign markets1 ,i shall1 in the first instance1 examine1 whether it might not be possible to settle between them a direct trade1 equally advantageous to both2 for if this be practicable1 why should not the competition be so likewise8--,is not the trade of each competitor a direct one with the nation1 in which he vies8--,and if1 in this case1 there be a sure and equitable principle for one of the competitors1 why should it not be so for the other8 ,a necessary ,principle of ,trade1 considered both as direct1 and in ,competition4 ,in all imaginable suppositions1 ,commerce is nothing more than the exchange of one want against another want1 or of one fancy against another fancy2 or1 in fine1 of a fancy against a want4 ,all idea of a commerce between two nations1 as between man and man1 carries with it two objects different in their nature1 or their form2 and the relative value of these objects must essentially be previously determined by some general principle1 if we mean not to transact business in the dark4 ,now1 the nation so rich1 or1 in other words1 so over-loaded with money1 as to have raised1 at home1 the quarter of wheat to #djs4 can certainly have no real interest in taking away the small portion of the other1 so scantily provided1 that she is obliged to sell for #bd or #bgs4 that which fetches #djs4 to the former2 for1 after all1 what would be the consequence of this spoliation8 ,it would serve only to lessen1 in the opulent country1 the value of the precious metal already so much disparaged there4 ,what then will be the case1 if both have sense enough to prefer real enjoyments to chimerical possessions1 or rather1 profit to loss8 ,after the first years1 destined1 since the establishment of ,societies1 to be spent in endeavouring1 if possible to cheat each other1 it will certainly become indispensable to agree upon a fixed rule of appraisement1 as unexceptionable for one country as for the other4 ,now1 in the supposed state of the question1 money cannot be that rule2 for one of them demands none1 and the other is not willing to part with any1 not out of regard for the favourable balance1 but because she would get less by the exportation of her money1 than of her goods2 it will therefore become necessary1 for the respective advantage of the parties concerned1 to agree1 that the labour of #aj1 of #ajj1 of #ajjj men in one country1 shall be looked upon as repaid by the labour of the same number of hands from the other1 upon a tacit proviso nevertheless1 that the respective merchants in both nations shall have it in their power to ransom their countrymen1 according to the proportions established in both countries1 a little by the degree of estimation in which commerce is held1 but a great deal by the degree of foreign competition by which the natives are or will be kept or called to order4--,and what is required to prevent any injustice1 and1 above all1 any mistrust from the merchant of one nation towards the merchant of the other8--,nothing more than to follow the practice almost generally established all over ,europe4--,the merchant in ,rome1 ,i suppose1 will send his son to his friend in ,london1 and vice vers4 ,now if the ,roman perceives that in ,london1 where a quarter of wheat costs #djs4 the article he proposes to buy is commonly sold at #hjs4 he will readily conceive1 without having gone through a course of algebra1 that some other article1 which is bespoke of him in exchange1 going for #eds4 in ,rome1 where wheat is at #bgs4 per quarter1 he will exactly pay1 value for value1 according to the balance and weight of the commercial sanctuary1 the #hj of ,london with the #ed of ,rome4 ,it appears to me that matters thus settled1 might remain so for ever1 without inconvenience1 without any alteration of prices1 in either of the two nations1 had not ,nature1 either from mere caprice1 or to make men1 in spite of themselves1 dependent on each other1 and oblige them to look on one another as brethren1 established certain unknown rules1 in consequence of which1 that very same wheat1 which would cost only #bf or #bgs4 at ,rome1 we have supposed1 and #djs4 in ,london1 this same wheat ,i say1 the staff of life all over ,europe1 every where accounted the standard of labour1 and every where cultivated in proportion to its common necessity1 is at times nevertheless at one place in great plenty1 and very scarce at another4 ,now it seems to be a matter of perfect indifference1 that in regard to any other article a merchant should ransom his wealthy fellow citizen1 a landed proprietor1 by charging him1 for instance1 #cj crowns for an ,english trinket1 originally purchased for no more than #aj1 as an equitable measure between labour and labour3 it is the younger son who robs the elder brother1 to provide against the right of primogeniture2 or1 in other words1 it is no more than the transferring of a few crowns1 from a very valuable hand1 that of the consumer1 to another equally precious1 that of an agent of the production3 but it is of the utmost consequence for the ,sovereign1 that1 in a time of scarcity1 insatiable men1 were they even his subjects1 do not presume to ask #djjj grains of silver for a quarter of wheat1 upon pretence that in ,england1 from whence it was imported1 they have paid for it #cddj grains1 7for it is always upon such victorious arguments that the national monopolist endeavours to defend his extortions1 in times of distress72 the difference is so great between #djjj grains of silver1 and only #bbjj or #bcjj1 the common price by which that of labour is regulated in my hypothesis1 that all the treasure shut up in the castle of ,st4 ,angelo could not prevent half the inhabitants from starving for want of food in a time of dearth4 ,luckily1 however1 this misfortune may be obviated by one of the grandest operations in finance1 that can possibly be conceived2 for the object is no less than to oblige the people to pay in good earnest for their wheat in a moment of scarcity1 at the rate of #djjj grains of silver per quarter1 a price so far above the means of that very people1 to whom the intention is to shew some favour4 ,this financiering operation is founded on the following remark1 obvious to the meanest capacity1 and perhaps not unworthy of being deeply searched into by a judicious observer4 ,were the wheat in ,england to cost only from #bf to #bgs4 per quarter1 the landed revenue1 now called #fc millions1 would1 in fact1 amount to no more than #db2 this cannot be controverted3 in this case every thing would be paid for in proportion1 and certainly no one could gain or lose by it3 therefore if we invert the proportion1 i4 e4 if the quarter of wheat rise to #djs4 at ,rome1 instead of #bgs4 and the other productions of the earth and of industry rise in price in the same proportion1 as well as the labour by which they are procured1 the revenue of the ,ecclesiastical ,state1 which1 in the present supposition1 would be only #aj millions sterling1 would swell suddenly up to #ae millions1 without any one being a sufferer4--,when the question is1 only to take a nominal share in the most dreaded effects of the ,english taxes1 in order to procure such an addition of wealth1 and get rid1 at the same time1 of all fear of scarcity1 it would be very wrong to reject the expedient4--,money1 it is said1 is wanted to carry on the whole circulation at that rate2--but1 in ,england1 where1 by a single nod1 they attract money from every part of the globe1 do they not make guineas with paper8--,why should they not1 at ,rome1 make as many paper-crowns as are necessary to facilitate a general circulation of the products there8 ,these products are so wisely raised in price from #bg to #djs4 that the number of grains of silver necessary to purchase a pound of wheat1 made into a loaf1 being now nearly upon an equality in ,holland1 in ,france1 and at ,rome1 the national trader1 whose business it will be to guard against scarcity1 and the foreign merchants who will be invited to concur in remedying the evil1 will no longer be able to add to the price of wheat1 any more than a reasonable compensation for his advance1 trouble1 risque1 and the quality of the service rendered3 a compensation besides1 on the extent of which it will be much more difficult to impose upon the ,sovereign1 or any one else1 at least beyond a certain degree3 to this advantage let us add that of keeping the needy from the thoughts of destroying that wealth which has been gleaned by former services4 ,in regard to the confidence necessary to favour that paper money1 with the same degree of value as that of ,england has obtained1 ,i confess that ,i do not hesitate to suppose1 that the paper-money of a ,sovereign is never deemed contemptible1 but when an opinion prevails that he himself will despise it2 and ,i dare say 7were ,i to be charged with a want of modesty7 that the public is too deeply interested in the inferences that may be drawn from my arguments1 for their consistency or absurdity not to be very soon demonstrated3 now1 supposing them to be consistent1 ,i think it would be1 then1 beyond all possibility1 even to imagine a circumstance wherein the interest of a ,prince could induce him to dishonour himself4 ,this great truth1 generally acknowledged1 could not long remain ineffectual4--,but this is not the matter in point4 ,the case in point is1 to observe1 ,first1 that1 in the same manner as foreign coin is resolved into the quantity and standard of the metals that compose it1 in order to know how much of the national coin may be given in exchange1 just so all kinds of foreign commodities are resolved into the quantity of labour contained in them1 or supposed to be so1 that the quantity of national labour1 corresponding thereto1 may be ascertained3 ,secondly1 that therefore1 labour alone being the standard of value1 labour is consequently the only standard that can regulate the exchanges between one nation and another3 ,thirdly1 that the national prices1 or1 to speak more properly1 money is1 in fact1 the most proper standard of labour between two manufacturers in the same town2 and that nothing but the misconduct and unrestrained cupidity of the one1 can prevent him from selling his goods at the price by which the other clears a profit that satisfies him2 but in each country the common price of labour being arbitrarily determined by the common price of the materials necessary to set the labourer at work1 the common price of wheat is1 in fact1 the measure of the common price of labour in all nations3 ,fourthly1 that it is impossible a nation should be willing to barter a greater quantity of its own labour1 against a less quantity of the labour of another2 and yet it is to such a degree of absurdity1 that we must reduce the supposed advantage of the dreaded competition3 ,fifthly1 that the liberty of exporting corn1 even under its present restrictions1 makes1 as it were1 of all ,europe1 at this day1 only one family2 that1 on the whole1 there is constantly as much of that indispensable commodity as is necessary for all the family2 but that a man whose folly would be to trace out1 describe1 and acknowledge1 throughout every thing that concerns society in any essential point1 the stamp of an universal benevolence1 determined to unite all men together by their wants and interests if it is impossible to do it by more disinterested motives1 would not prove too inconsistent in a fit of that folly which might induce him to suspect some marks of that stamp1 even in the bad seasons1 in the storms which successively visit all the parts of the world1 make them all sensible of the necessity of such union1 and soon bring nearly upon a level1 all the different prices of that indispensable commodity1 the cultivation of which requires1 almost every where1 the same labour1 or which1 by its quantity1 always answers1 upon an average1 to the labour bestowed upon it3 ,sixthly and in fine1 that hence results the impossibility that there should long subsist1 in the prices of any thing1 a difference capable of making any competition whatever1 formidable to any man who will not be so unjust as to wish and ask beads of gold for beads of glass1 or1 in other words1 to try in bartering1 to obtain the labour of #aej in exchange for that of #ajj only4 ,let us suppose1 nevertheless1 that there should exist at this day1 a nation pretending to be formidable in her competition1 and who should only be1 in fact1 remarkable for her folly1 that is to say1 a nation so very blind1 as to endeavour to keep the price of her wheat under that of all other countries2 ,i agree that the labour of her artisans would be rated in consequence1 and that the produce of her industry might thus be purchased at a lower rate than that of any other nation3--but what advantage could she derive from thence in a competition abroad8,though she should denominate at home the sum of her exports1 only one million for instance1 because she would call #ajj1 the quantity of wheat1 which elsewhere would be called #aej1 how could she require less for her returns than the other countries1 who1 by the price of their wheat1 would be compelled to call #a1ejj1jjj that which she herself would call #a1jjj1jjj8--,would not this million represent1 as really1 the labour of #ge1jjj of her workmen 7their families included71 as if it were by her denominated #a1ejj1jjjl48--,besides1 the place where she has carried her goods is not the end of her voyage2 and it is so much more necessary for her to obtain in return the produce of #ge1jjj labourers 7families included71 adequate to what she herself has given1 as being obliged to carry those returns home1 where every thing sells1 in the hypothesis1 #ej per cent4 below the price they would fetch any where else1 she would lose in lowering the rates of her exports1 all the fruit she might expect to reap from her voyage4--,this is what escapes observation4 ,they see nothing but money in commercial operations1 instead of observing that all the nations in ,europe1 neither do nor can require1 and that ,england herself does not preserve more of it than the sum necessary to answer those five articles of which ,i have spoken in examining her balance3 ,i shall in the sequel bring some proofs1 in addition to those ,i have already given2 but ,i think ,i have said enough here1 to justify me in insisting1 that the competition can be dreaded by the unjust man alone1 by that man who wishes to sell the labour of #ajj workmen as if it were the labour of #aej1 and by that man1 not less unreasonable1 who1 compelled to sell his own goods #aj per cent4 dearer1 should refuse to pay also #aj per cent4 dearer for the foreign goods which he would ask in exchange4--,if that principle--a principle of the strictest justice1 is still unknown in ,europe2 as an ,american1 ,i glory that it is not so in ,america4 ,reflexions on a ,letter from ,philadelphia1 inserted in the ,english ,news-papers4 ,a ,merchant of ,philadelphia offers to his former ,jamaica correspondents1 7see ,morning ,chronicle and ,london ,advertiser of ,june #bd1 #aghe7 to serve them1 with all such articles as they may require1 at the current price of ,philadelphia1 only with the addition of freight and the usual commission4 ,in order to render his proposal unequivocal1 he mentions staves1 and makes a calculation1 by which it appears that he could not land them in ,jamaica for less than #abl4 #ais4 #a;d4 currency per thousand2 he then adds3 8,by this calculation it appears1 that staves would come considerably higher than they used to be in ,jamaica before the war3 it is true they are so1 but it is owing to their being risen at ,philadelphia nearly #ajj per cent4 ,of course1 ,jamaica prices must be in proportion2 for it would be unreasonable to expect goods of ,jamaica at the old prices1 when those of ,america have advanced so considerably40 ,i shall venture upon some remarks on the foregoing proposition4 ,first1 ,the ,philadelphian has sense enough to feel1 that the war must advance the price of goods from the ,colonies1 in a due proportion to the general increase in prices of all that is carried there4 ,in ,europe1 on the contrary1 people are not only strangers to the idea of that universal chain1 but they are so convinced1 or rather so persuaded1 that the ,colonies were created1 and do actually exist1 for the sole pleasure and interest of their respective metropolises1 that no imaginable means are spared to lessen the price of their products in the mother country who receives them1 in order that this tender mother may sell them at a cheaper rate in the foreign markets2 but1 ye mother countries6 your colonists are also your children1 foreigners are only your brethren4--,it must be owned1 however1 that the coffee1 indigo1 and cottons1 of ,jamaica1 ,grenada1 ,guadaloupe1 ,st4 ,domingo1 c4 are no more the territorial commodities of ,england1 and of ,france1 than the corn and other productions of those two kingdoms2 and that the arguments adduced in regard to the colonies1 are1 as ,montaigne says1 of a piece with that by which they prove1 that1 ,,the ,,cheaper ,,the ,,corn1 ,,the ,,more ,,brilliant ,,is ,,the ,,commercial ,,competition4--,were not ,nature by her underhand work constantly fighting1 with some advantage1 against the dreams of speculators1 to what pitch of misery would not agriculture be reduced in all parts of the world6 ,secondly1 ,war has been productive1 in the ,united ,states of ,america1 of the same effects which attend it every where else1 viz4 an augmentation in the price of every thing4 ,thirdly1 ,the increase of nearly cent4 per cent4 assigned to the staves1 does not determine the general advance of ,american goods2 the excessive1 but instantaneous price of one article only1 denotes an extraordinary demand for that object1 and the actual impossibility of answering that demand2 the level1 so necessary in all prices1 naturally returns as soon as the medium of the demand is known1 and has determined the number of hands necessary to supply it3 now it cannot be doubted1 but that the goods in ,america must have advanced in price1 much more than any where else1 because the expences of the ,colonies have been1 during the war1 relatively speaking1 much more considerable than any where else1 considering the discredit inseparable from the precariousness of their situation4 ,but the difference between their inland common prices1 and those of ,europe1 was so great 7this will presently be seen71 that they may increase them enough to pay off the interest of their national debt1 and yet keep the ,european prices at a distance4 ,fourthly1 ,the ,united ,states are now a foreign nation in regard to ,jamaica1 which belongs to ,england2 yet this consideration does not render them so far unjust1 as to shake off the burden of their taxes1 and fix it on the inhabitants of ,jamaica2 they only make them nominal partners in that burden1 7if the expression may be allowed71 without any inconvenience arising therefrom to either of the parties4 ,fifthly1 ,they have the true notion of an equitable trade1 founded on the continuation of former relations between goods and goods2 a principle from which ,i only draw inferences relative to the national debt1 and which suffices to destroy all the hideousness of that phantom4 ,sixthly1 ,they do not pretend1 with the ,europeans1 that the increase in the national prices1 can in any thing affect their exportation2 but they have found1 that being obliged to sell dearer1 it was their duty to offer very frankly to pay also dearer for whatever they wanted in return4 ,seventhly1 ,they do not entertain the least doubt on what seems to be unknown in ,europe1 namely1 that the real benefit of a voyage can be found only in the price which the returns will meet with1 when arrived in the country where the voyage is to terminate4 ,eighthly1 ,in the union1 and in the execution of these different points1 centers the little mystery1 by means of which ,nature has hitherto filled up by slow degrees1 and by which the ,american proposes1 without thinking so to do1 to fill up with more dispatch1 those little furrows of taxes1 the very name of which is now a bugbear1 but would cease to be so1 if the manner in which they are planned1 imposed1 and above all1 collected1 did not prolong and increase the real and momentary evil1 which will ever be inseparable from them4 ,ninthly1 ,it is singular enough1 that the ,european cultivator should be taught by the ,american trader1 the necessity and the justice of an increase of price in the productions of the earth1 proportionable1 says the honest ,philadelphian1 to that which is to be met with in the price of the productions of industry3--,it would be unreasonable1 says he1 to expect the goods of ,jamaica at the old prices1 when those of ,philadelphia have advanced so considerably4--,nay1 say the ,european manufacturers1 since our goods1 by means of the taxes1 have increased #aj per cent4 it follows necessarily that the price of wheat1 sugar1 indigo1 c4 should fall in the same proportion1 in order that the trade in competition may be supported abroad2--had not ,nature1 by her underhand work1 constantly fought with some advantage against the dreams of speculators1 and against the much more dreadful surreptions of cupidity1 to what pitch of misery would not agriculture be reduced in all parts of the world6 ,the following estimates may be of some service2 their utility is independent of the absolute precision of the facts on which they are founded2 one may1 as occasion requires1 extend or contract the compasses4 ,previous to the last war the common price of wheat was1 upon an average1 in ,america about #bjs4 sterling per quarter1 7vide ,mr4 ,a4 ,young's ,political ,arithmetic74 ,if in ,england a population of #i1jjj1jjj of industrious inhabitants1 yields a landed revenue of #fj1jjj1jjjl4 sterling1 the wheat being there at #djs4 per quarter1 a population of #c1jjj1jjj of industrious inhabitants in ,america1 where wheat sells at #bjs4 a quarter1 ought to produce at least a landed revenue of #aj1jjj1jjjl4 sterling2 ,i say at least1 first1 because the land is new1 and produces as much1 with less culture2 and secondly1 because that part of the inhabitants employed in agriculture in ,england1 constitute only one third of the whole population1 and that in all probability1 above two thirds of the ,americans are employed in works of husbandry4 ,it may therefore be presumed1 that their landed revenue exceeds #bj1jjj1jjj1 instead of the #aj which ,i have set down2 but this surplus of #aj1jjj1jjj1 only serves to make good both the national and foreign industry1 which is to balance it1 and pay off the taxes3 so that1 in whatever light my thesis be considered1 every error turns to their advantage4 ,in limiting their landed revenue to #aj1jjj1jjj1 their wheat remaining at #bjs4 per quarter2 let everyone judge what load of taxes they could bear1 before the price of their wheat and other territorial productions1 should come up to that of the same commodities of ,europe1 even including the expences for the export of their surplusage4 ,let every one judge also of the necessity of their bankruptcy1 the idea of which has been so fondly cherished by some low-minded people1 and the narrative of which1 they feared perhaps themselves1 would unavoidably stain the first pages of the history of their political existence4 ,the last war1 it is said1 has loaded them with an interest of #a1jjj1jjj per annum4 ,would a tax of #aj per cent4 on every article1 or rather on the total of the produce of national1 as well as foreign industry1 consumed within the country1 be productive of any other effect1 but that of increasing the prices nearly as much8 and would the cultivators of wheat and other productions of the earth1 have occasion for any other expedient to pay the tax1 without being at any expence1 without any one being aggrieved1 7provided they should raise in the same proportion the price of labour attending cultivation7 but that of advancing1 in the mean time1 the price of their wheat1 and other productions of the earth1 from #aj to #aa or #ab1 from #bj to #bb or #bd8--,this is the case in my first hypothesis1 with this difference1 that the #ba1jjj1jjj interest1 mentioned therein1 represented highways1 havens1 canals1 public schools1 c4 and that the interest of #a1jjj1jjj1 in the ,united ,states1 will represent the establishment of their independence4 ,such a monument is1 in my opinion1 too precious to admit a thought of destroying it by a reimbursement1--a reimbursement palpably useless so soon as the price of every thing is restored to a level with the interest of any national loan whatever4 ,they have committed some errors2 more will follow3 they know not what to fix upon2 nor will they know for some time1 perhaps for a long time4--,is there a ,state in ,europe that can reproach them with any false step1 of which that very same ,state did not set the precedent at some period of its history8,but with their principle concerning exportation1 a principle founded on justice and evidence1 they have already perceived that the necessitated price of #bb or #bd1 instead of #bj1 must be felt in their country alone2 and if their commodities exported for the purpose of procuring such articles for their home consumption1 as they stand in need of1 continue still to yield them the same quantity of those articles of consumption1 as were obtained before the war1 will they not perceive that the home prices1 which the re-action of the taxes shall have set upon the whole of their productions1 establish in the country an exact balance of those new prices at which the taxes will oblige them to sell the articles to be imported8 ,compelled by necessity to have recourse to paper-money1 will it be long before they are made sensible1 that nothing more than internal credit is wanted to make this paper equal to coin1 and answer all its purposes for ever1 if they should be thus wisely inclined1--if this measure should be found the only means of curbing effectually the cupidity of those with whom they shall have occasion to trade8 ,will it be long before they perceive1 that this credit will follow close upon the solidity of public engagements1--a solidity demonstrated by the evidence of the inutility of a base and infamous robbery8 ,will it be long before they feel that all the actual wealth of a ,state1 its real wealth1 is nothing more or less than the mass of its present industry2 that all its possible wealth can arise only from the sum of all its possible labour2 that the greatest riches are only the greatest sum of labour8 that if this labour is a bitter pill1 the gold and silver in which it is wrapped up1 are only 7like honours1 titles1 dignities1 fame1 esteem1 c47 different kinds of powders1 which sweeten the taste of it to those who are ignorant of its value1 to those who know not how necessary labour is to support every day1 without being weary1 and sometimes without regret1 the wretched burthen of our lives2 and in fine1 that paper1 once got into credit1 can1 in this respect1 be an ample substitute for gold and silver 444 but how many circumstances1 where gold and silver cannot supply the want of credit8 ,will it be long before they become sensible1 that they are clogged in no part of their legislation1 by those preposterous maxims which can be justified only by the circumstances that gave them birth1 by those tyrannical regulations which owed their success wholely to the ignorance of their cotemporaries1 by that chaos of contradictory regulations1 all of which became perhaps necessary by degrees1 after the first was extorted by cupidity8#f ,under what ,point of ,view ,premiums and other ,encouragements of ,exportation may be considered4 ,the principles of the ,americans concerning exportation1 lead us to the examination of the doctrine of premiums4 ,if the want of objects1 capable of exercising advantageously the industry of a numerous and active people1 should compel government1 on account of some difficulties unconquerable by art and nature1 to apply that industry to some other object1 on which it would be impossible to support abroad the competition of another nation1 that is1 to offer equally with the latter an even quantity of labour of one sort1 for an even quantity of labour of a different one1 there is no doubt but1 in such a case1 a certain premium1 to maintain the competition with the country most partially favoured by art and nature1 would prove1 of all institutions1 the most judicious and the most humane2 it would be a kind of indirect tax in favour of laborious indigence2 a tax1 much more eligible than many others1 which1 though destined to the relief of wretchedness1 often increase it1 by checking the efforts of industry1 by even providing a resource for idleness1 and sometimes an alluring1 a comfortable prospect for debauchery4 ,it was represented to a ,prince truly worthy of the throne he fills1 that a manufactory1 in which #h or #ijj persons were constantly employed1 stood him in #d or #e1jjj crowns more than it produced4 ,how6 7replied the ,sovereign7 does it cost me no more than #d or #e1jjj crowns to feed a thousand beggars1 and keep them constantly at work8 ,it is a cheap bargain indeed6 ,the most subtle of all ministers of state could make no other reply to such an answer1 than to propose some means1 equally effectual1 and calculated to attain1 at a cheaper rate1 the two most important ends that a prince can have in view1 destroying beggary1 and1 in a manner1 creating labour4 ,there are1 no doubt1 some other circumstances1 which may also justify premiums on exportation2 for instance1 the wheat intended for exportation1 is an indispensable article amongst the necessaries of life3 it constitutes one third1 sometimes the half of a nation's riches2 it is essential that it be not in such quantity as to fall in price1 because the disparagement of its value would discourage the cultivator2 yet it is advantageous that there should be1 upon a medium1 a little more than is wanted1 in order to keep it at the medium price it ought to fetch1 that one may have it in his power to purchase that which another wants to sell4 ,the first thing therefore to be examined is1 whether the medium price1 at which it must be kept1 in order to equipoise the quantity of national industry which it must represent1 be not so considerable1 ,first1 ,by reason of some prohibitory act1 forbidding the exportation of other productions of the earth1 which1 by this means1 become cheaper than they were before this act took place1 oblige the cultivator to advance his price in the others1 that the whole may be raised to the level of industry3 ,secondly1 ,by reason of some other premiums on exportation1 granted to various branches of the national industry1 which1 on that very account1 are grown not only much dearer within the nation1 but have also enhanced the price of all other corresponding commodities1 by withdrawing from them1 hands which would have increased their quantity3 ,thirdly1 ,in consequence of some prohibitions or restrictions equivalent thereto1 which afford to the national manufacturer the means of selling his goods #aj per cent4 dearer than he could do1 if such reasonable duties were laid upon foreign industry1 as would leave national industry in possession of the advantages1 which she has a right to1 and deprive her only of the iniquitous privilege of ransoming those by whom she is fostered3 ,fourthly1 ,by the effect of those bodies corporate1 7corporations7 which1 if justly appreciated1 are but so many private conspiracies against the public1 whom they strip of the benefit of national competition1 after having wrested from them the advantages of foreign competition1 which would soon have been followed by the former1 infinitely more important than the other4 ,if the result of the proposed enquiry should show1 that one of these four causes1 or rather all of them together1 have entirely perverted the natural price of every article in the nation1 it seems to me that it would be worth the attention of the legislature to examine also1 whether the repeal of all premiums1 prohibitions1 restrictions1 and other devices of the various passions of the human heart1 either to clash against each other1 or to balance their respective injustice1 would not prove adequate to the only aim which we may reasonably wish to attain1 ,i mean that of keeping1 at the least expence1 a just equilibrium between national agriculture and industry1 by securing to both1 at the least expence1 all the advantages which they have a right to expect from the agriculture and industry of other nations4 ,but if indeed we were fettered by the errors of past centuries1 it would then be necessary to grant1 in the fullest extent1 the wished-for premium on the most important article2 do nothing more for the present1 but refuse new ones to all the rest2 watch attentively the favourable minute for the restoration of natural order1 and forward it1 perhaps1 by convincing every one1 that the most necessary of all premiums would have proved useless1 had it not been preceded by prohibitions1 restrictions1 corporations1 c4 the end of which is as manifestly unjust1 as their effects are injurious to all but those who sue for them2 and that1 in fine1 a premium granted under a circumstance the most likely to justify such a measure1 is not1 as several people have hitherto imagined1 a necessary means of maintaining elsewhere a foreign competition1 but a very inadequate compensation for that foreign competition of which we are deprived in so many respects4 ,on the ,influence of the various ,kinds of ,taxation upon ,national ,prices4 ,if ,i mistake not1 ,i have proved that it is indifferent to agriculture and industry1 whether the prices rise or fall1 provided it be always in a due and reciprocal proportion4 ,nor is it less indifferent1 whether the increase proceeds from taxes1 from monopoly1 or from accession of wealth1 and whether the decrease be brought about by the extirpation of monopoly1 or by the triumph of smuggling2 so long as the prices balance each other1 no one can be injured however loud people may be in their clamours2 it is impossible to shut one's eyes against the evidence of such a point4 ,why then should we deny the consequence which naturally follows1 of the harmlessness of taxes in themselves1 the impossibility of their producing in any one's situation1 any thing beyond a momentary sensation1 when they are laid with discernment2 and the futility of either fears or hopes entertained of their ending at last in a national bankruptcy8 ,yet1 8to enjoy1 is to obey10 says ,pope3--,to make the best use we can of the creation1 is the thanksgiving the most worthy of the ,creator4--,there is not a man therefore who ought not to repine at seeing the general rate of prices increase in vain1 since this very rise compels us to lavish1 in coin1 a considerable quantity of those two precious metals1 gold and silver1 which would prove more agreeable1 if turned into plate1 or even into small pocket-statues1 designed for the private worship of those who would blush only in public1 for this kind of idolatry4 ,i should like therefore to examine1 in regard to prices1 what is natural1 what necessary1 and what forced2 in order to find out what might be saved1 if people would attend only to the necessary average4 ,in the first period of ,societies1 when they knew of no other want in the ,state but personal service when it was necessary and possible1 the common price of the articles then in circulation1 was determined by the quantity of coin then existing in the nation3 this is what may be justly termed the natural price4 ,at this present time1 when money is substituted to personal service1 and supplies so advantageously its place2 when each representation of an extra service leaves on every article1 the stamp of a seal1 which1 without adding to the real or relative value of any thing1 increases nevertheless the nominal value of every thing2--at this present time1 when every nation has all the industry necessary to procure the coin wanted for this over-charge1 it is the price1 which this very over-charge sets upon the different objects1 that regulates and attracts the quantity of silver to correspond therewith2 and this price1 which may be called necessary1 is often evidently forced3 ,i say1 evidently1 because1 in the state of general correspondence1 or1 if you will1 of that happy dependence wherein all the ,states of ,europe stand reciprocally towards each other at this hour1 when we see in one country the same objects1 of the same quality1 wrought with equal skill1 #ae per cent4 dearer than any where else1 who can doubt but a part of that difference1 of that extraordinary price1 proceeds from taxes1 and the other from monopoly8 ,but what part belongs to this1 what part to the other8 ,this is not so easily found out2 #ast1 because the part which is the work of monopoly1 solely depends on the moderation of the monopolist1 who never fails pleading the taxes for excuse2 and1 #b;dly1 because that part1 which proceeds from the taxes1 depends not only on the tax itself1 but also on the manner of laying it1 and on the effect which it is likely to produce in the minds of the people who are to support it4 ,such a tax as will make a slow1 and only a trifling sensation in the prices of the ,french markets1 will occasion all at once a considerable one in those of ,england3 ,i shall hereafter state my reasons for this conjecture4 ,i am as little qualified to investigate all these different questions1 as those which ,i have ventured hitherto to touch upon2 ,i shall persevere1 nevertheless1 with that freedom which ,i derive from the purity of my intentions1 and with that diffidence which must follow the consciousness of a capacity so unequal to the task4--,i shall first of all adapt to ,england1 and then to ,france1 the reflexions suggested to me by some hundreds of suppositions1 which had engrossed my time before ,i had perused ,young's ,political ,arithmetic1 and the work of ,mr4 ,necker1 which has but lately fallen into my hands4 ,i shall begin with a general observation on taxes4 ,on the ,object of all ,ministers of ,finance in laying ,taxes4 ,in this indulgent age1 wherein nothing more is required on any one subject1 than a little decency1 it would be a ridiculous and fruitless hypocrisy to propose a tax1 as the means of encouraging virtue1 or of discountenancing vice2 it is not1 at least in a country where a man convicted of smuggling wool1 is by law sentenced to have his hand cut off1 nor in another where a smuggler of salt is condemned for years to serve on board the gallies1 that one should preach up the heart-felt concern he must experience at framing a law which would make it felony to drink spirituous liquors if he had really a mind to prevent intoxication2 it is hoped on the contrary1 nay1 firmly believed1 that the sweetness of the poison will make palatable the very bitterness of the tax1 and its absurd disproportion to the real value of the taxed article3 besides1 it is too evident1 that it is not the difference of a few pence more that will prevent a man from drinking to excess when he is so inclined1 nor a few pence less that will occasion another to inebriate himself1 when his only motive for drinking is a moderate pleasure1 or the necessity of allaying his thirst4 ,the object of every ,minister1 in laying a tax1 is always to procure the sum at which he has rated its produce2 if the tax should answer any other purpose1 this additional one is considered merely with regard to the prospect it affords of making good another tax less productive than was at first expected4 ,in fact1 a minister of finance is not a prfectus morum--a moral censor3 the ,state is in want of a certain sum2 that's enough1 it must be found4--,let us then examine1 what kind of taxation will be the least burdensome in its operation1 give its first shock with the least violence1 and be attended with inconveniences of the shortest duration4 ,effects of a general ,poll-,tax4 ,eleventh ,hypothesis4 ,in the year #aggi1 the taxes in ,england amounted1 ,i shall say1 to #aj millions2 ,i shall suppose too1 that this was the tenth part of the general produce of the land and industry3 therefore the #ajth part of the nominal value of that general produce belonged to the tax1 or was necessitated by the tax2 the #dj shillings1 which1 to facilitate my operations1 ,i shall also suppose to be the average price of the quarter of wheat1 must then have been considered as the necessary price1 or the price necessitated by the tax1 and #cfs4 as the natural price1 or the price acquired by the sole1 natural increase of the national wealth4 ,but in order that those #cfs4 might be called the natural price1 the taxes should have been divided in such a manner as to load each particular article with a #ith part of its value2 that is to say1 that each individual1 possessed of a property denominated #i1 should see it charged only with one ninth more1 in consequence of a general poll-tax1 which we shall suppose to have been assessed with the utmost impartiality4 ,in effect1 it appears1 that in this case the proprietor of a quarter of wheat1 who1 in consequence of the tax1 would have raised the wheat from #cf to #djs4 could not be said to have injured the hatter1 who would sell him for #dj guineas the #dj hats which1 previously to the poll-tax1 he used to let him have for #cf guineas4 ,it also appears1 that the hatter could not be injured by giving #aj to the workman1 instead of the #i which he had hitherto paid2 and that1 in fine1 if #bg millions had proved sufficient for circulation formerly1 three millions more1 once found1 were fully adequate to the annual and perpetual payment of those #aj millions of taxes1 without any one being a sufferer1 but at the instant of the first payment4 ,this system is deficient only in point of practicability2 it is not established in ,england3 #cf shillings therefore are not the natural price of wheat2 the wheat certainly owes above #d shillings to the taxes1 if its current price amounts to #djs4 ,let it be observed1 nevertheless1 that if the system of a poll-tax could be reduced to practice1 if it were not of all systems the most absurd1 though the easiest for government1 if it were not of all systems that in which it is most evidently impossible to avoid thousands of injuries to the subject1 one might establish now in ,england a new tax of #aj millions annually1 and pay it for ever1 without altering in the least the condition of anybody1 provided one could find previously1 and once for all1 #b1fjj1jjjl4 and that wheat should advance in price from #djs4 to #dcs4 #d;d4 ,,and ,,every ,,thing ,,else ,,in ,,proportion4 ,this appears to me so glaringly evident1 that it extorts from me the affirmative tone4 ,now as soon as this should be effected1 ,,the ,,burden ,,of ,,the ,,tax ,,would ,,clearly ,,be ,,null4 ,but1 it will be objected1 the price of wheat is not thus arbitrarily advanced3--certainly not2 for were this to be the case1 it might also be lowered at pleasure1 and would every other day1 alternately rise from #a to #hjs4 and fall from #hj to #a1 since for this operation 7become indispensable7 it would suffice that there should be in all the provinces of ,england as many bodies-corporate 7corporations7 in agriculture1 as there are in industry4 ,i am even inclined to think1 that it would then be minutely examined1 ,whether it be in fact advantageous to agriculture1 that the merchants export more goods than they import8 7a due attention being paid to the five articles so often mentioned1 which render necessary the importation of bullion72 a question of the utmost importance1 to which ,i do not see that any body has hitherto attended1 and which might be so easily determined1 if my principles are just4 ,effects of a ,land-,tax4 ,all taxes1 it is said1 fall on the land at last4 ,land is the true1 the only spring of wealth2 wealth should be taxed at its very source4 ,it is certain1 that merely by knowing how the matter stands1 we know how to proceed accordingly2 and that1 in the long-run1 every thing arranges itself in the least exceptionable manner that the system of taxation will permit4 ,the following is probably the course which things would take1 in the system of a land-tax1 if it were necessary now to lay on the land a new tax of #aj millions annually1 supposing always the landed revenue at #fj millions1 and the quarter of wheat at #dj shillings4 ,twelfth ,hypothesis4 7,i must premise1 that in all ,i have now to say1 not only on the present hypothesis1 but on all those that follow1 ,i build on this principle2 that1 from the moment every individual pays the tax1 nobody pays it2 that nevertheless its produce reverts to the creditors of the ,state1 and that therefore every body is interested in carrying matters to that issue as soon as possible4--,if there never existed in the average of prices any revolution so sudden1 so great1 and constant in its effect1 as the one which ,i am about to suppose2 it is because it never was necessary to lay all at once #aj millions of taxes4 ,the effect produced by one million on a revenue like that which ,england enjoys1 is so trifling1 so gradual1 that it never can be felt4--,but to my hypothesis74 ,the march of industry is always firm2 she can never be bewildered by her guide4 ,a tax of #b shillings upon a hat will soon occasion either an alteration in the quality1 or a proportionate increase in its price#g4 ,nothing more just4 ,but agriculture has only one resource2 she cannot alter the quality of her productions1 and she is always timid when she wants to increase their prices4 ,let it be granted1 however1 that the first attempt of the cultivator will be to enhance boldly the price of his goods1 in a proportion which may return him the amount of the tax supposed to be of #aj millions3 his wheat1 of course1 will rise from #dj to #dfs4 #h;d4 and so with regard to other productions2 then his revenue1 instead of #fj1 will be #gj millions2 but1 being obliged to lay down #aj for the tax1 he will have only #fj millions left4 ,let us now observe1 that when the operations of agriculture are talked of in consequence of taxes1 the land proprietor is alluded to2 and from him they suppose that the ten millions are taken1 just as the fleece is shorn from the sheep2 but1 on the other hand1 that proprietor1 though not very clear in his idea of what is best for him to do1 feels mechanically that he has a right to defend his fleece1 that is1 to increase the price of the productions of his land1 because without them1 neither the manufacturer nor the ,minister of ,finance can subsist1 and to raise that price to such a level as will subject him to pay only just as much as the minister and the manufacturer3 and this again appears to me extremely just4 ,now this very proprietor receives of his #fj millions revenue1 or rather of the revenue of his land1 no more than about #bj millions2 7this is nearly the result of ,mr4 ,young's statement3 it will be seen1 in the sequel1 that more or less would only alter the proportion of the shares1 without having the least influence either on the application of the principle1 or on its consequences73 the #dj millions overplus is swallowed up1 viz4 for the daily pay of the labourer1 #bj millions1 and #bj millions for the other charges with which the estates are encumbered1 tythes1 profits of farmers1 c4 c4 ,it follows1 of course1 ,either ,that the proprietor's share must be advanced to #cj millions1 if he alone be taxed2 and this will leave each of the other parts interested in the landed revenue1 in possession of its #bj millions1 as well after as before the tax2 ,or1 ,that each of the three parts taxed singly1 at #c1ccc1cccl4 #fs4 #h;d4 and enabled to pay the impost by an advance of price1 both in the productions and in the wages of labour1 be reduced to its primitive #bj millions1 after the payment of the tax4 ,one is evidently equal to the other2 but what is not so1 is1 that industry1 who paid her workmen with #bj millions when the quarter of wheat was at #djs4 cannot pay them since the wheat is increased to #dfs4 #h;d4 but by adding to the former wages1 #c1ccc1cccl4 #fs4 #h;d4 an advance which1 when divided on the total of her products1 heretofore rated at #fj millions1 raises each third part of #bj to #ba1aaa1aaa1 and some trifling fractions4--,now1 there remains in the hands of each of the parties concerned in agriculture1 only #bj millions over and above the payment of the tax4--,those who are in the persuasion that the discharge of the import must lessen1 by its whole amount at least1 the revenue of those who pay it1 think1 no doubt1 that agriculture is very well off1 to have1 by raising the price of its commodities two thirds1 lightened the weight of so terrible a burden2 yet if it were possible by a vigorous exertion1 by an additional increase in the price of provisions1 to make it null to every body1 ,i do not see that it would be reasonable to oppose such exertion2 for1 after all1 ,either ,the first increase1 brought on by agriculture1 was unjust2 the proprietor was doomed to sustain alone the whole weight of the tax1 if we allow the taxator1 the man who laid the tax1 to have had a single thought on the subject3 ,or1 ,the further advance in the prices of agriculture is of the most indispensable necessity1 if the taxator has only thought of getting the amount of the tax with the least trouble to himself1 leaving to ,nature the care of distributing to every one complete justice1--to ,nature1 who never fails to do it1 and who1 in so complicated an operation1 employs only the simple spring of that private cupidity1 with which she has armed and shielded every individual2 just as1 in order to settle the most exact symmetry in that admirable edifice commonly called a hive1 she employs no other agent than the reciprocal pressure of that multitude of architects who work at it1 each of whom thinks of nothing but to secure a little cell for himself4 ,thirteenth ,hypothesis4 ,let us then suppose that agriculture1 judiciously determined by wisdom not to suffer the least encroachments on any part of her cell1 or mechanically led by cupidity to justice1 boldly raises the price of her wheat from #dj to #ejs4 and the rest of her products in a due proportion2 her general revenues will then be increased from #fj to #ge millions2 each of the three parts interested therein will therefore stand at #be millions1 but will be reduced to #ba1fff1fffl4 #acs4 #d;d4 when the tax is paid off2-- ,industry1 compelled also by the advanced prices of the productions of the earth1 to pay her workmen #be instead of the #bj millions which they required in the first instance1 will divide the additional #e millions amongst the #fj millions of her former returns2 each third share therefore1 rated hitherto at #bj millions1 will1 by means of the addition1 rise to #ba1fff1fffl4 #acs4 #d;d4--which is the exact balance of the like sum left in the hands of each of the three branches of agriculture1 after having discharged the tax4 ,in a system of taxation which should be imposed only on the land1 an impost of #aj millions annually1 on a revenue of #fj millions1 whether it fall on the proprietor1 or be divided between him1 the farmer1 the cultivator1 and other parties concerned1 requires of course an addition of #be per cent4 to the price of the productions of the earth1 that agriculture may not be sacrificed to industry2 but it must be observed1 that immediately after the reaction of the one upon the other shall be completed1 the burden of the tax will evidently be null1 since the price of labour will have increased equally in both1 in proportion to that of their respective products4 ,reflexions on the foregoing ,system4 ,this system was devised to countenance and encourage agriculture2 it is in her hands1 they say1 it is at that fountain-head of riches1 that riches must be sought for2 it is the land that finally pays for all2 the impost then must be laid on the net produce of the land4--,i shall venture some reflexions on a subject which appears to me the more important1 as one of the wisest1 and the most profound speeches ever delivered in the ,house of ,lords1 seems to hint at the expediency of an aggravation of the burden already laid on agriculture4 ,agriculture is the spring of life2 it is not the spring of those riches which we call money3 money must be had for taxes2 money flows from the hands of industry alone3 it is then from this spring that money must be drawn4 ,besides1 how is it known that the money1 wrested from agriculture1 is not necessary to her support8 ,or how does it escape observation1 that all the money which is not laid out by the cultivator upon agriculture1 will necessarily revert to industry1 either by the immediate consumption of the cultivator1 or by that which he shall have occasioned on the part of the person to whom he shall have lent the value of what he has not consumed himself8 ,how comes it to be known1 that the proprietor of a landed estate that yields him1 we shall suppose1 #hjjl4 per annum1 and who is charged #bjjl4 for taxes1 is not indebted in #cjjl4 out of the remaining #fjjl48 ,now1 it is true that #cjjl4 are sufficient for his support2 but were those #bjjl4 which are forced from him1 laid out annually on his land1 they would certainly in very few years raise its produce from #hjj to #ajjjl4--,what is that but to assess unjustly a man who enjoys only #ejjl4 as high as another whose income amounts to #hjjl4--to tie down agriculture to #hjj when it might rise to #ajjj2 to deprive industry of the re-action produced by that benefit2 to crush population in the very bud1 and consequently to prevent a more considerable consumption2 in fine1 to deprive government beforehand of the amount of those taxes which that increase of population and consumption would have secured to the ,state8 ,it may be said in ,france1 it is true1 that by a tax laid on private loan-covenants1 those inconveniences are partly removed2 but this very removal is only an additional obstacle1 thrown in the way of agriculture1 to impede its progress2--the man who could lend to the cultivator1 besides the fear of not receiving back his money when wanted1 has before his eyes the certainty of being charged with the twentieth penny laid on the interest of the money thus advanced1 and consequently1 as often as he conveniently can1 lends that money to a merchant1 who besides his punctuality in paying at the fixed time1 never hesitates to allow the usual interest without any deduction whatever4 ,it may be said also in ,england1 that all over ,great ,britain1 the land-tax1 7which1 like some others1 is perhaps no more than a real poll-tax under a name less grating to a ,british ear7 does not exceed the sum of about #b millions out of #ad or #ae1 the whole amount of her taxes2 but nothing can be deduced therefrom1 but that it is subject only to a proportionable share of the inconveniences above stated2 inconveniences which are inseparable from it3 we may add1 that it is indeed free from some further grievances which fall heavy on the ,french cultivator3--but can the ,english boast of their tax being founded on an invariable principle1 when this very principle is unjust in its consequences1 and1 as often as necessity requires the tax to be advanced1 multiplies the injustice which follows it8--,yet they hint at the expediency of increasing that very tax1 in order to alleviate the imaginary burden that weighs down industry6--,some pretend that the land-tax is become a public property2 they suppose that all such sales and purchases of land as have taken place since the year #agdj1 have been effected on that principle of renunciation of the capital1 the interest of which is paid by that land-tax3--they infer1 no doubt1 that the intention of those who did not sell1 was implicitly included in that of those who have actually sold2 for they propose that all the present proprietors shall redeem the tax1 in order to refund part of the national debt2 as if1 on the very next day after the redemption1 ,government had not a right to renew it1 if some fresh exigency should start1 which could not be answered by any other means4 ,in the critical moment of a discredit1 which will always be imputable to the ,minister1 when the ,king and the ,people are fully acquainted with their real interest1 if administration1 not knowing what to do1 does not hesitate to apply to the land proprietor1 whose ways and means are always visible1 and whose purse lies1 as it were1 ever open against his own inclination1 the ,minister1 no doubt1 finds his excuse in the necessity2 but after the crisis is over1 why should the proprietor be further aggrieved8 ,but1 say they1 the amount of the tax cannot be dispensed with2--no objection can be urged against necessity2 all that is wanted1 is the least that can possibly be given2 just as all that is wanted1 is the most that it can be advantageous to take3 but the whole should be paid by each individual1 only in proportion to his faculties3--,now the fact is1 that the faculties of the land proprietors are not better known than those of the merchants2--the latter have found means to prove1 to persuade1 that they ought not to be taxed1 but in proportion to their consumption1 the only criterion of their riches1 or at least that part of their riches which they do not lay out in increasing commercial wealth4--,,is ,,the ,,improvement ,,of ,,the ,,territorial ,,wealth ,,less ,,essential1 ,,or ,,less ,,valuable ,,to ,,the ,,state8 ,let us examine1 however1 in what degree the taxes laid on the different articles of consumption1 must enhance the price of goods1 in order that agriculture may not suffer more than industry4 ,if it should result from this research1 that many previous false steps have raised the greatest obstacles against the execution of those measures which would prove the most equitable1 without being more disadvantageous in any point of view2 the inconvenience of such obstacles might be deemed trifling1 when compared with the burden supposed to be transmitted to posterity4 ,and it is not in ,england that an important truth1 generally acknowledged1 will long remain without effect2 it is not in ,england that an important truth will long remain without being generally acknowledged4 ,effects of an ,impost exclusively laid on the ,articles of ,consumption peculiar to the rich1 or in other words1 on ,luxury4 ,the immediate effect of a tax1 is to raise the price of the object on which it is laid1 by at least the whole amount of the tax3 nothing can be more just2 but it is at the same time a consideration which ought to keep pace with the one ,i have already offered1 on the very positive object of all kinds of taxation1 namely1 to secure the sum at which the product of the impost is valued1 whatever that sum may be4 ,now1 in order to estimate justly the system of taxation we are considering1 it must be presented in all its glory1 that is1 such as all ,ministers of finance in ,europe seem to wish it2 such as all the ,english news-papers recommend it1 rather roughly1 each of them at least once a week2 such as all ,oppositions1 past1 present1 and future1 have pretended1 do pretend1 and ever will pretend it to be1 so easy and so equitable2 such as all preachers of the ,roman1 ,english1 ,jansenist and ,presbyterian persuasion1 are wont to deliver it every day among the private societies whom they are pleased to honour with their partly christian1 partly political reflexions1 and would speak it out from the pulpit1 if ,ministers of finance had any leisure to hear their sermons1 c4 ,i shall therefore suppose that the tax of #aj millions1 mentioned in the three foregoing articles1 should be assessed in so able1 so charitable a manner1 that #e millions should fall on the landlord1 and the other #e on the richest proprietor of money4 ,i shall begin with the most essential1 for the ,state is certainly founded on the landed property4 ,what is the revenue of the land-proprietor8,nothing more1 all expences defrayed1 than the third part of the real produce of his lands2 and this third is1 in the hypothesis1 estimated at #bj millions only4--,these #bj millions finding in the hands of industry1 that portion which usually gave the balance of those #bj millions1 raised to #be millions by means of the tax1 it clearly appears that the proprietor alluded to is short by #be per cent4 of the sum required to pay that portion4--,in this case what is he to do8 ,shall he leave industry in possession of one fifth of his former comforts8--,then industry would be debarred from the sale of that fifth part2 one fifth of its artificers would be left without any other resource than that which the highway might afford1 and the main object of the taxation would be defeated in the following year1 unless exportation should make up to industry for the want of home-consumption1 7the only one by which a ,state can prosper17 and the deficit of the tax laid on the home-consumption1 should be compensated by another tax on foreign consumption1 that is on the exports4 ,we shall suppose this to be the case1 and that industry actually exports that fifth part of the national commodities which the land proprietor is not able any longer to consume1 and which1 nevertheless1 industry is compelled to sell1 in order to be reimbursed the tax she has advanced1 and be prepared to answer the fresh demand which next year government will have occasion to make4--,but if it were to such means that ,england should stand indebted for part of the increase in her exports1 her industry1 methinks1 would have derived less advantage therefrom1 than a home-sale might have procured1 even supposing the inconvenience of which ,i shall speak presently3 it appears to me also1 that the land proprietors would1 in that case1 have some reason to complain1 and that the rest of the nation would have no cause to boast of the immensity of her exportation4--,the draw-backs granted on the very exportation of the taxed commodities1 prove that such an expedient never was adopted in ,england4 ,will the land proprietor come to a resolution to fly from his native country1 in search of another1 where good men content themselves with declaiming against luxury1 without making any attempt to destroy it8 ,no1 he never did1 nor ever will take that resolution2 he is fast bound to his land by the roots of every plant he has laid on it4--,what then is he to do8 ,it behoves the ,minister of finance to give him some wholesome advice4 ,if the ,minister be silent1 or if he shuffle1 because he is closely watched by ,opposition1 he must equally lose his popularity2 for the land proprietor1 left to shift for himself1 will raise the price of the productions of his land1 in proportion as the tax has increased that part of the products of industry that concerns him4-- ,but his #bj millions revenue1 have1 as ,i have said1 the same component parts as the #dj millions which he is obliged to give up for the expences of cultivation1 and other incumbrances attending property3--he cannot therefore increase them to #be millions1 without raising by one twelfth the total amount of the #fj millions of landed revenue2 this will at once carry up the quarter of wheat from #djs4 to #dcs4 #d;d43 this is therefore an advance of #h per cent4 on his commodities3--upon which we must observe1 that no increase will take place in the wages of the mechanic1 or of the husbandman2 for the objects of luxury are the only ones which we suppose to have been taxed3 such is the infernal side of this heavenly system4--,yet this is not all4 ,what is the money-proprietor to do1 not having it in his power to raise the price of his money as the landed proprietor can do that of his wheat1 but who1 on the contrary1 is invariably limited to the same nominal revenue1 whilst the tax of the other #e millions1 which the humanity of the taxator had levelled at him1 has occasioned a rise of #be per cent4 in the nominal value of those articles of luxury in which he indulged himself8--,he will1 he must leave them in the hands of industry1 and confine himself to such objects as are not taxed2 it is a resource1 as it is at the same time a compulsive measure4--,the produce of the tax will then be inadequate to the want3 a second impost must then be thought on1 to supply the deficit of the first4--,fall again upon luxury1 cry the enthusiasts2 this is more necessary than ever1 for bread is already #h per cent4 dearer than it was1 and the land proprietors have abated nothing of their luxury2 they ride still in their chariots1 whilst the poor loaded porter constantly trudges on foot4 ,enthusiasts will never see further1 and those who are not enthusiasts do not yet see far enough2 for they only say that it is expedient for government1 that the prices of commodities be kept up1 in order to facilitate the payment of the impost4--,yet1 if it is expedient for government1 that the prices be kept up to facilitate the payment of the impost1 ,i conclude that it is an absolute necessity for government1 that the prices do increase1 when there is no other visible means to establish the possibility of paying taxes4 ,i therefore have to answer only to the enthusiasts1 and let it be as the enthusiasts will have it3 ,but the first #e millions of the charitable tax could not be paid1 without an advanced price of #h per cent4 on all the productions of the earth1 without raising the wheat from #djs4 to #dcs4 #d;d4--it will then be necessary to increase its price by as much again2 it must advance from #dcs4 #d;d4 to #dfs4 #h;d4 in order that the tax be paid without foreign assistance4 ,then all will be settled1 regulated1 balanced1 and paid between the capitalists of land and those of industry2 but as no objects will have been taxed but those of luxury1 how long will it be before the people1 the labouring man can see justice done to him8--,ten popular insurrections perhaps will be required to extort it4 ,yet let us suppose that the very first proves sufficient to procure it complete1 that is1 that their wages be raised #af per cent4 as the tax after all the necessary re-actions has increased the price of the produce of their labour3--in this case1 instead of the #bj millions allowed before to each of the two classes of working men1 cultivators and mechanics1 they will then receive #bc1ccc1cccl4 #acs4 #d;d4--,but how will you wrest from the hands of the land proprietor #c1ccc1cccl4 #acs4 #d;d4 out of the portion which he was obliged to lay by1 that the tax might be paid by his consumption1 without his advancing again the price of his commodities in such a proportion as will return him the new sum which he is forced to pay8--,and were he not to augment again the price of his commodities1 would not then a new tax become necessary to supply the deficit which the rise of wages of the labouring men must occasion in the consumption of their employers8--,the land proprietor will then add still to the price of his goods2--but will not this addition1 equally necessary as the two first1 be productive of a further necessity of raising in proportion the price of labour1 the wages of the labouring man8--,no doubt2 and another insurrection would procure justice1 if the thought did not occur at last of observing1 that the class of labouring men being1 before the tax1 in possession of one third of the general revenue1 forms1 in this respect1 a third interest equal to one half of the two other4 ,now1 the tax having enforced an advance in prices of #af1 to shelter the two former from its effect1 there must also be1 in favour of the third interest1 a third increase of #h1 which rising at last to #be per cent4 more1 the price of labour1 as that of its produce1 both in regard to land and industry1 will exactly leave to each of the three interests1 under the denomination of twenty-five1 the same comforts as each of them enjoyed under that of twenty before the tax was laid4 ,in regard therefore to the effects of the tax on the prices of provisions1 there is not the least difference between the system of taxing luxury1 and that of a land-tax2 #ejs4 in the supposition of an impost of ten millions1 would prove in either system the necessary price of wheat2 for if ever a price can be termed necessary1 it is when it cannot be lower without effecting the ruin of the land proprietor1 and even without missing the sole and indispensable end of taxation1 unless recourse be had to one of the following resources3 ,either ,to export such commodities1 which1 as it might be absurdly supposed1 the nation is no longer able to consume1 ,or1 ,to steal from the people the proportionable increase due to them in the price of their labour1 if they should prove so complaisant as tamely to submit1 out of gratitude1 for the tax being laid only upon luxury4 ,i shall conclude this article with a reflexion which may give birth to many others4 ,the impost on luxury1 which1 after a very little time1 as we have seen1 proves no ways injurious to those who were able to pay for the objects upon which the tax was laid1 is besides1 under another point of view1 really advantageous to those very men who seem the only contributors to it2 because it sets entirely above the reach of the people1 a number of articles in which they would indulge themselves1 to the great benefit of the tax1 and which1 though perhaps intended by the general provider1 as well for the poor as for the rich1 are nevertheless1 by the merciful system of taxation1 exclusively reserved to the rich4--,is this the intention of the merciful taxator8--in my opinion it ought not to be that of an intelligent one4 ,effects of a merciless ,tax upon all the ,articles of the most general ,consumption4 ,instead of laying a tax on men1 from whom1 without rushing with open eyes into the perpetration of a thousand injuries1 it is impossible to require any thing more than a personal service1 when it is necessary and possible withal2 instead of taxing the land1 from which nothing can be expected but food1 and the rough materials to which industry can give from one to many hundred degrees of value2 instead of taxing that imaginary monster called luxury1 which procures so substantial a support to some1 and such pleasing comforts to others1 lay your tax solely1 and without predilection1 on all those products of national and foreign industry which are more generally consumed2 then1 in my opinion1 you will have reason to flatter yourself that riches are taxed to their very source1 and without inconvenience to any one1 since you tax it in the hands of those who are1 by the strictest justice1 authorised to a benefit for all the advances made by them to the consumer4 ,so then1 though the tax of #aj millions be fixed on certain parts of industry1 nothing will prevent the whole from rising proportionably2 and for this1 ,god alone be thanked4 ,the whole will be then #gj millions instead of #fj2--upon which the least reflexion is sufficient to make us feel the necessity of the re-actions mentioned in the foregoing system1 but with this difference1 that the general consumption having been taxed1 the two capitalists cannot1 even on the very day when the impost takes place1 shut their eyes against the justice of increasing the salary of the labouring man in a due proportion4--,now1 the interest of the two capitalists could not1 as in the preceding system1 be preserved undiminished1 but by an increase from #fj to #gj millions1 that is to say1 #af per cent4--,now1 the interest of the labouring man is1 as has been observed before1 equal to one half of the other two classes in the general revenue1 or1 in other words1 equal to either2--it will therefore become necessary1 in order to restore the former equilibrium1 to introduce a fresh increase of #h per cent4 upon every thing2--in consequence of which the price of labour1 being raised #be per cent4 just as its products1 both in cultivation and industry1 will leave also the two classes of labourers in the same situation they were in previous to the tax2 each of them was then in possession of #bj millions out of #fj1 each will now get #be out of #ge4 ,i think also that then1 a ,minister of finance1 ever so anxious about his operations1 ever so zealous for the establishment of none but productive taxes1 could not conceive a single article of consumption that might suffer by this arrangement2 it would appear too evidently that every one would then have the very same faculty of consuming1 manufacturing1 or saving1 under the denomination of #be1 all that he had before consumed1 manufactured1 or saved under the denomination of #bj4 ,it would also be seen then1 that the success of those taxes termed productive1 is not to be ascribed to the abilities of the taxator1 but to the abilities of the persons taxed1 who have taken care to right themselves by so much as the taxator ought to have been afraid of being unjust4 ,then also would every one be sensible1 that the advance in all the prices could not be only of a #abth part1 or #h per cent4 as in the glorious system of a poll-tax established by ,divine ,justice1 but of #be per cent4 neither more nor less than in the system of the land-tax1 neither more nor less than in the system of an exclusive tax upon luxury2 that consequently wheat1 as well as produce of any other sort1 as well as labour which gives the whole1 would be indebted to the tax for a fifth part of its new nominal value1 and that #ejs4 would be the medium price of wheat2--its necessary price1 but not more necessary in that merciless taxation1 than in the merciful one laid on the exclusive consumption of the rich3--and this calls for the attention of every individual2 nor can it be too often repeated1 because then neither hypocrites1 nor enthusiasts1 nor good men1 nor manufacturers1 nor farmers1 nor proprietors1 could any longer deceive themselves or others1 on the price of labour2 it would be too self-evident that the said price ought to increase with the taxes1 and that no one would be injured by that increase4 ,then it would also appear1 that some people had very good reason to say1 that the burden of all taxes1 falls one time or another1 on the landed property2 but who could refuse to admit besides1 that ,i am tolerably founded in insisting1 that when taxes have in fine reached every part of the whole1 no one part can feel the weight8 ,the money proprietor1 it will be said1 the lender alone will be aggrieved2 he must lose the fifth part of his usual comforts1 he must pay #ae for those articles which he could procure formerly for #ab4 ,i shall confine myself to three answers3 ,first1 ,is it not self-evident1 that any financiering operation1 which reduces from #e to #d1 the interest of a national debt1 deprives as well the lender of the fifth part of his comforts1 ,,as ,,if ,,the ,,nation ,,had ,,loaded ,,herself ,,with ,,ten ,,millions ,,more1 ,,to ,,be ,,paid ,,annually8 7such is the present hypothesis47 ,there stands1 therefore1 between the two cases no other difference1 but the palpable justice and necessity of the one1 and ,i believe we may say1 the unsuspected inutility and injustice of the other4 ,secondly1 ,we have already seen that the loss of the lender1 in all cases1 flows essentially from the nature of his capital2 that it is inseparable from the advance of prices1 whether that advance originates from an accession of wealth1 or is produced by taxes1 or brought on by monopoly2 and that besides1 by lending to the ,state1 with the certainty that the ,state could not pay the interest of the loan without the assistance of an import1 he has beforehand submitted to the effects of an impost indispensable to his main object4 ,thirdly1 ,if we except a poll-tax1 which we should suppose laid by ,divine ,justice1 and which1 in the present hypothesis1 should wrest from the lender only a twelfth part of his enjoyments1 where is the system1 which1 in the supposition of a tax of ten millions1 being now necessary in ,england1 would not deprive him of a fifth part of those enjoyments8--,we shall see presently that a compound-tax would perhaps prove still less favourable2 but how much has he to dread1 in all cases1 from the indirect taxation of the monopoly1 which it is impossible duly to estimate6 ,effects of ,compound ,taxation4 ,the system of taxation1 which may be called general1 is composed of the four different kinds of taxes which ,i have just mentioned3--,first1 some kind of poll-tax1 under that or any other name2--secondly1 a land-tax2--thirdly1 an impost on the consumption of the rich1 or luxury2--and fourthly1 in fine1 the freedom taken with the consumption of the poor1 or general consumption2 for the sun of reason forces its way through the darkness of prejudices2 these only serve to retard the progress of nature wherever light first began to shine4 ,it would be easier to stifle truth at first1 than entirely to escape its effects4 ,no country in the world can be guarded against the injustice inseparable from the two first parts of the system of a compound-taxation1 whatever may be in that respect the wisdom of the legislature1 and its tenderness in the manner of collecting the impost2 no country can be free from that other kind of injustice which results from the general prejudice in favour of the tax on luxury1 which constitutes the third part of the system under examination2 but the ensemble--the whole together1 does not produce every where the same effects on the prices4 ,in ,france1 from the beginning of the present century down to the time when ,mons4 ,turgot was intrusted with the department of the finances1 the sum of what ,i can collect from the ,french mode of taxation1 is1 that without any determined system1 without any other rule than the immediate want of money1 and the facility of procuring that money by means of a loan1 at any interest whatever1 they had successively taxed whatever came first to hand1 or occurred to the imagination of the comptroller general for the time being2 nothing was spared1 in order that no one should complain2 landed estates1 employments1 money1 individuals1 the one because he was industrious1 the other because he had no industry and that he might acquire some2 this man1 because he had a title2 that other1 because he had none2 a third1 on account of what he consumed2 a fourth1 for that consumption to which he was doomed1--7an expedient which1 together with the galleys1 was devised by the farmers general1 as an admirable stroke upon smuggling74 ,no sin more venial1 than to take some liberties with a compound of such motley pieces2 nothing more severe than the reflexions thrown out against it on the other side of the channel2 and nothing can more forcibly prove that ,france was planning some reform on the subject1 than the orders given most minutely to enquire into the principles and effects of the various modes of taxation adopted in other parts of ,europe4 ,i think1 in regard to all those parts of ,french taxation1 which ,i have alluded to1 as every intelligent man does in ,france and ,england3 nevertheless1 if one cannot positively affirm1 that the result of such a chaos of strange regulations1 has been1 that every one perceiving the burden to be general1 nobody ever thought of easing himself at the expence of others who appeared to have been loaded in the same manner1 yet it cannot be contradicted1 that1 notwithstanding the want of true principles on the part of the taxator in ,france1 the price of every thing might have continued to this day1 without material alteration1 had it not been for an event1 of which ,i shall speak in the sequel2 and if it were true1 as some very deep politicians will have it1 that the more depreciated commodities are in a country1 the quicker that nation advances towards opulence1 because1 in such a case1 the national manufacturer has it in his power to favour the foreigner by underselling all other countries in the world2 if this principle were not at least questionable1 as ,i hope to prove it by and by1 every one would admit that the compound-taxation1 ,,even ,,compounded1 as ,i have just described it1 does not appear totally destitute of some advantages4 ,before ,i venture to express my thoughts on the subject1 ,i wish the reader would form to himself an idea of what might be the effect of such a system in ,england2--in ,england1 where every man is a calculator1 and adds without ceremony1 on the creditor side of his books1 the number of figures necessary to balance those which he thinks too many in the calculation of others4 ,they say in ,england1 and there they are more bitterly persuaded than any where else1 that taxes take annually out of the pockets of those who pay them1 the whole amount of the impost2 but there as every where1 and there much sooner than in any other part of the world1 justice and reason never fail to put into the head of each individual1 what he is to do1 that the tax be not paid for a long while out of his own pocket4 ,i may therefore boldly say1 that nothing more is wanted on the part of ,england1 to join perfectly in opinion with me1 concerning the most important point 7that which concerns the national debt71 than to observe1 that every one has always done as secretly and as expeditiously as he could1 for himself alone1 what ,i insist it would be advantageous to do openly1 with equal celerity1 for the general good#h4 ,i now resume my subject4 ,it would be1 methinks1 a difficult matter not to conclude1 from such very reasonable conflict of private calculations1 that1 were the ,french system to be adopted in ,england1 it would not1 in that land of benediction1 experience the fate of exotic plants2 far from degenerating1 far from keeping the price of all things at the lowest ebb1 it would acquire from the influence of general maxims1 and from universal custom1 the weight necessary to balance that multitude of private injuries1 from which it is impossible to keep it free4 ,now1 this cannot be effected without forcing the price of every thing up to a pitch so much more extravagant1 as each man1 in such a case1 is the natural judge of the indemnity he should allow himself for the tax imposed1 and for the advantage that others derive from it2 if any one should shrink on the occasion1 he finds in his corporation a degree of vigour1 of which he shares the benefit4 ,the word of the law is the only bridle in ,england2 a tax of #ds4 on a particular article1 increases its known price only by something more2 but if government gets #ej1jjjl4 from a tax1 under the appellation of licence1 or any other name1 which leaves the man thus taxed1 supreme judge of the rate1 and at liberty to choose the means of indemnifying himself1 one may rest assured that such a tax costs the people six times as much as it brings in to government4 ,let every man candidly weigh this 7,i don't say undenied1 but ,i say7 undeniable assertion1 from the circumstances of the moment2 let him examine what remains to be done by the land proprietor1 that he may not be most shamefully ransomed2 let him judge in what predicament that man must stand1 whose fixed revenue in money1 affords him no resource against the effects produced by such an emulation2 let him observe1 above all1 that the daily labourer will not1 before the matter is brought to the last extremity1 be paid one penny more1 because care has been charitably taken to tax almost none of the articles of his consumption2 and let him then1 if he dares to do it1 let him bless the tax on luxury1 and any other kind of impost1 but such as is laid on the objects of most general consumption4 ,the real necessity of providing for the interest due on the debt contracted during the last war1 and the imaginary advantage of the intended reimbursement1 have compelled the present ,ministry 7and according to the maxims and ideas that predominate at this time1 would have compelled all possible administrations7 to impose many taxes of the very exceptionable kind2 to their effects add those of the indirect tax of corporations1 premiums1 prohibitions1 and new obstacles thrown in the smuggler's way1 it will not be wonderful that the million sterling for the imaginary want of a reimbursement1 together with the three millions some hundred thousands1 for the real want1 7the interest of the debt7 and which1 at the word1 ought not to increase the total mass of prices much above #h per cent4 actually advance them to #ab1 whilst in ,france the expences of the late war will not perhaps occasion1 at first1 a rise of more than #f per cent4 ,it will be seen in the sequel why ,i say1 at first4 ,but1 they say in ,france--but1 they say in ,england1 all the articles of consumption are already so loaded1 that it is impossible to think of increasing the weight4 ,the ,french ,farmers ,general themselves tremble when they propose to increase the duties on any article2 will not consumption suffer by it8--,such is every where the terrible argument that prevents the establishment of the only unexceptionable system1 the only equitable1 and the only advantageous one to the people--to the people1 on whose account they pretend to be so anxious4--,that system1 it is true1 would lessen by one half1 the nominal value of those operations that are held in so important a light1 of all those tricks of which the contrivers themselves entertain so high an opinion2 but what ease1 what leisure would not this very system procure to the ,minister6 ,let us then see whether the formidable argument1 on which is grounded the impossibility of doing the best1 will bear the analysis1 so formidable also in so many cases4 ,some ,doubts on the supposed ,impossibility of laying all ,taxes on ,consumption4 ,the universal voice in ,england is1 that so many taxes should be laid1 as are necessary to answer the exigences4 ,ministry1 ,opposition1 ,subjects1 all agree in this essential point2 but if we except some taxes which bear principally on the land proprietor1 who never says any thing1 and whose silence commands that of every one who shares in his burden1 the ablest man in the three kingdoms is not capable of proposing one1 on any article1 which would not be followed by a petition from those very men who do not even wait till it has received the royal sanction1 in order to derive from it an extravagant advantage1 if it be within the meaning of licences1 and perhaps only a profit rather above a reasonable one1 if it bears on an object properly specified4 ,i have perused several of these petitions2 and the substance of what has appeared to me most striking in every one of them is nearly this3 8,let every thing be taxed in ,england1 nothing more equitable2 let every thing be taxed1 every thing1 except all the things that concern your humble petitioners3 you cannot tax them1 without ruining their trade2 and not only their trade1 but also the whole trade of the nation at large2 and not only without ruining the whole trade of the nation at large1 but without stifling that principle of liberty1 that noble spirit of life1 which has so highly distinguished her above all the nations in the world40 ,were any one to infer1 from the foregoing extract1 that my intention is to stigmatize the use of petitions1--notwithstanding the most invincible antipathy ,i bear to exclamations1 which1 for the most part1 betray either weakness or hypocrisy1 ,i should exclaim1 ,o ,divine ,liberty1 of humbly shewing1 to the most respectable parts of a nation1 all kinds of ideas1 whether absurd or reasonable6 ,divine ,liberty1 never treated in ,england but with that regard which is due from one man to whatever comes from another man6 ,divine ,liberty1 who givest to the ,legislator1 the time1 knowledge1 and often the means1 necessary to prevent him from falling into such errors as it is not beyond the power of human nature to avoid1 444 be thou ever blessed1 and mayest thou be worshipped wherever men are not infallible1 and wherever millions of men may suffer from a single mistake6 ,in ,england1 the produce of taxes on the various articles of consumption1 amounts1 ,i suppose1 to #h1jjj1jjjl43 in order to procure the #e or #f other millions required1 a part of which is necessary1 a part of which is supposed to be so on account of the plan of a reimbursement1 the land continues to be taxed for #b millions1 and the other #c or #d are taken from perhaps #cj different articles1 one of which will bring in #aej1 another #ajj1 a third #fj1 a fourth #cj thousand pounds1 c4 with a salvo for ,government to tax half a score more articles1 if it should be robbed rather too unconscionably on the produce of the former2 for1 in all countries throughout the world1 this is all the conjuration in that part of the administration of finances which relates to the collecting of taxes2 if you rob ,government in one point1 be sure ,government will ransom you1 if required1 on ten others2 nothing more just1 but nothing more easy4 ,now1 if we lay it down for an indubitable maxim1 that the most able ,administrator of finances1 cannot take from an individual1 more than what he possesses1 it seems to me then that it remains only to examine1 whether that very individual from whom1 one way or another1 out of the #bj he is possessed of1 #e may be wrested1--will be less aggrieved if the #e be taken out of his pocket1 and he be sent to market with the remaining #ae1 than he would be1 were he permitted to go with the whole #bj to market1 where he would find those #ae which he used to purchase for #ae1 charged with the #e which might have been taken from him at home8 ,the question more to the point is yet more singular2 for it goes to this enquiry3 ,first1 ,whether the land proprietor1 who is obliged to give at a fixed period three millions in taxes for his land1 windows1 domestics1 and other objects more recently taxed1 would think himself more injured if those three millions were divided and laid upon some objects of his consumption1 while he should observe that by this new order of things he would gain the convenience1 not only of paying these three millions by different and remote installments1 but also of making use of the money previous to such payment1--without injury to the trader1 to whom the interest would be one way or other repaid1--while on the other hand1 a part of the money1 laid out upon his land1 would furnish new resources for augmenting the produce of the taxes1 by increasing his faculties of consumption3 ,secondly1 ,whether those unfortunate licensed persons1 and others 7who so bitterly complain of all the various taxes that produce to them three or four times the sum which they advance to ,government7 would not be justly1 as they ought to be1 relieved from the oppression 7that is the word7 if such taxes were taken off1 and laid on articles of which they would themselves be the consumers3 ,thirdly1 ,whether all those extraordinary1 usurious1 and unjust benefits1 arising from those oppressive taxes which ,i have been mentioning1 reduced to their proper point1 by taxes that would not increase the price of any article beyond a known degree1 would not naturally reduce the value of every thing to that necessary price ,i have spoken of1--to that price which every thing ought to maintain1 that the imaginary oppressed might not actually oppress the imaginary oppressors1--that all things may be preserved in a just balance1 without any person experiencing a change in his condition2--and consequently1 without the consumption of any article being diminished1 unless fancy or fashion should transfer it to another article that will indemnify for the deficiency4#i ,from ,england let us pass over to ,france1 and always taking for granted that a ,minister of finance is not a conjurer1 and that he can take from the pockets of the people no more money than they possess2 ,i wish it could be examined3 ,whether the #da millions of livres ,tournois1 produced by the poll-tax1 and which should be paid no longer1 when that tax should be transferred to1 and divided between all the articles of the most general consumption1 and of course the most productive1 would diminish the general faculties1 by increasing the value of those objects1 to the whole of that sum which the contributors would gain by paying no longer the poll-tax4 ,i would have it also enquired into1 whether the clergy1 finding the objects of that general consumption loaded with #aa millions more1 could be aggrieved by the sole disappointment of giving no longer gratuitously to his ,majesty1 those #aa millions which they are now compelled to pay2 and whether they would not be left in possession of all the faculties necessary to satisfy the first article1 as soon as they should be freed from the other4 ,i should also wish the ,french to examine whether the #gf millions ,tournois1 paid in that country for the three twentieths1 instead of being very often called for1 at a time when the ,subject has them not1 transferred to those objects which cannot be consumed but by means of the money remaining after those #gf millions are discharged1 would impair the means of the contributors1 although after having eased them of that truly terrible tax1 the ,minister should1 in a manner1 juggle them out of the whole amount of it1 by another impost on consumption4 ,supposing even they had some suspicion of the trick1 ,i wish it were examined whether they would think themselves injured by paying in the new way that amount1 by installments at their own time1 and till then laying out a part of it upon their lands1 the revenues of which would of course increase in proportion4 ,but above all1 ,i wish it should be examined1 whether #ia millions of another kind of subsidy1 called la taille1 added to #g millions and a half more1 laid out in expences for warrants and distresses1 necessary to enforce the law of the subsidy1 transferred upon the consumption of those from whose hands the subsidy is directly wrested1 against whom the warrants are issued1 upon whose goods or body the distresses are executed1 would diminish the faculty of that poor people's consumption1 if1 by means of that consumption1 by the suppression of the old subsidy1 of warrants1 and distresses attending the same1 they should acquire the faculty of consuming cheerfully1 what they often consume in bitterness and sorrow2 and whether the department of the finances could lose by it any thing more than the pleasure or trouble1 or rather the necessity of assessing a dreadful subsidy1 issuing out warrants1 and distressing the body--when there are no goods to be distrained4 ,but in this scheme the expence is more considerable4 ,this is the grand objection3 ,the expence is more considerable6 ,reduce the unfortunate to a bed of straw1 or cast him into prison1 to spare the purse 444 of whom8--,for after all1 supposing even that a few additional charges ought to be compared with millions of inconveniences1 injuries1 and acts of barbarity1 which are inseparable from the other methods1 let it be examined whether the extra charges can produce any other effect1 than that of advancing by a few deniers pour livr the general price of merchandise2 let it be examined whether that advance is not a matter of perfect indifference1 provided that the price of the provisions sold by the land proprietor1 who is stiled rich1 and that of the wages of the labouring man1 who is called poor1 rise in the same proportion as the goods of the capitalist of industry1 who stands equally and as essentially in need of the ease of the poor1 as of the opulence of the rich4 ,in fine1 ,let it be examined whether there is any thing great1 courageous1 just1 and fair1 that may not be expected from the ,french nation1 when she shall be admitted to the honour of being heard1--or when they will be kind enough to convince her4--,a ,king of ,france1 with the trifling help of his provincial administrations1 may do1 and play with every thing3 a ,king of ,france is truly a despot2 not from that absurd right of giving his will for reason1 but from that principle which is congenial to the ,french1 that the ,people and the ,king are but one1 have but one interest1 and have nothing to fear but the ignorance of a ,minister1 conscious of his inability1 without the least thought of the resources he has at hand in such a case1 without principles to guard him against committing those injuries which seem to him unavoidable1 in order to conceal the errors which he has been1 or fears to be1 guilty of2 a ,minister1 in fine1 whose insignificant little self1 wrests from the ,king and ,people1 the fruit of that identity which forms the acknowledged essence of the ,french constitution4 ,what seems to be in ,france no more than a fortunate prejudice1 is every where an irrefragable truth3 in every country the strength1 power1 and riches of the ,prince1 are but the sum of the force1 power1 riches1 energy1 honour and susceptibility1 which actually exist in the mass of his subjects4--,but if the ,sovereign be the most powerful man in his kingdom1 only because all its strength centers in him2 if in this age1 the most complaisant1 the meanest ,minister should not dare even to insinuate a contrary idea before the ,prince the most jealous of his authority2 how can he presume to think1 or to hope1 that it will be in his power to persuade the ,prince1 that he1 the ,minister1 is the best informed man in the ,empire1 before he has collected all the information that can be got on every object that does not call for an immediate execution8--,and how can he pretend to have collected every such information1 when in addition to his own ideas1 he goes only by those of the few dependents who surround him1 dependents as much on their guard before him1 as he himself is circumspect before the ,sovereign1 when the ,sovereign1 before he asks his advice1 has the misfortune to let a single word escape that betrays even the appearance of an opinion on the object under deliberation8 ,recapitulation of the foregoing ,thoughts on ,taxes and their ,effects4 ,the fate of the various kinds of taxes1 is similar to that of political operations1 which pretty regularly bring about the very contrary of what had been expected from them3 thus if you tax the consumption of the rich1 presently the poor alone will pay the impost1 and will continue to pay it till an insurrection will make you sensible that he is brought too low2 now this insurrection is commonly the consequence of a trifling scarcity1 which1 it seems1 ,providence sends to the unfortunate in order to encourage his asking for justice1 in the only manner that is likely to prove successful3 on the contrary1 let the tax be laid on the general consumption1 without sparing that of the poor1 the man who possesses1 shall be1 no doubt1 necessitated to pay for the man who has nothing1 if the former wishes to enjoy the labour of the latter2 and on the very same day1 when the tax is laid on the consumption of the labouring man1 he will not hesitate to demand an increase of wages to the full amount4444 ,how is he to be deceived8--,if it be well to deceive the poor as long as possible1 then tax nothing but the consumption of the rich4 ,but whatever be the manner in which the impost is laid1 as soon as its effect shall be general1 the burden will prove null 7,,save ,,the ,,injuries ,,inseparable ,,from ,,all ,,other ,,taxes1 ,,but ,,those ,,that ,,bear ,,upon ,,consumption73 this effect is no more than a general advance in all the prices3 an advance1 it is true1 already acknowledged necessary with regard to the taxed articles1 but dreaded hitherto in regard to all the rest1 where it ought to have been wished for2 universally felt1 but never justly estimated2 the nullity of the burden of the debt would have been determined by the estimation4 ,the poll-tax1 supposed to be established by ,divine ,justice1 would enhance the price of labour1 and of its products1 but by a fraction equal to that which the amount of the tax should be1 in the mass of both revenues1 land and industry4 ,ten millions of a poll-tax on a revenue of #abj1 would increase the prices of every thing by one twelfth2 and every man thus taxed1 would evidently after the advance of prices1 in consequence of such a poll-tax1 find himself in the very same state he stood in before the tax2 yet one twelfth more must be given for every thing1 but then one twelfth more would be received for every thing4 ,all other kinds of taxes1 as well as the poll-tax1 seem to affect only the article on which they are laid2 but this article comprehends the three interests1 and trebles the action of the tax when the interest of the labouring man1 that is1 the price of his day's work1 constitutes1 as it does in ,england1 nearly one third of the revenue4,how could it be supposed that the taxing of industry in its products1 was granting to its capitalist the right of increasing his price by the whole amount of the tax1 without making it necessary for the land proprietor to enhance the price of his commodities at the same rate8 ,and how could it be supposed that the products of agriculture and industry1 happening to be1 by a very just re-action1 7whether it originates with the one or the other71 increased in price in the same proportion1 agriculture and industry should not be compelled to increase of course the price of labour which procured those products8 ,if therefore you advance by #aj millions1 the prices either of all the productions of the earth1 by taxing agriculture1 or of all the productions of the arts1 by taxing industry1 you equally compel the untaxed part to advance its prices to the whole amount of the #aj millions laid on the corresponding part1 otherwise goods to the amount of #aj millions would evidently remain unsold4 ,now the influence of those new prices will enforce by degrees an increase on the price of labour1 and this increase will soon be followed by a fresh one on the value of its products2 whence it appears at last1 that after all the necessary re-actions1 the same tax of #aj millions1 which by a general equitable poll-tax1 supposed as equitable as it is ,,impossible to make it so1 would only raise the prices by one twelfth1 or #h per cent42 if laid1 either on the land1 or luxury1 or general consumption1 would necessarily advance the prices1 sooner or later1 to #be per cent42 the very precise period whereat every one would find himself in the exact state in which he was previous to the tax1 paying1 it is true1 every thing #be per cent4 dearer1 but being himself paid #be per cent4 dearer too4 ,alter the proportion of the usual price of labour1 by supposing a country so far barren as to make it necessary to appropriate one half of the revenue to the labouring people2 in such case a tax of #aj millions laid on a revenue of #fj would increase by #cj per cent4 the price of labour1 and of its products2 #cj per cent4 would raise the revenue from #fj to #gh millions3 now #ci being the half of #gh1 as #cj is that of #fj1 the burden of the tax would then prove equally null1 after every article should have been raised #cj per cent4 ,alter again the proportion of the common price of labour1 by supposing that the cultivator is allowed only one fourth of the revenue2 this division may take place in a country extremely fertile2 in this case1 a tax of #aj millions on a revenue of #fj1 would only add #bj per cent4 to the former prices2 instead of raising the revenue of #fj millions to #ge1 as in the case of three equal shares1 or to #gh1 as in the supposition of the revenue being divided in halves1 the tax would then carry it only to #gb4 ,now the #dth part of #gb is #ah1 as #ae is the #dth of #fj2 therefore if1 after the tax is imposed1 you give #ah wherever you paid only #ae before that period1 the burden will clearly be null again1 since the increase in the price of labour1 must have followed the advanced price of its products1 an advance necessitated by the impost4 ,here1 methinks1 ,i hear the enthusiasts exclaim1 ,how6 the fertility of the land is then of no advantage1 but to its greedy owners6--,i am in hopes that before ,i conclude this ,pamphlet1 ,i shall be able to find1 to the great satisfaction of all good men1 how many advantages remain in the hands of the most opulent land proprietor2 nay ,i hope to prove that in a fertile land there is nothing lost to any of its inhabitants1 unless extraordinary efforts be used to concenter within that spot the general benefit which must result from it4 ,i shall content myself at present with requesting the reader to compare my thoughts on the taxes1 with the two following problems1 so often debated both in ,england and in ,france4 ,how is it that ,france has constantly retrieved her errors and her misfortunes8 ,how comes it that ,england has not yet sunk under the burden of her taxes8 ,the ,french exciseman says3 ,it is because the more the people are loaded1 the better they walk2 and very sensible men in ,england used to say1 8,reason and experience seem to prove that taxes stimulate industry1 and that the poor1 to live as well as before1 perform more work without demanding more for their labour40 7,d4 ,hume's ,essay ,,viii4 on ,taxes74 ,it seems to me that the above two problems are more humanely solved by the reasons ,i have produced1 and that those reasons destroy all idea of a miracle1 or of the necessity of loading the people in order to spur their industry1 and encourage them to work3 on the contrary1 to forward those two great points1 it is necessary to increase the price of their labour in the same proportion as that of its products is raised by the taxes2 and this will suffice to render evidently null the burden of all taxes whatever4 ,further ,considerations on the ,necessity of a ,correspondence between the ,prices of ,agriculture and those of ,industry4 ,i have said it more than once1 and beg leave to repeat it here3 ,let any essential object be denoted by one number or another2 it is a matter of perfect indifference1 provided the numbers intended to denote the mass of objects corresponding thereto1 do not present any ideas contrary to the proportion of labour which exists between the essential object1 and the mass which is to form its balance4 ,thus then1 be the value of wheat1 which serves as the general standard1 because it is useful to all1 at all times1 and which ought to be so1 from another consideration almost equally powerful1 namely1 that it constitutes about one third of the landed revenue in ,europe--be its value1 ,i say1 denominated #cj1 #ej1 or #be1 nothing more indifferent1 provided the numbers denoting the value of the other products of land and industry1 keep exactly1 either by more or by less1 within the same proportion2 it is clear that1 in such a case1 neither the land proprietor nor the capitalist of industry1 can undergo from the alteration in the numbers1 any real alteration in their circumstances4 ,but to think of nothing but the manufactures1 and imagine it possible to maintain1 and endeavour seriously to maintain1 wheat at the same price1 whilst the taxes advance by #aj per cent4 that of the products of industry1--is to aim at the ruin of agriculture1 and to oblige all the proprietors of land and money1 whose employments in the ,state would not indemnify them for such an injustice1 to go in search of another country1 where the manufacturer1 better acquainted with his real interest1 would know1 or act as if he knew1 that the solidity of his wealth is inseparable from that of the land proprietor1 and from the ease of the proprietor of money1 and of the labouring man4 ,then perhaps those national manufacturers1 so proud and so jealous of their exportations1 so greedy of premiums1 prohibitions1 restrictions1 encouragements of all kinds1 would sue more ardently to have those nuisances suppressed1 than they ever did for their establishment4 ,nothing more admirable than those regulations to which ,england acknowledges to be indebted for the best part of her wealth and power2 but they crept in at a time when ignorance generally prevailed1 when all the other parts of ,europe had almost no idea either of the principle of commerce1 or of its influence over all the other resources of society4 ,in effect1 from what known point could one then start1 to imagine that a nation1 who openly countenances monopoly at home1 in order to encourage her foreign trade1 lays the most solid basis for the monopoly she wishes to secure to herself every where8 ,how was it possible to conceive that the ,dutch1 a nation so necessary to those that are deficient in means1 and so forcibly compelled by the superabundance of their own1 to make them serviceable to those who stand in need of them1 could not be shut out from the ,english ports1 without depriving the rest of ,europe of the advantage1 which their admittance every where was necessarily calculated to procure to their correspondents1 by securing to them1 as well as to ,england1 a competition so essential to all1 and fatal to monopoly alone8 ,europe1 busy at that time in search of another sort of equilibrium1 did not consider what weight commerce1 carried on upon such principles1 would throw into one of the scales2 how could ,europe then suspect that it would overthrow the balance entirely8 ,but what is the final result of all these projects against ,nature8--,the pretensions of the ,ecclesiastical ,state stirred up all ,europe2 and the ,pontifical ,see was fixed in its proper place4 ,france roused all ,europe against the ambition of the ,house of ,austria1 much more formidable by its real power2 the ,imperial ,throne was fixed in its proper place1 and ,france was hailed as the founder and assertor of ,european liberties4 ,soon after the ,protectress became a despot2 ,england stirred up all ,europe against her1 and ,france was1 aukwardly1 thrown out of her proper place2 ,england1 the principal instrument of the revolution1 made an improper use of her importance1 as had been successively done by the ,ecclesiastical ,power1 the ,house of ,austria1 and by ,france2--the ,armed ,neutrality appeared1 and presented a code of laws unheard of before2 it was just2 every nation1 that had not bowed beneath the ,english yoke1 adopted it3--there was an instant1 when this armed neutrality might have dictated both to ,england and ,france1 laws as equitable as the code itself2 and all ,europe would have applauded1 had even ,england and ,france united1 at that very instant1 to exterminate in concert the whole naval force of ,europe1 then burnt the exterminating fleets1 and themselves given to all the world those very laws of equity which were intended to be imposed upon them4 ,every thing1 at this moment1 is in that happy state1 which gives time to reflect upon what is past1 to see what is present1 to look forwards to what is to come1 and to consider an ensemble1 the very idea of which could not be admitted during former periods4 ,a few clouds1 dispersed here and there1 do not spoil the beauty of the horizon2 no body can now1 for any length of time1 think it his interest to ruin and destroy2 and every body is concerned not to suffer any thing to be destroyed4 ,i return to my subject1 if ,i may be said to have deviated from it4 ,if a diminution in the price of the necessaries of life be looked upon as so very important1 there exists a sure method of effecting it1 even in ,england1 without any detriment to the land proprietor4 ,let us see whether this very method would prove injurious to the true interest of the manufacturer1 who must be patronised1 cherished as the fountain head of riches2 ,i mean that kind of riches called money1 which could not long subsist without the riches called wheat4 ,fourteenth ,hypothesis4 ,let us suppose1 that1 by the suppression of the monopoly enjoyed by the manufacturers1 and of which they are so jealous1 the price of the whole of their goods should fall one tenth2 in such a case1 the wheat which the new taxes will enhance in price1 ,i suppose1 in the proportion of #dj to #dd1 would1 upon a medium1 fall back to #dj2 and in this case again the produce of the manufactories would only cost industry #bj instead of #bb1 at which they will be rated when wheat shall have risen from #dj to #dd2 for1 in the latter supposition1 it will be necessary for industry to pay finally this increase of expence1 in favour of the artificers1 who would not long submit to an injustice1 without presenting petitions in their own way3 just as wheat must indispensably rise from #dj to #dd1 in order that the land and money-proprietors be not compelled to leave their country1 to the great prejudice of the internal consumption1 so essential to the truest interest of the manufacturer4 ,let it then be supposed1 that wheat should fall from #dd to #dj1 and so of all the rest2--,i confess that the proprietor of money would thereby become a gainer1 and that the general persuasion is1 that it is salutary he should lose3 but would he long support his gain8 ,would not the encouragement which every thing must derive from this new order of things1 from that activity which trade would find in the new channels that would open every day1 when commerce should build on that true principle1 acknowledged to be the only unerring one1 the exchange of commodities1 7excepting the bullion required for the five articles before mentioned7--would not that activity1 ,i say1 that encouragement1 inspire in all parts of ,europe an eagerness for labour1 necessarily followed by an increase of real wealth1 a creation of new productions1 and by an increase of that imaginary wealth1 still more stimulating than the former1 because it is its proof and its pledge1 but which cannot be obtained without a general increase in all the prices8 ,will it be said1 that1 on the first moment1 the fall of prices would affect the intellects of those who can only see1 but never compare8 that the people1 for instance1 would lament their being reduced to #aj1 from the #ab they had been accustomed for some days to receive1 although they should pay only #e for what cost them #f before8 ,in this case1 keep up the prices1 but without exception1 and export on the true principles of exportation3 take for your guide the example set up by my countryman1 the ,american of ,philadelphia1 in selling dearer because you are compelled to do so2 propose to buy dearer also1 and this will be only an act of justice2 you will see hereafter that you would at last be just1 in spite of yourselves2 be so intentionally3 you cannot come down to the price of your purchasers2 raise their prices to a level with your own1 they will observe that even the first profit is not the lot of the first bidder1 if every one doing justice to himself bids in proportion3 mean while1 the eagerness for labour goes on increasing1 and by little and little the benefit extends to the lowest wretch that dwells in the community2 he finds more work to do1 and a greater reward for it4 ,it will be said no doubt1 that this is another supposition of a general agreement4--,no1 certainly not2 it is enough for every one to see that it must be so2 that it will happen without any other help than the private interest of each individual2 that these private and niggardly measures1 already taken1 or to be taken1 in order to prevent the result of all those personal interests1 are of no use but to keep justice at a distance2 to multiply the number of injuries which daily take place1 till what must be1 comes to pass2 to produce a greater evil1 where it might be less2 to substitute forced1 to necessary prices3 but it is so evident that wheat1 and all the productions of the earth1 should increase by one tenth1 as soon as the taxes1 or an accession of wealth1 shall increase by one tenth the price of the products of industry1 that it is necessary to lay this principle as the basis of all regulations1 or else openly to adopt as a maxim1 that agriculture should be sacrificed to industry4 ,this maxim1 ,i set forth of the correspondence required between the prices1 together with the inconvenience of having them too much out of proportion with those of other nations1 militates1 it is true1 against that monstrous system of prohibitions1 corporations1 c4 which is the only burden entailed upon us by our forefathers1 the only burden which the present legislatures can transmit to posterity2 but although it might be an absurdity to suppose a reform as sudden as it would be advantageous1 yet would it be less absurd to suppose that1 the evil being once found out1 the remedy will constantly be rejected8 ,would it be less absurd to suppose1 that the manufacturers1 better acquainted with their real interests1 will persist in endeavouring to aggravate the evil1 instead of complying with the only means of retrieving it8 ,would it be less absurd to suppose1 that each of them will never perceive that he pays for the privilege of ransoming in his branch of industry1 by the disadvantage of being himself ransomed on a thousand other objects8 ,russia1 #cj years ago1 was perhaps more distant from her present state1 than the unmasking of monopoly1 and the knowledge of its effects1 will be from its extirpation4 ,on a ,cause little suspected of high ,prices4 ,i am not ashamed to own the prejudice ,i entertain against a diminution in the price of any thing whatever1 when ,i observe that discouragement1 at least in the part affected1 would be the consequence of such a diminution2 whilst1 on the contrary1 a gradual1 general1 and proportioned advance in the prices of every thing1 is constantly followed by a greater activity in all the branches of labour1 which really increases the quantity of its productions1 in a proportion far superior to the advance on that imaginary1 nominal value1 acquired by fermentation2 my intention1 therefore1 cannot be to declaim against one of the most potent causes of the high prices prevailing in ,england1 and which nobody1 ,i think1 has yet mentioned4 ,this last expression shews1 that ,i do not mean here1 that quantity of paper-money1 to which many people1 in more than one kingdom1 ascribe all the evil1 of which the sole real part is the work of monopoly4 ,i think ,i have proved1 that it is impossible there should long remain in circulation any paper above the necessary quantity3 all would flock to the ,bank to be paid in cash1 had not the ,bank enough of it to discharge her notes1 when presented1 with such readiness as to leave no doubt of the validity of those other notes1 which1 in the natural course of things1 would not be presented there to be paid in money4 ,the ,bank would derive very little advantage from the momentary cheat of paying off large sums in sixpences2 this legerdemain is admirable1 but can suffice only to correspond to the wanton tricks sometimes played by great politicians1 to give the ,bank a momentary trouble4 ,it is1 then1 necessary to rock those children1 whom great men make it their amusement to scare2 and they must be rocked till they are fast asleep1 or till the great men are tired of making faces at them4 ,after the farce is over1 the children wake1 and do not even remember to have been frightened2 money is found wherever it is necessary1 and every thing returns to that order which it is every one's interest to maintain4 ,what then is that other cause1 so active1 so cogent1 not of that extravagant price which monopoly alone can occasion1 but of that price rather above the necessary one1 which gives to every thing an increase of vigour8 ,it is credit4 ,it is that prodigious talisman which realises all that it conceives1 since all that it conceives has the same advantage as reality4 ,how many capitals would never have existed1 had not credit supposed them several years before they did really exist8 ,how fill up the real chasm of capitals1 which may1 in an instant1 suspend a hundred manufactories in a kingdom1 and1 by that suspension1 ruin1 starve1 the trader1 the merchant1 the manufacturer1 the mechanic1 all1 except the farmer1 whether proprietor or tenant1 who1 by the counter-blow1 could not die of hunger1 but in real misery on his stacks of wheat1 which he would no longer attempt to reproduce4 ,that man is ignorant of his own value1 who1 pen in hand1 weighs1 calculates1 measures time1 distances1 expenditure1 obstacles1 facilities1 occurrences2 and whose signature1 on account of the supposed exactness of his combinations1 will soon after produce1 at two or three hundred leagues distance1 and in fifty places on the road1 the same effect which would have resulted from the real possession of the object of which this signature is the pledge4 ,if he shares with all those whom he makes easy1 re-animates1 or puts in action1 the benefit which they derive from the speed1 as well as from the supposed certainty of his operations1 undoubtedly no one will dispute his title to the reward2 and yet we shall see presently1 that this medal is not without its reverse1 supposing an advance in prices to be an inconvenience4 ,i shall apply the principle to a fact very well known in ,england4 ,in the year #agfb1 about #bjjjl4 sterling1 carried to the island of ,grenada1 was there received with that veneration due to gold when we have been years without seeing any1 and have not yet forgot its virtues4 ,the above sum regulated the markets2 coffee was set up at eight or ten pence per pound2 sugars sold per quintal thirty or forty shillings currency2 the inhabitants were in perfect ecstacy3 ,i shall say nothing of the device practised in order to hook in1 by means of those #bjjjl4 about thirty times the value of that sum1 and yet satisfy every body3 that is foreign to my subject2 but ,i will say1 with pleasure1 that an honest gentleman1 moved at the distressed situation of another who was dunned by merciless creditors1 gave him in hard cash a trifling part of the sum he wanted1 and for the remainder furnished him with his own bills of exchange on ,london1 assuring him that those to whom they might be presented would take them for cash without any demur4 ,those bills had fully the promised effect2 the same gentleman obliged several other persons2 the benefactor soon met with competitors1 all difficulties disappeared by means of scraps of paper on ,london1 and the debtor who1 on the landing of the precious metal1 had deemed himself too lucky to sell his coffee at ten-pence and his sugar at #dj shillings1 now offered impudently his bill on ,london1 indorsed by some patron1 if a creditor refused to give him #de shillings for his sugar1 and twelve-pence for his coffee4 ,gold1 attracted by the first homage paid to it1 came in plenty1 and fell in value by the establishment of credit2 it afterwards took another course1 and went1 no doubt1 somewhere else to supply the want of credit1 and pave the way to it4 ,from that moment very little money came to ,grenada1 and no one ever wished for more2 but then the price of commodities was advanced1 and the readiness with which goods1 to the amount of several thousand pounds sterling1 were delivered to such a planter as1 six months before1 would not have presumed to demand the sixth part of them1 did not permit him to start any objection against the prices set on the goods he stood in need of1 when he thought himself indemnified for the excess in those prices1 by that at which his were rated1 and by the time granted him to make good his payments4 ,the ,grenadians abused this credit1 as they did in ,scotland1 and unfortunately at the same period4 ,but this is not the matter in point2 the present object is1 that the establishment of credit in ,grenada enhanced the price of every thing there1 and that the encouragement and activity resulting from that increase doubled1 in the space of six years1 the real quantity of the products in that colony1 whilst credit had1 in the end1 increased its nominal value hardly one tenth4 ,in #agfd the exports of ,grenada amounted to #bjf1hhil42 in #aggj1 they were at #dcc1dbal42 two years after1 they rose as high as #dib1igdl43 it may be added1 that in ,england1 thanks to the extension of that miracle wrought by credit1 the benefit arising from those new products1 and the necessity of furnishing the balance thereof in merchandise1 propagated1 if ,i may be allowed the expression1 from county to county1 the necessary means of consuming1 that is to say1 of realising1 that augmentation of wealth1 whose price was constantly kept up by the additional consumption of all kinds which followed it3 such is the usual chain4 ,in effect1 do but observe how easily a creditable merchant buys from the manufacturer1 payable at twelve months1 an enormous stock of goods1 which he is himself obliged to sell1 either to the consumer or to the retailer1 at twelve1 eighteen1 or twenty-four months credit1 and which often are not totally paid for at the end of three years4 ,what difference in the prices must be the consequence of that series of facilities6 ,are high prices an evil8 ,put an end to credit1 nothing more easy2 nothing more is required1 than to suffer to lie dormant all those laws1 which secure to the creditor1 the payment of his advances at the precise time when they become demandable3 it is that certitude of being repaid1 at the needful hour1 that often induces the creditor himself to borrow1 in order to extricate a debtor1 whom he knows to be indiscreet1 but from whose custom he derives a considerable yearly profit1 upon a prodigious consumption2 a profit he would lose1 by being less indulgent3 take away from the creditor the certainty of extorting his repayment1 if it should be refused at a moment when a critical event should render such rigour indispensable1 credit is destroyed1 as well as the consumption which followed it1 as well as the production of the earth which could not be paid1 but by those manufactories annihilated by the want of consumption3 cross the ,straits of ,calais1 and 7in order to console the worshippers of the balance7 add1 as well as thousands of acres of vineyards in ,france1 the produce of which strips ,england annually of so vast a sum6 as well as thousands of acres in ,italy1 set apart for the rearing of silk-worms1 and the culture of olive-trees1 which swallow up a prodigious sum of ,english money2 as well as thousands of acres in ,silesia1 where they cultivate the hemp which ,english money buys in that country2 as well as thousands of acres in ,russia and in ,sweden1 whence we are obliged to import1 at the expence of so much ,english money1 that immense quantity of timber1 iron1 canvass--articles which would become useless by the extinction of credit1 and the destruction of that trade1 of which credit was the very soul2--the chain would lead us too far4 ,it is sufficiently evident1 that then all the goods remaining unsold could not be purchased but with ready money1 and then indeed every thing would be excessively cheap4 ,would all that be for the best8--,in a word1 give up all thoughts of riches1 or submit to the highest prices2 but let those high prices come to you from the profusion of wealth universally diffused1 and not from the tyranny of your own monopoly4 ,the happy ,issue of a desperate ,combat between ,monopoly and some private ,interests4 ,the scene of this combat does not lie in ,england2 we have seen that there they think of nothing more than to keep the balance even1 and make up1 as fast as possible1 each in his own department1 for the injustice granted to the importunity and cupidity of others1 without any other inconvenience arising therefrom1 than that of having a very large surplus1 excessively dear1 and that of not being able to procure what is wanted at the lowest rate1 nor of the best quality4 ,even ,smuggling1 which follows certain regulations1 with bludgeons and pistols in hand1 cannot produce any great effect on the sum of national labour1 though it may perhaps considerably influence the revenue of the ,exchequer2 it is probable that the smuggler exports as much ,english work into ,france as he imports of ,french work into ,england2 and that1 in this respect1 the gain of the most fortunate individual comes to very little3 my intention is1 to speak here of a combat1 which has lasted a hundred years between the ,french ,,fair trader and the ,american smuggler4 ,the system of administration adopted under ,mons4 ,sartine1 for the ,french colonies1 a system1 for which they are indebted to ten years labour of ,mr4 ,malouit1 the present ,intendant of ,toulon1 permits us to speak now of that combat1 and to descry the dawn of a more serene day1 opening upon those colonies2 till then1 ,i should not have hesitated to call them unfortunate1 in regard to their means1 if the private interest of the inhabitants1 as well as that of the general-officers1 ,intendants and ,directors of the ,domain1 7interests never combined but amongst the latter7 had not moderated the effects of that dreadful punishment the galleys1 denounced at the request of the ,french merchants1 against any one who should presume to import a negro or a cheese from the ,english islands into the ,french colonies1 however good the one1 however industrious the other might be2 and whatever advantage might be gained by paying for both in molasses which the planter was obliged to throw away1 because the ,french merchants would not buy it4 ,it is true1 that the humanity of the great smugglers has often suffered the little ones to escape1 before or after sentence1 7the negro and the cheese being duly seised72 and that a dozen of the little smugglers whom the policy of the great ones sacrificed by installments to the clamours of the merchant1 were nearly the only victims of that barbarous law1 the strict execution of which would have deprived ,france1 ,first1 ,of the fifth part1 at least1 of the present revenue arising to her from her colonies2 ,secondly1 ,of all those branches of industry to which such an addition of revenue gives constant life2 ,thirdly1 ,of all the profit which the fair trader1 the instigator of that barbarous law1 gets annually on the importations and exportations which that additional income requires2 ,fourthly1 ,of the duties which the ,king's treasury receives directly1 or indirectly1 from the one and the other2 7it is impossible to estimate this article47 ,fifthly1 and in fine1 of the assistance which the ,state derives for the ,royal navy1 from that increase in its trading one1 which became necessary after the increase of a revenue1 due to people who should have been sent to the galleys1 had they been caught in the flagrancy of such a crime4 ,one half of the cotton and coffee which is gathered at ,st4 ,domingo1 ,martinico1 ,guadaloupe1 and ,grand ,terre above all1 owes its existence to negroes1 constantly furnished to the ,french smuggler1 both great and small1 by the ,english merchant1 the natural1 and as it plainly appears1 the necessary enemy to ,france and her trade2 the quantity of sugar and indigo which in the said colonies owes its existence to the same means1 is much more than necessary to make up that fifth of the revenue1 the glory of which may be claimed by the smuggler1 though the fair trader comes in for a share in the profits4 ,any one desirous to have this fact confirmed1 may be informed of it by nine tenths of the ,french planters1 provided they be taught that the time is now come1 when every useful truth may be spoken1 even with energy1 when accompanied by decency4 ,this once ascertained1 he is no native of ,america who will refuse his evidence2 an ,american believes in every thing that is just and reasonable1 the very instant that it is pronounced4 ,i sincerely wish that smuggling might produce in ,england the same good it has done to the ,french colonies2 this would appear to me very just1 and the more so1 since it will not be the fault of the ,british commerce1 if that blessed contraband1 after having given life to ,america1 does not spread the same animation every where1 ,great ,britain excepted4 ,i have heard an ,english manufacturer prove at the bar of the ,house of ,lords1 that his manufactory was in want of a special patronage1 by so much the more1 as the size and brittleness of his ware made it a difficult point for him to smuggle it over to the continent1 and as a duty of #cj per cent4 had been lately laid upon it1 in the two countries where it concerned him most to have it exported4 ,amongst other questions that were put to him1 ,i remarked four1 which would have stunned me1 had ,i been in his place4 ,one of these questions was as follows3 8,have you not heard that that #cj per cent4 of which you complain1 was laid in consequence of some prohibitions1 or extra duties imposed in ,england on some articles imported from those very countries which you allude to80 ,i could make nothing of the manufacturer's answers2 they were so long-winded1 they had been so carefully studied1 they were so very full of a policy which ,i do not understand1 that it became impossible for me to class them under any heads in my memory4 ,reflexions on a very strange ,revolution in ,france4 ,a ,general maxim1 almost universally adopted beyond contradiction1 and the foundation of an hundred regulations1 enforced from pole to pole1 is1 that it is essential for all national commodities to be at the lowest price1 in order that foreign trade may turn out to the best advantage2 that is to say1 for the native traders to be able to dispose abroad of the products of national industry1 at a cheaper rate than any other nation can sell those of her own4 ,certain it is1 that the less price national commodities will bring1 the less of the products of national industry will be necessary to pay them off1 the more of course will there remain of those products to stock the foreign markets1 and the more also will the foreign purchaser be gratified by the reduced price at which they may be given1 to the detriment of the land proprietor of the nation2 this is so self-evident that it cannot be withstood4 ,this1 methinks1 is carrying to an excess the principles of ,christian charity1 if the ,legislators are land proprietors2 it is a shameful abuse of power1 if the ,legislators are at the head of manufactures2 and in either case one must be blind to the necessity of keeping up an even balance between agriculture and industry4--,had not ,nature militated under hand1 and with some advantage against the dreams of speculators in this respect1 and against the much more dangerous surreptions of cupidity1 to what state of abjection and misery would not agriculture be now reduced in all countries6 ,i have said1 that the price of every thing would perhaps be now in ,france1 very little different from what it was #dj years ago1 had it not been for an eventual circumstance1 7,i might have said a regulation17 which a few years ago tertiated1 at least1 the fortune of every subject in that kingdom2--nominally at first1 it is true2 but afterwards in reality1 owing to the prodigious encouragement that ensued2 ,i mean the regulation which permitted the exportation of wheat1 and authorised each of the ,french ,provinces not to consider herself as a stranger to all the others4 ,i shall only make a few reflexions on a matter which might furnish enough to fill a volume4 ,first1 ,the adopted maxim of the pretended advantage of enjoying the national commodities at the lowest prices1 for the better encouragement of industry1 was not held less sacred at the time the regulation took place1 than when that maxim was considered as the basis of the system of exportation the most advantageous to the kingdom1 and the condition 7sine qu non7 of the many wonders that might be expected therefrom1 towards an increase of wealth4,yet if there exist a regulation calculated to operate in diametrical opposition to the sacred maxim1 it is clearly the freedom of the corn trade2 to be convinced of this truth1 one need but attend to its effect in ,france4 ,the little success ,i have met with in my endeavours to come1 in this respect1 at some particulars which might perhaps have given me a few ideas1 confines me to what ,i can gather from recollection2 but with truth ,i can say that my memory seldom deceives me on the abstracts it presents to my mind4 ,the reader may perceive1 that the summary ,i now stand in need of1 has no manner of connexion with the little springs that were put in play to ruin the author of the scheme2 the chief and true point1 is1 that all secret intrigues1 all public combinations1 ended only in occasioning a reform in what was deemed abusive1 in a regulation the advantages of which were fully demonstrated2 and that the price of wheat1 after having tertiated1 doubled1 trebled perhaps by the help of the forestallers1 from whose abilities were expected the repeal of the law and the fall of its devisers1 was fixed at last between one half and three fourths above the price1 as it was upon the medium of ten years preceding the regulation4 ,it is easily conceived that the price of wheat dictated that of all other commodities2 in effect1 previous to the last war1 the only decisive period in the present point1 the nominal revenue of the lands in ,france1 increased by one half at least of what it was #ae years before2--then1 commodities were1 upon the whole1 dearer by one half2 yet the maxim was held sacred still1 and is not less so at the present time--in ,england as well as in ,france2--nevertheless ,i can see no medium2 either the maxim is absurd in itself1 or ,french industry has lost one third of its benefits by a regulation which tertiated1 almost suddenly1 the price of all productions in ,france4 ,secondly1 ,in order that industry may be said to have lost that third1 the increase of revenue1 yielded by the land to its proprietor1 must have been cast into some national vortex1 or sent into some foreign one1 or concealed in the earth by the suspicious proprietor2 for if the surplus of the landed revenue has occasioned a greater demand for and consumption of the products of industry1 and more culture of the land1 industry1 by raising the price of her goods on the very first increase of the demand1 has obtained in the first year1 her first share in that accession of wealth2 and she could not miss the second1 so soon as a larger sum of savings bestowed upon the lands1 had brought about what they never fail to produce1 ,i mean1 more productions1 and soon after a greater demand for goods1 and soon after again more goods to answer the additional demands4 ,thirdly1 ,if that sudden advance in the price of provisions1 ended only in an increase almost equally sudden in the price of the products of industry1 there could not be then any inconvenience1 either to industry or agriculture1 in a sudden and proportionate rise which preserved the former equilibrium1 and presented the same correspondence between the two revenues2 7the only thing that can materially affect the two capitalists1 though neither of them think about it47 ,fourthly1 ,if there has been no inconvenience in so considerable but proportionable increase in the prices1 coming from agriculture1 where could be the inconvenience in a proportioned increase1 equally sudden and general if it should come from industry8 ,fifthly1 ,what difference can there be between a regulation which raises the landed revenue in a kingdom1 from #f to #i1 followed by a re-action in industry1 which raises equally to #i what usually went for #f2 and another regulation which would begin the same operation in industry1 and should be equally followed by a proportionable re-action in agriculture8 ,sixthly1 ,when1 by a regulation respecting the corn1 industry is at liberty to enhance the price of her goods1 in the same proportion as the effects of the regulation have raised the products of agriculture1 cannot a regulation that concerns or imposes taxes1 and by which industry is forced to increase her prices by the full amount of the taxes1--cannot such a regulation1 ,i say1 permit the cultivator1 without inconvenience1 to advance the price of the productions of the earth1 in the same proportion as the taxes1 or the regulation concerning them1 have increased that of the products of industry8 ,seventhly1 ,let us suppose that the operation is effected1 and followed by the sum of money which a nominal revenue1 grown more considerable1 requires for the circulation2 can there exist then the most trifling difference between the present state of any individuals in the nation1 and the state they were in previous to their being loaded with that enormous burden1 called taxes8 ,eighthly1 ,if after enquiry1 the only answer that could be given should be a negative1 would it not be profitable to let the public into the secret1 in order that after having observed a very singular analogy between a young nymph loaded with a column of several thousand pounds weight of air1 each of them as heavy as if it were of lead1 and the ,french as well as the ,english loaded annually1 constantly1 in the same manner1 the one with #fjj millions of livres ,tournois1 the other with #ad or #ae millions of pounds sterling1 they should be led further to observe1 with what agility1 what graces1 what sprightliness1 the young dancer plays with her load--8trips it along on the fantastic toe10 and with what grimaces1 what groans1 what lamentations1 the two vigorous nations shrink under a burden which is not more sensible than air1 from the instant that it is as perfectly divided8 ,i must here go some steps back3 ,ninthly1 ,if the nullity of the burden depended on the equality with which it should be divided1 and if this equality should depend on an addition to the supposed burden1 might it not be expected 7not from the tricks of customary seduction1 or from the shorter method of authority1 but from all the means calculated to enforce conviction7 that the nation would find herself less aggrieved by an additional tax1 which would tend to equalise the weight1 than she could be by an increase of taxes laid for the purpose of effecting a reimbursement1 which1 upon a second thought1 no one can wish for8 ,tenthly1 ,before the regulation alluded to1 wheat was1 in ,france1 one third or one half cheaper than it is at this day2 the rest of the other productions of the earth stood in the same proportion3 in ,england1 at that very time1 the price of wheat differed very little from what it now is4 ,how could ,england then maintain a competition--a combat1 as it were1 of exportation1 against her natural enemy 7the ,french industry71 so lightly1 so advantageously armed by the low price of the commodities in ,france8--,if the maxim is as just as it is held sacred1 surely ,france must have derived a prodigious benefit from the barricadoes by which the exportation of wheat was prevented1 even from one ,province to another1 in order that it should be in all at the lowest possible price3--it follows also that ,england1 already compelled by her taxes1 her internal monopoly1 and her riches1 to raise the price of her wheat at home1 must have undergone dreadful inconveniences1 by availing herself1 as she has ever done1 of the least dearth abroad1 to make that very wheat dearer in ,england1 whilst she was going to diminish its price wherever scarcity had made it excessive4 ,eleventhly1 ,if ,france has obtained such wonderful advantages from her internal as well as external barriers1 it is not in respect to her agriculture2 her agriculture has clearly lost1 not only that part of the value in her productions1 of which she was daily deprived by this barrier1 but also the encouragement which a gradual increase in the price of the productions would have occasioned1 to increase their quantity3 it is therefore by the exportation of the products of her industry1 which1 being sold at a price below that of all other nations1 have procured her in money that prodigious balance of exported goods1 which the wretched state of the national cultivator did not permit him to pay for3--but observe1 that the ,french exportation1 carried on with that advantage 7pretended to be so very considerable7 of the low price of national commodities1 brought no more money to ,france1 than that which she wanted for the five articles ,i have mentioned before1 when treating of the balance of ,england4 ,this matter ,i hope ,i shall set in the fullest blaze of evidence4--,but1 on the other hand1 observe also that ,england1 by an exportation carried on with the utmost regularity1 under the supposed disadvantage of her commodities being rated much higher than those of her competitors1 a rate which she even increased herself1 by the exportation of wheat1 which she encouraged by premiums--by premiums1 destructive of the sacred maxim2 observe1 ,i say1 that under that disadvantage1 in spite of those inconsistencies1 as fortunate as they are real and palpable1 ,england1 nevertheless1 has not failed to procure the money wanted for the five articles1 the only ones that can give any value to money4--,shall it be said that ,france would have obtained a balance in money much less considerable1 if she had not kept her prices so low1 if she had acted with less respect to the maxim8--,shall it be said1 that the balance in money would have been far more favourable to ,england1 had not the price of her commodities been so high at home2 if she had more consistently acted upon the maxim2 if1 above all1 she had prohibited the exportation of wheat1 which is so often lamented1 and even sometimes so loudly complained of by her manufacturers8--,this indeed would be to appropriate great merit to the resource of hiding money under ground1 when we cannot flatter ourselves with the thoughts of having too much of it1 but at the expence of agriculture3 but no matter2 let us see whether the inference be just4 ,twelfthly1 ,had ,france been indebted to the disparagement in the prices of her commodities1 for the advantage of procuring the money wanted for the five articles before mentioned1 she would have found herself in the impossibility of answering that want1 as soon as1 by the new regulation1 those commodities were restored to their natural value1 as soon as the liberty of exporting wheat had raised its price almost to the level of that which it bore in ,england4--,now will it be said1 that ever since the landed revenue in ,france has risen from #dj to #ej per cent4 by an advance in the price of commodities1 less bullion has been spent by the ,french in plate1 in gilding1 and other articles of luxury8--,will it be said that ,france stood in need of the money necessary to settle in cash with her foreign correspondents1 when this resource from circumstances became preferable to the mode of paying in bills of exchange8--,will it be said that she fell short of it for all those ,jewish and miserable operations1 or for that reciprocally beneficial smuggling with her neighbours8--,will it be said1 that her circulation1 which1 beyond any doubt1 required a more considerable mass of money1 as soon as her revenue had tertiated1 has suffered by that necessity of a higher balance1 become impossible 7according to the maxim7 as soon as it grew indispensable8--,will it be said1 that her industry has lingered away as soon as her agriculture has been more able to enliven it8--,yet all these absurdities must be admitted1 or it must be acknowledged that the price of commodities may be tertiated1 or doubled in a nation1 not only without injuring industry1 whose business it is to keep within the kingdom all the money wanted for circulation1 but even with securing to the nation a more considerable balance in money1 since it must become so whenever the price of every thing is raised one third1 and perhaps more than one half4--,the sacred maxim therefore has not even common sense1 when applied to the internal trade of the ,state4 ,thirteenthly1 ,if ,france1 who has not the assistance of paper-money1 did actually procure so clearly to herself an annual balance more considerable in money1 as soon as she had tertiated her revenue1 it follows that ,england must1 really1 have experienced a competition much more disagreeable1 from that very circumstance from which1 according to the maxim1 she had less reason to fear it2 for whilst the price of commodities was below par in ,france1 it is clear that having no national vortex1 she required less money for the circulation of a revenue of #ajj than for one of #aej3 it was therefore more to the advantage of ,england1 in spite of the maxim1 that the commodities should be at a low price in ,france1 than to have them raised #ej per cent4 ,the sacred maxim then is destitute of common sense1 when applied to foreign trade1 to the competition abroad4 ,fourteenthly1 ,but if the circumstance which drove ,france to the necessity of acquiring a greater balance in real cash1 stood at a very small distance from another circumstance by which ,england was compelled to procure one still more considerable1 for a general re-coining of her guineas2 and if ,france and ,england have done each other no material injury in this kind of competition1 7this is proved by the fact1 since both nations have equally and certainly1 ever since1 procured the annual balance which they wanted72 may it not be fairly concluded1 that ,england has been no loser1 by a revolution in the price of wheat1 which enriched ,france by tertiating her revenue1 and forced her to receive annually1 in cash1 a balance far greater than she did previous to that revolution8 ,fifteenthly1 ,now if ,england1 since the revolution in the ,french prices1 has obtained as much bullion as she wished for1 or rather all that which she could lay out on the five articles of her common expenditure1 and for the additional circumstance of a re-coinage1 whilst on the other hand ,france had all her wants supplied with the greater ease1 may it not be inferred that ,england could have gained nothing1 even upon the supposition that the annual supply of money1 become necessary to ,france1 had been less considerable1 that is to say1 even if the ,french commodities had remained in their former state of disparagement8 ,sixteenthly1 ,if that increase of prices in the landed revenue has not been restrained to ,france2 if it be a fact1 as all travellers pretend to have observed1 that all the other parts of ,europe have experienced the same revolution1 the same encouragement1 the same success1 except the difference produced in some places by the singularity of certain laws2 may it not be concluded1 that although ,england has lost nothing by the revolution1 although ,france has proved a gainer by it1 other nations have also enriched themselves1 namely1 one tenth1 those where the prices have been advanced a tenth2 a ninth1 those where the prices have been raised one quarter2 one half1 those where the prices have risen one half1 c4 independently of an increase still more essential1 viz4 that of the quantity of the productions of the earth1 which always closely follows that of their prices4 ,seventeenthly1 ,were one to reflect1 that this increase in the prices1 in regard to the productions of the earth1 is always followed by a similar increase with respect to the products of industry1 which thereby receives the same encouragement2 if1 after examination1 no one can harbour any doubt of the fact2 would it be an easy matter1 even with the help of the sacred maxim1 to persuade any nation1 whose prices have been doubled1 to reduce the nominal of her revenue from #bj to #ah1 in order to get the advantage in the competition with another nation who1 by some disagreeable circumstances1 should have been obliged to raise her products from #bj to #bb1 as ,england is compelled to do8 ,would not one1 on the contrary1 conjecture that every wise nation will follow the advice of the ,american of ,philadelphia1 i4 e4 that she will not hesitate to raise equally her own products from #bj to #bb1 certain1 as she will be by this means1 to give fresh encouragement both to her agriculture and her industry1 and not to hurt in the least the interest of the nation whom those disagreeable circumstances should have compelled that rise from #bj to #bb2 compelled1 ,i say1 without procuring for her that encouragement which cannot spring from such a rise1 but in as much as it is not necessitated by taxes8 ,eighteenthly1 ,is it not even probable that every wise nation will be sensible that there is but one way to carry on1 without being constantly duped1 a commerce with another nation1 obliged to raise the price of her goods2 viz4 to raise1 in the same proportion1 those which are given in exchange8--,this1 some will say1 is an indirect advice which ,i take upon me to give to industry2 nothing more useless1 will they add2 industry in all countries never fails making that calculation4--,i do not assume the liberty of advising industry2--,industry is far better acquainted1 than ,i am1 with her own interest3 it is to agriculture ,i presume to give advice2 and this ,i have an incontestable right to do1 since ,i myself am a cultivator1 an ,american cultivator1 and that my fortune cannot increase1 nor even stand as it is1 but with that of my brethren1 the cultivators throughout all ,europe1 whose consumption is as essential to me1 in regard to sugars1 cottons1 coffee1 indigo1 c4 as mine is essential to them1 with respect to wines1 flour1 oils1 hemp1 iron1 c4 ,how is it possible to charge them with an advanced price on the goods they purchase1 without diminishing their means of buying1 unless they raise their own commodities equally with the above goods8--,how can one diminish their power of buying1 without diminishing also my resources for a sale8--,how can one diminish my resources for a sale1 without diminishing my means of production8--,and how is it possible to put a stop to the productions of ,america1 without crushing in the very bud all the ,european productions1 which are to pay for them8--,there is not the least doubt1 but that1 between merchant and merchant1 alien or native1 there never is any difficulty3 nothing more candid than their respective conduct2 never a word about prices2 each fixes his own1 and it often happens that a bale of goods has been sold ten times upon the invoice1 and never opened3--,but when a merchant1 no matter of what nation1 says to his customer1 no matter of what country2 ,english goods have increased in price from #bj to #bb1 ,i cannot have them for less2 it is essential for every land proprietor1 from ,pole to ,pole1 to know that he must not hesitate to answer3 ,you cannot come down to me1 give me leave to get up to you2 or1 in other words1 ,i also advance my prices from #bj to #bb1 so that every thing is in its due order1 and the cock of the balance stands still in its place4 ,on this principle1 clearly evident and of an irrefragable necessity1 ,i maintain that it is ,england1 successively compelled1 as well by her wealth1 as by her taxes and monopoly1 to increase her prices at home1--,england1 trading to all parts of ,europe1 more largely than any other country1--it is ,england1 ,i say1 who1 to this day1 has raised the prices of every thing all over ,europe2 and ,i insist1 that ,england1 once more obliged to carry those prices still higher1 once more will compel ,europe to follow her example1 and that all ,europe will grow richer by her means1 7as has been the case hitherto7 on account of the encouragement which this increase will give in all countries1 where ,england may think fit to continue or extend her trade on fair and equitable principles4 ,it is certain1 that one cannot1 without some reflexion1 comprehend that chain composed of so many incoherent1 so widely distant links1 that union1 that mutual dependance of interests1 in appearance so opposite to each other2 and that1 even with the assistance of a few hypotheses sufficient to give an idea of the whole1 the only confession subscribed to by the reader1 will be1 that they imply no palpable contradiction1 but that they are nevertheless the mere offspring of imagination1 and ought to be ranked amongst non-entities4 ,yet the two hypotheses of which ,rome seemed to be the subject1 were no more1 if we except the paper-currency1 than the type of the revolution which took place in ,france at the time of the regulation ,i have spoken of1--a regulation1 which in less than two years increased the wealth of that nation from #af to #bd1 #ej per cent42 as if the ,french had been at last made sensible1 that ,england could not work for herself without working for them1 and that consequently they had a right to say with my ,roman3 ,england is rich to the amount of #bd1 only because she denominates #bd that same quantity of wheat which our barricadoes and barriers have obliged us to call only #af in our country2 the only thing to be done therefore1 is to set fire to our barricadoes1 and break down our barriers1 that henceforth the same #af may be denominated #bd1 and all at once we shall be in fact as rich as ,england1 without having been so judiciously at work4 ,another advantage that would accrue from that uniformity1 nearly general1 in all prices1 if one would lend an helping hand to ,nature1 after having been convinced of the impossibility of reaping any other benefit from the obstacles thrown in her way1 but the sad advantage of retarding her progress2--another advantage1 ,i say1 that would accrue from that kind of uniformity in prices1 which undergoes no alteration1 but from the wants and demands1 is1 that all that monstrous system of prohibitions or equivalent restrictions1 must crumble of itself3 for1 with what face could a national manufacturer solicit the means and privilege of making his own countrymen pay #aj per cent4 dearer for those goods1 which another nation tenders to them at #aj per cent4 cheaper1 notwithstanding the expence of exportation8 ,what reasons could he urge when1 instead of answering1 a cultivator should rise in the national council1 and ask1 for the exportation of corn1 an absurd premium which would instantly enhance its price #be per cent48--,but the game of imports and exports to which this last observation alludes1 requires to be treated in a separate article which it is not yet time to enter upon2 all we have now to do is to think on the means of giving a free circulation to the revenue of all ,europe1 supposed to be increased in the proportion of #bj to #bb1 on account of the same increase necessary in ,england to pay three millions interest1 without any one being the poorer for it4 ,i shall say nothing of the facility of paper-currency1 when the inutility of a national robbery shall be once generally acknowledged4 ,nineteenthly and lastly1 ,if we are frightened by the necessity of a balance in money1 every where more considerable1 in order to circulate every where1 a revenue increased from #bj to #bb1 to face the indispensable rise in the prices of ,england1 who trades to all parts of the globe2 7when we consider besides1 that ,france and ,england are by the same reason obliged to add to their respective balance already so loaded17 it appears to me1 that1 after a retrospective view of what has passed1 one may readily be convinced1 that whenever money becomes necessary for circulation1 wherever nothing more is required to circulate and balance objects really existing1 and equal to each other1 there are always people enough ready to carry money thither2 and that this operation1 as all those that are beneficial to society1 is generally effected when it is neither counteracted nor encouraged1 without any one perceiving it4--,nevertheless it must be confessed1 that the pretentions set up by ,france1 in regard to a balance1 are as terrible1 as formidable1 as those of ,england1 due regard being paid to the difference between the exports of both2 ,i shall examine these pretensions as ,i have done those of ,england1 and bring them besides closer to each other1 that they may be more properly estimated4 ,the pretended ,balance of ,france in point of ,trade4 ,the ,work of ,mr4 ,necker on the ,french finances1 is in my judgement1 for that nation1 the most precious work that this age has produced2 it is a sword hanging over the head of whoever shall fill up that department during the reign of the present ,king1 and of all those of his successors whom ,god shall bless with a soul like his4 ,that work would still be precious1 though it should serve only to expose the knavery or the incapacity of those who pretended that ,france1 preparing for a war which required the creation of a navy1 without which she could not carry it on1 forced to have recourse to new loans proportionate to such an undertaking1 and weighed down1 as it was said1 by the load of the old taxes imposed for discharging the interest of her former debts1 was again on the eve of laying new imposts1 in spite of herself1 and perhaps of having recourse to those degrading reductions1 so lightly1 yet so often practised before4 ,the first public operation of ,mr4 ,necker 7his ,compte rendu7 inspired every one with the enthusiastic spirit of an unbounded confidence1 wherever nothing was foreseen but the discouragement arising from discredit4 ,he did not create anything1 it is true2 but he dispelled the clouds which had hitherto concealed what really existed2 he restored order where confusion reigned before1 and treated the mechanical part of the finances1 like a merchant willing at all times to have it in his power to compare his undertakings with his means1 his plans with his resources4 ,no other step could be taken at first4 ,i have no kind of connexion with ,mr4 ,necker1 neither direct nor indirect2 nor am ,i bound to him by the ties of friendship1 interest1 or gratitude2 and1 besides1 it is not my intention either to praise1 or to censure2 yet ,i cannot forbear to observe1 that ,mr4 ,necker1 entirely circumscribed by the circumstances of the time1 charged with the triple load of clearing up what was passed1 supplying present wants1 and guarding against future events1 could only loosely survey1 regret1 and prepare1 what a situation so critical did not permit him to undertake4 ,his being displaced1 left him no other advantage than that of informing the public of what he intended to do2 and the manner in which the nation has received the work wherein he recorded his projects1 is at the same time a tribute of the national esteem for the man who planned them1 and a pledge of the national gratitude1 even for any one of his successors1 who should confine himself to carry them into execution4 ,whatever ,i have hitherto said1 whatever may drop from my pen in the sequel1 in contradiction to some of ,mr4 ,necker's opinions1 was written long before the publication of his work1 and in no degree detracts from the solidity of his views4 ,what he devised was perhaps the best that could possibly be imagined in the actual state of things1 and according to the received system3--,but is that system the best8--,i subscribe to his principle concerning the precautions to be taken1 and the slowness of the march necessary even through all the paths that may lead to the best2 but that best1 what is it8 ,france cannot boast of having found it--read the work of ,mr4 ,necker2 ,england cannot boast of having found it--read the debates of both ,houses of ,parliament3--,and do ,i dare to offer my thoughts6--,yes3--two children1 it is said1 found what it was necessary to find1 in order to the discovery of immense bodies of light1 at a distance where nothing was suspected but the limits of creation4--,were my thoughts only plausible1 they ought to be thoroughly investigated2 they concern the ,state1 they concern mankind at large3--if they prove just1 to say that they are impracticable on account of the shackles with which our forefathers have loaded us1 is to say nothing but with regard to the fleeting moment in which ,i speak1 already so far off from us2 but to feel then that we should not add new shackles to those we endure already1 would be a great point gained2 to scrutinise afterwards the ancient opinions1 without exception2 to analyse the principles on which pretended impossibilities are founded2 to expect nothing from seduction or from authority2 to desire nothing but from general conviction2 to spare no pains to make the people sensible of1 and familiar with the truths that might be discovered1 would perhaps be a second step towards that very mark to which we should probably direct our course1 were it not for the pretended impossibility1 the mere supposition of which casts a ridicule upon the very thought of looking up to it4 ,it is upon this plan1 and under this point of view1 that ,i purpose to examine the supposed balance of ,france1 in regard to trade3--and ,i begin by asking1 whether there exists a nation in ,europe1 which1 upon perusing what ,mr4 ,necker says to the present purpose1 and the use made almost generally in ,england of the work of ,sir ,charles ,whitworth1 much more explicit with regard to the balance of ,great ,britain1 would hesitate an instant to break off all commercial connexions with ,england and ,france1 if only one half should prove real in the prejudices of the two nations1 on the object1 which at present seems to determine all the others8 ,i would1 in the next place1 propose1 for examination1 whether those two nations are not indebted to these prejudices1 for the greatest part of their mistakes1 and of the obstacles which they have found1 which they still find1 and which they will ever find1 in the measures that other nations think themselves obliged to adopt1 in order to guard against the effects of those prejudices1 till their fallacy is universally acknowledged1 as well as their insufficiency to produce their boasted effect1 even in favour of those who would obstinately refuse to give them up4 ,every year1 say the prejudices of both nations1 more than seven millions sterling are required for their two terrible balances2--but not above six millions are brought over from ,america3--if ,spain and ,portugal be allowed to come in for one sixth 7indeed it would be but just71 the other parts of ,europe must settle it amongst themselves to find the two millions sterling1 which without that assessment would be deficient in the balances necessary to ,france and ,england4--,whence does ,europe take those two millions8 ,whence have they been taken hitherto8 ,i know not3 but it is a stubborn fact3 you may consult the work of ,mr4 ,necker for the balance of ,france1 and for that of ,england the statements of ,sir ,charles ,whitworth2 the former amounts annually to #gj millions of livres1 about #c millions sterling2 and the latter to #hc1fgh1hahl4 in the space of #bj years1 from #aged to #aggc2 it is1 one year with another1 more than #d1ahj1jjjl4 per annum4 ,but above all1 let it not escape your observation1 what is said in ,france1 that the decline of that ,empire will begin1 when this balance of #gj millions of livres shall begin to decline1 and that it is the opinion in ,england1 that1 were the favourable balance to be below #b or #c millions sterling1 a national bankruptcy must indispensably follow4 ,what is most miraculous 7and indeed consolatory for those who are obliged to think of their elevation1 before they dream of a bankruptcy1 or even of their decline7 is1 that whilst ,france and ,england have received annually1 the one #d1 the other #c millions sterling1 that is to say1 one sixth more than ,america has to share amongst all the ,european nations1 the other countries in ,europe have nevertheless increased their mass of money1 by all that was necessary to keep up their luxury1 and the circulation of a revenue which has almost doubled in the course of a century4 ,these are prodigies which will cease to be so1 even if we admit the facts on which they are founded1 if we take the trouble of adding thereto a few other facts rather less questionable2 and if it be acknowledged at last1 that there are yet others1 concerning which the most expert calculator cannot flatter himself that he shall even come near the truth1 and which give to those who will be at the trouble of reflecting1 all the latitude they may want1 to conclude that the two supposed balances are as inadmissible when subjected to the discussion of reason alone1 as they are afterwards demonstrated to be false1 by facts which cannot be controverted4 ,the quantity of money required for circulation1 depends neither on the speculations of a ,minister of finances1 nor on the blind cupidity of trade1 which1 luckily1 is always counteracted by the clear-sighted cupidity of every trader3 it depends on the quantity of articles to be circulated1 on their price1 and on the method adopted for circulation3--it is evident that less cash is required in ,england than in ,france to circulate the same mass of revenue1 trade1 and transactions of all kinds2 the reasons are obvious3 but the sum wanted for the circulation being once found1 every addition thereto is soon1 notwithstanding all ministerial machinations1 transferred to some hundred leagues distance1 if that surplus should be wanted there3 now1 when this necessary sum for circulation is once ascertained1 we shall see how useless it is to despoil1 how absurd it is to suppose that they do despoil the rest of ,europe of her money1 in order to keep up that circulation4 ,what is the real amount of the cash circulating in ,england8 ,some say #be1 others #cj millions sterling4 ,it is probable that #be millions are sufficient1 with the help of credit and paper-currency1 even in the supposition that ,france should stand in want of #b milliards of livres in hard cash to give circulation to a revenue1 double to that of ,england1 because there is in ,france no paper-money1 and much less credit than would be obtained1 were it not1 too often yet1 so easy to avoid1 by another kind of credit1 the payment of the most lawful debts3 but we must argue from an incontrovertible fact1 and assent1 in their fullest scope1 to the consequences that may be deduced therefrom4 ,the following is the fact3 ,of all the coin circulating in ,england1 #ah months ago there was only a sixth1 and there is now much less than a sixth part1 in pieces struck before the present reign4 ,now1 in #aghj1 it appears that the money coined at the ,mint1 in the present reign1 amounted only to #cj1deg1hjel4 ,it is impossible to suppose1 that in the space of #ah years there should have been carried out of the kingdom1 either to ,ireland1 or in support of the smuggling trade1 or for other purposes1 less than the amount of the coin struck since that period4 ,let us add to the #cj millions coined from the beginning of this reign down to the year #aghj1 the #e millions for the sixth part in old specie remaining of the former reigns 7that sixth supposed1 rather than acknowledged1 to be actually in circulation71 the total will be #ce millions2 to which must be added1 the value of silver plate1 toys1 c4 ,admit1 that all these articles together1 circulation and silver wrought1 amount to #ej millions sterling2--to those who may think that the sum of #ae millions1 at which ,i rate the wrought silver of all kinds1 is too trifling1 ,i would recommend to observe1 first1 that these #ae millions constitute nearly the tenth part of the general revenue1 both of the land and industry2 secondly1 that the third part of that revenue belongs to the peasants and mechanics1 who have no such costly furniture2 and thirdly1 that as to the rest of the nation1 if there exist a man who possesses the equivalent of one half of his revenue in plate1 there are scores who are not possessed of so much as one tenth part4--,shall it be insisted upon1 however1 that1 by adding the amount of plate and the mass in circulation to that which must correspond with the demands that may be made upon the ,bank1 the whole amounts to #fj millions sterling8--,be it so2--but ,england was certainly in possession of #bj millions at least1 in cash and wrought silver1 before the time at which ,sir ,charles ,whitworth began his ,statements2 for there existed then much less credit1 and no paper to answer the purposes of cash3--forty millions1 then1 constitute the whole of what ,england chose 7,i call it strictly a choice7 to reserve1 out of so many millions imported from ,america1 which really went through her hands1 in the space of #ij years4--,i am fully persuaded that ,i could meet with some thousands of persons1 even in ,england1 who1 from the sketch ,i have given1 would think that ,i make a present to ,england of #aj millions4 ,it matters not1 ,i shall be equally generous in regard to ,france1 whose accounts ,i am about to lay open2 and yet ,i shall have gold and silver enough left to extend my liberality all over ,europe4 ,mr4 ,necker has but two reasons to suppose that there exists in the ,french circulation a sum of #b1bjj1jjj1jjj livres tournois4 ,the first is the indubitable fact1 that since1 and including the general re-coining of the ,french specie in #agbf to #aghc1 there have been struck1 in the different mints of that kingdom1 #b1ejj1jjj1jjj of the same specie 7the only one that is current in that country37 and1 in the next place1 the very questionable fact1 that ,france has preserved the whole1 except #c or #djj millions tournois1 which may have passed into foreign hands1 from the quantity of ,french specie which must have been carried abroad1 to answer her commercial and political purposes4 ,say only #bjjj millions of livres in the ,french circulation1 that ,i may not be troubled with #ajj millions1 which can neither weaken nor strengthen my reasonings4 ,when that general re-coinage of the year #agbf took place in ,france1 there must have existed1 at that time1 #ajjj millions tournois1 to impart a proper circulation to a revenue1 which1 we may suppose1 was less by one half than what it is at this time4 ,france1 therefore1 had occasion to increase her specie1 only by the additional thousand of millions1 of which she is now in possession1 even upon a supposition that she has now #bjjj millions2 and this want has been supplied in the space of #eg years1 at the rate of #ah millions only1 one year with another4 ,let it be granted1 now1 that the annual wants1 the personal wants of ,france1 in articles of luxury1 plate1 gold and silver lace1 trinkets1 c4 amounted to #g millions tournois1 upon an average1 in the course of the above #eg years4--,by adding thereto the #ah millions ,i have spoken of1 ,i can find but #be millions overplus1 one year with another1 saved by ,france upon all the treasures of ,america1 which certainly must have passed through her hands from #agbf to #aghc4 ,the reader must be sensible1 that there is no occasion to speak of the sums annually exported to ,india1 it matters not by whom2 they no longer exist for ,europe2 and ,i have proved nothing hitherto1 if it be still doubted that ,europe has lost nothing in that respect but the trifling advance in her prices1 which #ajj or #aej thousand pounds sterling1 added annually to her general specie1 would have given to all the productions1 both of agriculture and industry4 ,the return of those #aej1jjjl4 in ,india goods has produced yearly to ,europe all the labour necessary to repay them2 for it must be observed1 that labour pays every thing1 and that nothing is paid but by labour4 ,the #aej1jjjl4 exported to ,india1 are not lost therefore1 as to their essential effect1 as would be the case of sums laid up in the coffers of a ,sovereign1 who might be unacquainted1 even at this day1 with what was known to ,queen ,elizabeth above #bjj years ago1 that the ,prince's treasures are well placed no where1 but in the hands of his subjects1 that is1 of such amongst his subjects who do not lock them up in their own chests4 ,i join together the two balances of ,france and ,england1 which probably fall much below1 and which cannot be above1 what ,i have stated them to be2 and ,i see that those two formidable bugbears1 after having annually devoured1 according to their own account1 #g millions sterling1 have1 in the end1 and very fortunately too1 only digested something less than #b millions1 viz4 the bugbear of ,france1 #ab or #acjj thousand pounds sterling2 and the bugbear of ,england1 about #e1 #f1 or #gjj thousand4 ,thank ,heaven then1 there remains1 after ,england and ,france have been fully saturated1 7including the general exportation to ,india7 about #d millions sterling1 which the other ,states of ,europe have received1 one year with another1 partly in plate1 partly in gold and silver-lace1 partly in ingots1 partly in guineas1 and partly in louis-d'ors1 of which those who gave them still think themselves in possession1 and which those who received them do not think they possess4 ,but1 it will be said1 the louis d'ors1 which are spent in ,germany during a war1 revert to ,france soon after a peace2 the plenty in which they flow back1 is known to every one who has the least concern in trade4--,no doubt of it2 when the ,german circulation is overloaded1 it must re-flow where it is beneath its level3 the coin carried by the ,french into ,germany1 in the time of war1 was then indispensable there to supply the wants of those who carried the money into that country1 and to increase the means of the ordinary circulation1 an increase occasioned by a circumstance that tertiated the price of every thing4 ,the circumstance subsiding1 every thing takes its usual course2 prices are reduced2 the greatest part of the money which had been carried there1 becomes useless on account of that reduction3--it is sent back2 and why is it taken then by ,france8 ,because it is become necessary there2--for you must observe1 that the money in question was useless in ,france1 as soon as it was wanted in ,germany4--,during the war the commerce of ,france was at a stand2 her granaries overstocked with corn1 her cellars with wine1 her warehouses with goods1 waited only for peace1 to set a value on that corn1 that wine1 those goods1 and of course1 on that idol ,money1 which1 during the war1 could not1 in regard to the ,french1 be of any value1 but on the very spot where the ,french had themselves carried it4 ,observe1 above all1 that ,england1 who pretends to have the largest balance in money1 is the very nation who1 with respect to the extensiveness of her commerce and the mass of her industry1 keeps the least part of that balance at home1 and constantly preserves as little of it1 as if she had been no less convinced than ,i am myself1 of the futility of any other balance in bullion1 but that which is necessary for the five articles above mentioned4 ,what results now from the reduction of those two frightful colossi to their proper dimensions8 ,it results1 ,first1 that every system of balance1 founded on the supposition which served as a basis to the two balances ,i have spoken of1 is as chimerical1 as it would be pernicious to the nation who should regulate herself by it1 and to such other nations as might be unfortunate enough to correspond with her3 ,secondly1 ,that the private interest of every merchant always militates1 in this respect1 against the pernicious dreams of trade in general3 ,thirdly1 ,that the case between nation and nation trading together1 is similar to that which subsists between citizen and citizen2 as there is but one way for a man to prevent the last penny of his wealth from being useful to some other member of his community2 and that way is1 to bury under ground 7as soon as he has received it7 that last penny1 the utility of which he grudges to share with other men3 in like manner1 a nation can no otherwise prevent the surplus of her money being carried into another country when this latter is in want of it1 than by burying her balance as soon as she has received it3 ,fourthly1 ,that the superiority of industry1 activity1 and capitals1 in a nation1 gives her no other advantage1 than that of supplying those countries with which she trades1 with further means of increasing their own industry and activity3 ,now1 ,fifthly1 ,the more you increase industry and activity amongst other nations1 the more you increase their want of those signs which are to represent the products2 the more you increase their want of those signs which you long to possess exclusively1 if it were possible3 ,therefore1 ,sixthly1 ,if it be true1 that money ought to be the only aim of commerce and exportation1 all the favourite ideas on the pretended balance1 being entirely destroyed by facts1 even at the time when the world was more fully persuaded of the truth of those ideas1 and of the wisdom of the measures which were to have perpetuated that balance1 it would be necessary henceforth to resolve to hide money under ground1 as fast as it comes in4--,would it not be better to question the principle itself1 and seek for fresh information on the utility as well as the object of exportation8 ,exportations and ,importations considered as a ,game4 ,such a ,game is as rational as any other1 to whosoever will not content himself with playing at ,cards1 or with his own ,thoughts4 ,a world of unanswerable arguments start up at once1 tending to demonstrate the superiority of civilization over the wild state of nature4 ,yet1 methinks1 a savage may overturn them all by these few words3 ,i know nothing of what you say1 and ,i am not inquisitive4--,i readily confess at least1 that ,i do not see what reply can be made to such an answer1 more than ,i did with regard to the four questions put in the ,upper ,house to the manufacturer of whom ,i have spoken2 yet this manufacturer was not stronger in argument on all that was foreign to the essential point of the four questions1 than ,i might be to convince my savage of that delight1 which a man fully persuaded of the excellence of his own conceits1 and of the happiness there is in making them known to all the world1 feels1 without allay1 without interruption1 in staining some reams of paper1 scribbling sometimes an hypothesis1 sometimes a comedy1 a romance1 a ballad1 c42 for it is very true1 that the work ,i now lay before the public1 has1 in the space of #ab or #ae years1 undergone all those metamorphoses in my hands1 and that during that time my heart rankled with the ambition of being read in antichambers1 given for premiums in colleges1 tolerated in nunneries1 mentioned in the boudoirs of the fair1 noticed in the memory of ,ministers1 revolved in the hearts of ,sovereigns1 and every day sung about the streets and in cottages1 through which all princes must sometimes pass1 if they wish to discover some decisive difference between the interesting illusions of humanity and the deep speculations of politics4 ,yet with all that stock of words1 if not of reasons1 that ,i must have acquired beforehand1 to justify1 in some measure1 the extravagance of such an ambition1 ,i own that ,i should be confounded by the answer of my savage4--,but this could not be the case1 if a civilised man1 after having convinced me1 that the advantage of commerce between man and man1 as well as between nation and nation1 consists in supplying each other's wants1 when it is possible to effect it by an exchange of surplusses1 would next undertake to prove to me1 that the advantage of a ,state1 which is nothing else but a nation1 an aggregation of men1 consists in keeping as much as possible of that money which they have in too great abundance1 though the inevitable consequence would be1 that they would procure to themselves so much less of some article in which they might be deficient1 but which it would at the same time be very convenient to them to possess4--,it is hard that the compendium of prohibitions1 restrictions1 c4 so much commended1 and which have kept so many great men so long on the watch1 dwindles finally into the assertion of the two contradictory propositions which ,i have just now dated4 ,two articles are necessary and sufficient to man--bread and water2 let not meat be called in as a third2 it is too well known1 that three fourths of ,europe seldom eat any1 and doubtless no one will contend that three fourths of a whole are less valuable than the fourth remaining1 in the eyes of ,him who created that whole1 and who probably takes some concern in its preservation4 ,exchanges of any other articles besides bread and water1 are therefore1 strictly speaking1 exchanges of mere superfluities4 ,now1 what inconvenience can there be in bartering one superfluity against another8 ,i shall first of all1 display in their full force1 the most solid reasonings that can possibly be adduced1 in order to demonstrate1 that the choice and price of all superfluities must be left to the discretion of one set of men only4 ,the chymist is not to blame if he can extract nothing but a fetid oil from the matter which he undertakes to decompound4 ,that set of men1 as estimable1 as worthy as any in the world1 will perhaps wonder when they see the analysis of those ideas1 which1 probably1 they never submitted but to a superficial examination4 ,prohibitory ,laws against ,exportation4 ,query4 ,why do you solicit a prohibitory law against the exporting of such an article of national product8 ,answer4 ,that ,i may get it cheaper4 ,q4 ,can you buy it cheaper1 without wronging the man who might sell it dearer8 ,a4 ,no4 ,q4 ,as it is impossible to prove that such a conduct is equitable1 how will you be able to prove it to be advantageous to the ,state8 ,a4 ,it is advantageous to the ,state1 that all its internal productions should receive at home1 all such forms and preparations as may increase their value4 ,q4 ,is the quantity of productions useful to the ,state8 ,a4 ,the question is almost ridiculous4 ,q4 ,if the productor be discouraged by the low price set upon his productions1 and take proper measures to produce less1 in order to save the expence attending a greater production1 and in the mean time to gain by producing less as much as he could gain by producing more1 will you not then be guilty of having wronged the ,state of all the productions which you crush in the very bud1 by the prohibition you sue for8 ,a4 ,no2 ,smuggling will give to the parties injured by the prohibitory law1 a fully sufficient means of extricating themselves4 ,q4 ,your hopes then are1 that ,smuggling will make up for the injuries you propose to do to the productors2 but how will you compensate to the ,state for the loss it sustains by a clandestine exportation8 ,a4 ,our only business is to mind our own interest2 besides1 the ,state may easily procure1 by means of a land-tax1 what it may lose by the clandestine exportation3 and we are so far from expecting that ,smuggling should turn out to our advantage1 that we petition it may be made a capital offence1 and prohibited under pain of mutilation1 the galleys1 or at least the entire ruin of the smuggler4 ,q4 ,but the law will either succeed1 or fail in its effect4 ,if the law succeed1 will you not be the author of that diminution of the products1 which the low price you intend to set upon those products must unavoidably occasion8 ,and if the law fail in its effect1 do you not uselessly deprive the ,state1 #ast1 of the produce of the smuggler's labour1 whom you hope to see hanged1 or at best1 mutilated2 and1 #b;dly1 of the produce of that labour which would have been performed by that army1 partly composed of rogues1 partly of idle fellows1 now to be set upon the watch to detect and apprehend the smuggler1 keep him in close confinement1 and lead him finally to the gallows1 or to the galleys8--,who is to pay those rogues and idle fellows8 ,a4 ,the ,state1 to be sure4 ,q4 ,what are the essential parts of the ,state8 ,a4 ,industry that goes in search of money1 and ,agriculture in as much as she feeds ,industry at the cheapest rate4 ,agriculture1 impoverished by your prohibitory law1 will then lose1 not only what she should get by being at liberty to export1 but also what she must find to assist you in procuring her impoverishment1 by paying the land-tax necessary to pay those very rogues and idle fellows1 whose business it is to destroy her only remaining resource against your cupidity--,,smuggling4 ,prohibitory ,laws against1 or excessive ,duties imposed upon ,importation4 ,q4 ,why do you petition against the liberty of importing such or such another article8 ,a4 ,because we manufacture it1 and wish to sell it dearer to the national consumers4 ,q4 ,of how many orders of men is the class of national consumers composed8 ,a4 ,of two1 the land proprietor1 and all persons not wholly destitute of money4 ,q4 ,that is to say1 in all cases1 of the whole kingdom1 against the small number of individuals who humbly petition for the prohibition of an article2--be it so4 ,have you devised any means to increase in the consumer the ability of purchasing1 whilst you advance the price of your goods8 ,a4 ,not we2--on the contrary1 it is our intention to have as much as we can of his commodities and money1 for as little of our goods as possible4 ,q4 ,how can men of probity and knowledge be blind to the iniquity of such a scheme8--,will not at least its execution be somewhat impeded by the greatest part of those who follow the same trade8 ,a4 ,no--that is impossible3 our corporations have already provided against the inconvenience you allude to3 not one of their members would dare to sell his merchandise below the price fixed by his corporation3 and we have made1 as it were1 the impossibility of any such measure1 doubly so1 by the difficulties we have devised to prevent a ready admittance into our corporations2 all our bye-laws tend to reduce our associates to the smallest number possible4 ,but one single expedient is now wanted to put the finishing hand to that grand work2 it is the absolute prohibition of importing all those commodities which foreign nations might offer at a cheaper rate1 than we are determined to sell them at4 ,q4 ,so then1 if you succeed in your plan--if by means of the solicited prohibition1 the legislature enable you to extort1 with your #af in merchandise1 the goods and money1 which1 in the case of a foreign competition1 you could not have procured with less than #bj1 what do you intend to do with the remaining part of what you shall have extorted8 ,a4 ,we shall send it abroad4 ,q4 ,with what view8 ,a4 ,of increasing the balance in money4 ,q4 ,have you hitherto acted confidently with that idea8 ,a4 ,we have--and it is known to all the world that it is the dearest idea of an ,englishman--an idea which the nation holds 7if properly attended to7 as the only bulwark against a national bankruptcy4 ,q4 ,what have you got by that idea1 if it be probable that there is not above #be or #cj millions in specie within the kingdom1 and if it be proved evidently that it is impossible you should have more than #ce8 ,a4 ,the reason is1 no doubt1 that foreign importation has been too freely permitted2 a criminal1 a traiterous indulgence which we are incessantly at work to remove3 and it is on that account1 that besides the absolute prohibition we now pray for in regard to such and such articles1 we also petition that the duties be laid double and treble on all other foreign articles which are not yet totally prohibited4 ,q4 ,do you not fear that foreigners1 whose merchandise you would cause to be prohibited1 should play the same trick with yours8 ,do you not fear that those on whose goods you mean to increase the duties1 should in their turn overload those which they will receive from you8--,for this is all the conjuration requisite to counteract and balance the effect of those sublime regulations which you petition for4 ,a4 ,we shall carry on a smuggling trade in their country1 and they will pay dearer for our goods2 they cannot do without them4 ,q4 ,they will1 no doubt1 follow your example3 therefore new recruits will be wanted for that army of rogues and idlers1 designed to lay hold of1 and ruin whoever should dare to oppose your ransoming the owners of lands1 and proprietors of some money2 but be it so3--you will besides be equally successful in obliging the poor ransomed individuals1 to pay for the additional and necessary reinforcement of your standing army of rogues and idlers1 and for those light troops of informers so well fitted for the noble purpose you are carrying on2--be it so again4--,but1 after all1 what are you to do with that immense balance in money8--,shall you bury it under ground8 ,a4 ,aye--and with all our hearts and souls1 if1 when thus buried1 it could bring to us the same benefit as when it is rendered useful to some one else2 but alas6 that secret is not yet found out3 it might be possible1 however1 to pray for an ,act of ,parliament1 compelling the nation to pay the interest of all the sums thus interred by us2 and the wisdom of such an ,act would be the more conspicuous1 as it would keep within the reach1 under the very hand of the nation1 all the money she might have occasion for1 whenever she should think it expedient to declare war against ,france1 our natural enemy4 ,till such an ,act is framed1 we shall follow the example of ,holland2 we shall keep on the carrying trade1 by which the ,dutch have gained so much money notwithstanding our ,navigation ,act1 which we fondly hoped was calculated to effect their ruin3 we shall carry from ,russia to ,sicily1 from ,constantinople to ,poland1 from ,stockholm to ,cadiz1 from ,lisbon to ,venice1 whatever may be carried from one place to the other1 and this we shall do at the lowest prices1 in order to get the preference of the ,dutch4 ,it is a great pity that this cannot be effected without benefiting the land-owners1 and the proprietors of some money1 in all the countries where we may stand in competition for that carrying trade1 not only with the ,dutch1 but with all the national monopolists who shall not have as yet been dexterous enough to force from their legislature1 laws as favourable to commerce as those we have obtained2 but in fact1 what matters it to us whom we serve1 provided we get a good profit from the service8 ,q4 ,will you add further3 ,and provided also that the service done1 falls not on the land-owner1 or on the proprietor of some money within your nation8--,yet thus far would you finally be led by that system of prohibitions and restrictions1 almost equally extravagant1 to which you are so devoutly attached4--,but such a plan can succeed only to a certain degree3 be pleased to observe1 that hitherto you can boast of no other advantage but that of the first attack4--,sole and absolute arbiters as you are of your own prices by the monopoly you have obtained1 if agriculture had not advanced those of her products in the same proportion1 would not your land-owners be compelled to seek abroad for a country where monopoly should not be so obligingly countenanced8 ,for you do not1 ,i presume1 flatter yourselves that you shall be able to induce your ,parliament1 in the age we live in1 doubly to tax the property of those who might look abroad for a remedy against your extortions3--the many laws of that kind consigned to your annals1 7and which you would not fail to quote as a precedent17 must seek in the ignorance and barbarity of the age that gave them birth1 an apology for their establishment2 but at this present time6--,such shades in the picture of the ,land of ,liberty1 instead of setting off the beauties of its other parts1 would annihilate the very idea of that liberty4 ,it is by justice and freedom that we are attracted and retained2 it is by injustice and restraint that we are expelled1 and kept at a distance4 ,be pleased then1 in fine1 to observe that nothing can result from those plans1 the iniquity of which you have no more searched into than you have thoroughly examined their consequences1--from those prohibitions and restrictions1 the effects of which must be counterbalanced by contradictory regulations1--except the pitiful advantage of having perverted the nature of the prices on every article4 ,what is necessary to counteract the effect of an injury done to the generality1 will always mechanically be brought about by that very generality4 ,would it not be more advantageous for men1 to agree amongst themselves1 like intelligent beings1 on some plans accounted equitable by all1--on plans the analysis of which the projector might bear without a blush8--,were a few points agreed upon1 it would not perhaps be difficult to settle all the others4 ,let the dead bodies be wrapped up in woollen instead of linen cloth2 linen coming from abroad1 wool being a staple commodity1 and the dead caring little whether their winding-sheet be made of woollen or linen3 it is a point of economy which it would be rather too severe to condemn1 although it is probable enough that in the ,north they would exchange with pleasure1 for your buried woollen1 linen cloth in sufficient quantity to wrap up your dead2 a circumstance which might prove very beneficial to some of the living1 both in ,england and ,silesia4 ,but will you attempt to persuade1 that it is advantageous to the ,state1 under any aspect1 to compel a man who calls himself free1 to wear manufactured buttons1 when his inclination would lead him to have them made of remnants of stuff8 ,will you attempt to persuade1 that it is advantageous to the ,state1 to make him pay a penalty of #c or #d pounds1 besides cost1 if he is surprised flagrante delicto8 ,will you attempt to persuade1 that it is advantageous to the ,state1 to encourage the infamous trade of informing1 by a reward in favour of an informer1 against a man guilty of such a crime8 ,will you attempt to persuade1 that it is advantageous to the ,state1 to withdraw from their useful occupations a swarm of fellows1 become capable of any dirty work1 by having turned informers on account of the stipulated recompense1 and who1 waiting for an opportunity of doing worse1 leave their work-shops as soon as such a law is passed1 in search of a prey the seisure of which will enable them to live in riot and intoxication for a whole week together1 without being obliged to return to their work8 ,this is not all2 for1 in fine1 if all the branches of industry have the same right to the protection of ,government1 does not a law1 the immediate effect of which is to enhance the price of buttons by occasioning a greater demand for that article1 destroy all idea of that protection equally due to the other branches of industry1 by infallibly depriving some of them1 both of the amount of the cash they might have received from those who will now be forced1 against their inclination1 to purchase manufactured buttons1 and of the amount of cash which the advanced price of manufactured buttons1 will unjustly wrest from those who1 by the effect of the law1 are obliged to pay dearer for what they might have procured at a cheaper rate8 ,would not the least facility granted for the importation of some foreign merchandise1 have occasioned abroad a greater consumption1 either of buttons1 or of some other ,english goods1 than such a law can procure at home in the manufactory unjustly favoured8 ,but1 above all1 will you attempt to persuade1 that it is advantageous for the ,state1 to acquire a thousand more button-makers1 when that acquisition is obtained by the loss of a thousand artificers employed in manufacturing some other articles1 the consumption of which would have been free1 that is1 analogous to the situation of those who boast of their being so8 ,let us seek for such points1 as it may be possible to agree upon4 ,the ,state is composed of three orders of men1 all equally precious1 and whose rights are equally sacred2 viz4 the landed capitalist1 the capitalist of industry1 and the proprietor of money1 whether he be considered as a capitalist in this last respect1 or only as a dependent on either of the two former capitalists4 ,each of these three orders has its interest4 ,first1 ,it is the highest interest of the landed capitalist1 that there be the greatest plenty and variety of the best products of industry1 and the greatest consumption of the productions of the earth4 ,secondly1 ,it is the highest interest of the capitalist of industry1 that there be the greatest plenty and variety of the best productions of the earth1 and the greatest consumption of the products of industry4 ,thirdly1 ,it is the highest interest of the money proprietor1 that there be the largest quantity and variety of the best products both of industry and agriculture1 in order that he may be able to support the value of his capital by the quantity of objects on which he will have it in his power to lay it out1 and the value of his interest by the greatest possible consumption1 not at the lowest price1 which1 supposed lasting1 is as chimerical as the pretended balance1 constantly favourable1 but at the most equitable rate1 that is to say1 the highest the seller can hope for1 and the lowest to which the purchaser can pretend4 ,but if it be true1 that the combined interest of the three orders be centered within the three points ,i have stated1 namely1 the greatest possible quantity and variety of the best productions of the earth1 the greatest quantity and variety of the best products of industry1 and the greatest as well as most unconfined consumption of both at an equitable price2 it is equally true1 that it must be a matter of perfect indifference to agriculture1 in what part of the world1 and by whom her productions are consumed1 provided they be paid to her in any products whatever1 at her option equivalent to those she has parted with4 ,it is no less true1 that it is a matter of perfect indifference to industry1 in what part of the world1 and by whom1 her products are consumed1 provided she be paid for them in any products whatever1 at her option1 equivalent to those she gives4 ,it is equally true1 that the money-proprietor must view1 with the same indifference1 his property giving life to this or that branch of industry or agriculture1 provided1 that in the hour of need or fancy1 he finds at hand1 on the most equitable terms1 the greatest quantity and variety of the best products of agriculture and industry1 which the interest of his money1 or the amount of the salaries he enjoys1 gives him ,a ,,right to expect4 ,there remains1 it is true1 a fourth interest1 that of the ,fisc1 or public revenue2 but if this revenue be nothing more than the produce of the taxes1 this fourth interest consists of course1 as the three former1 in the largest quantity of products1 and the greatest consumption4 ,now are there any other means to obtain those two objects1 besides the freest and most extensive exchange1 not of goods for money1 but of goods for goods8 ,is it not perceivable1 that all the four interests united1 as well as each of them separately1 require that no more be imported in bullion or money than the quantity necessary to facilitate those exchanges8 ,is not a surplus of money not only useless1 but even detrimental1 in diminishing our enjoyments1 our possible profits1 and that consumption which produces the public revenue8 ,the ,navigation ,act was1 if you will have it so1 the last effort of the human mind1 at a time when every notion relative to commerce1 was nearly confined to ,england alone2 but ,i question much whether the ,opposition the most warm in invoking that tutelary ,god1 against the ,minister who dares to offer the least encroachment upon its worship1 would not be very much pleased to see it destroyed before they themselves should come into office3 it is an old idol1 to which incense is offered through mere policy1 and for which a veneration is kept up in the minds of the people1 for the sole purpose of making it subservient to the downfall of the man who might be courageous enough to attempt its destruction4 ,i shall pass over in silence the obstacles which that famous ,act daily opposes to regulations as well adapted to the present state of things1 as those it contains were to the circumstances that gave it birth2 but1 to the intoxication produced by its success1 ,i shall be bold enough to impute one of the most mistaken notions on the true aim of national commerce3 it is a very fatal error1 to imagine that money ought to be the object of those operations of which it is only the means4 ,this chimera1 it is true1 has never been realised2 the wisdom of private cupidities has always triumphed over the folly of general cupidity3 nothing more clear than the exactness with which the treasures of ,america have been shared amongst all the nations of ,europe1 each in proportion to her agriculture and her industry1 that is1 according to her wants3 at least it appears to me1 that the two balances of ,england and ,france1 which ,i have produced1 are incontrovertible proofs of what ,i here advance1 though they have been imagined and received as proofs of the very contrary2 nevertheless1 the prejudice concerning these two formidable balances still subsists1 and it is this prejudice which daily gives life to new prohibitions1 and new restrictions3 there is not perhaps in all ,europe1 a single modern regulation of that kind which does not owe its establishment to this prejudice1 and to the power it derives from the veneration paid to it in the place where it was first conceived4 ,the nation who takes the lead in point of commercial knowledge1 is every where carefully watched4 ,on the least of her operations1 other nations make use of the light she has held forth2 her principles are studied1 her maxims adopted1 her examples followed2 every where they are on their guard against her pretensions1 pretensions openly avowed1 prosecuted without mystery1 and crowned1 as it is supposed1 with success2 and when they see1 that within the course of a twelvemonth1 she has really received more gold and silver than she was wont to receive in three years2 when they see the intoxication of her inhabitants on the arrival of those treasures which obey her call from all parts of ,europe2 when they hear the complaints of her news-paper writers against the untractableness of the ,americans1 in not suffering themselves to be entirely stripped of their specie2 when they attend to her invectives on the combinations of the ,american merchants to prevent those of ,england from taking away that trifling sum in specie which the ,united ,states want1 to give more consistency to their paper-money2--then1 indeed1 then it is possible to forget every thing else2 it is possible not to remark1 that1 with the same excess of avowed cupidity1 ,england1 nevertheless1 has not received1 in the course of a whole century1 7a period sufficient to determine an experiment7 ,england1 ,i say1 during a whole century1 has disdained to receive her dividend of the treasures imported into ,europe2 the paper-money circulating in ,england stands evidently in lieu of a great part of the sum it represents1 and which it was at her own option to procure4 ,it is also very pardonable not to reflect then1 that it is impossible for ,england to keep long in her hands without hurting herself1 more than any other nation1 any money above what is necessary for her4 ,no one takes the trouble of arguing long on causes1 when the effect is instantaneously and powerfully felt3 ,not ,europe alone1 but the ,united ,states of ,america1 are stript of their money by ,england2 ,england therefore wants not any longer to import foreign goods1 or when she advances the price of her own merchandise1 she refuses paying dearer for that of other nations4 ,the other nations do not hesitate--,english goods are instantly prohibited4 ,the following principles are such as1 ,i think1 can never mislead4 ,there is not a single nation that cannot boast some palpable advantage over another2 nay1 there is not a nation1 a single province1 that has not received some peculiar favour from nature1 which the same soil to all appearance1 the same temperature1 the same exposure1 refuse to yield any where else but with double the labour1 and double the expence1 and which1 even with such additional aids1 they yield at last only in a state of degradation4 ,now1 that portion of such peculiar favours1 which the proprietor of the land does not chuse to consume1 belongs only to the greatest quantity of other favours that it is possible to procure in exchange4 ,the more the proprietor procures of such other favours in exchange1 the more is he encouraged to increase the quantity of articles which have enabled him to procure those favours2 on the contrary1 the more he is restrained with regard to those exchanges which he might procure1 the more he is circumscribed1 even in his means of production4 ,every restriction therefore tending to diminish either the production or the price of any article whatever1 is a theft committed upon the proprietor of the land1 upon the province blessed with that favour which is peculiar to it1 upon the nation whose general revenue is decreased by the whole amount of the productions stifled in the very bud1 upon the exchequer of that nation which would receive a duty on those productions2 and finally upon every one capable of presenting the nation with another exchangeable commodity1 or waiting only to see those productions1 in order to create an equivalent to pay for them4--,does it signify in what part of the world8 ,must it not1 at last1 reach the original proprietor1 if he be not paid8 ,what is said of the productions of agriculture1 may be applied to those of industry4 ,it is a gross mistake to imagine1 that all things can be equally well manufactured every where3 how many fabrics1 the perfection of which depends on the quality of the water1 and other local causes for which it is impossible to account6 ,how many more derive their perfection from the bent of national genius1 from the general dispositions1 the natural qualities of the inhabitants6 ,can we expect from the vivacity of the ,frenchman1 who desires only to consume1 what we may expect from the patience of the ,englishman1 who labours only to enjoy8 ,this latter will always1 and in spite of himself1 give to his work a solidity which will increase its price as well as its value2 the other1 in spite of himself1 will be busy about the forms best calculated to procure a quick sale3 objects of real comfort will always belong to the former1 the latter will ever lead the fashions4 ,to hope that the one will produce1 without difficulty1 what costs little or nothing to the other1 would be attempting to give to the wines of hot countries the pleasing acidity proper to the wines of ,germany2 to these1 the restorative and balsamic qualities of the ,spanish and ,italian wines in the places where they understand how to make them2 to the wines of ,italy and ,germany1 that native generosity proper to the wine of ,bordeaux2 to all of them1 the flavour of ,burgundy and the sprightliness of ,champaign4 ,it is possible1 say they1 to imitate every thing2--say rather1 to adulterate1 to corrupt1 nay even to poison every thing1 if ,art can find no other way to counterfeit ,nature3 and these are the blessed effects of restrictions and prohibitions4 ,it is a strange idea1 to think of doing without others2 as if that did not lead them to think of doing without us2 as if the savage1 of whom ,i have spoken1 had not the same reason to prefer his state to that of civilisation4 ,nor would it be less strange to persist in setting the interest of the people in opposition to that of the ,exchequer1 if it were possible to reconcile them together1 instead of rendering1 almost on every object at present1 the infamous trade of informers more lucrative than labour4 ,smuggling is hurtful to the ,state2 it deprives government of the duties on the articles smuggled into or out of the kingdom2 but is it so very advantageous to succeed in the measures adopted to prevent it1 if by bartering a great number of honest smugglers against a great number of informers and a great number of custom-house imps1 you make so many thieves of the first1 so many much more contemptible wretches of the second1 a rabble almost equally vile as the third2 and succeed1 at the same time1 in debasing in the hands of several manufacturers and landed proprietors1 the value of all those articles1 which were before taken from them by the smugglers to their mutual benefit8 ,england1 it is true1 suffered no damage1 when a prodigious quantity of ,english goods1 which are not comprehended in the modest balance with ,france1 as stated by ,sir ,charles ,whitworth1 because they were introduced into ,france by smugglers1 were sold nevertheless1 without much ado1 all over that kingdom1 and particularly in ,paris1 publicly advertised on the shop-boards1 in large gold letters2--but had not ,france some reason to think herself ill used1 when an equal quantity of ,french goods1 introduced also by smugglers into ,england1 without any information given to ,sir ,charles1 ceased to pay the value of the goods smuggled from ,england1 and sold publicly all over ,france1 and when1 instead of a small balance1 sometimes given1 sometimes received1 ,france found herself obliged to remit to ,london an enormous sum in hard cash1 for payments which she had hitherto discharged in merchandise8 ,it is a pitiful policy on the part of ,france1 7as remarked very justly in all the ,english papers after the first of ,august1 #aghe7 to deprive herself of a thousand ,english luxuries which she is so fond of1 and which she is so able to procure2--but is ,english policy much better1 in rejecting thousands of ,french luxuries1 which she finds so pleasing1 and which she is so able to pay for8 ,smuggling is but a very poor corrective1 a partial corrective1 of the iniquity ever attendant on ,monopoly2--a feeble compensation for the restrictions and prohibitions obtained in its favour3 ,smuggling1 duly considered in this light1 is but too just2 and it is shocking to be obliged to punish so barbarously the unhappy men who gain a living by it4 ,but will not this necessity be removed1 together with smuggling itself1 at the very moment that to those absurd regulations which encourage that practice1 shall be substituted a system of bartering1 equally advantageous to the nations which now find a benefit in smuggling8--a system1 which would mutually furnish to all parties interested1 all the means of introducing and procuring1 in the best condition1 at the cheapest rate1 with the least risk1 and with the greatest advantage to the ,treasury1 every article which before was introduced and procured at a greater risk1 almost always dearer1 of the worst quality1 and to the detriment of the public revenue4 ,let me ask whether that mass of prohibitions and restrictions1 which legally establishes monopoly in ,england1 be any thing more than a mass of privileges granted to a chosen few1 to the prejudice of the whole community8 ,were we to look at every particular regulation1 and consider it distinctly1 is there one which would not find the whole nation against it1 except the humble ,petitioners who share in the benefit8 ,and must it not be very strange to imagine1 very absurd to say1 and above human power to effect1 that a system of regulations1 not one of which favours above one man against thousands1 should1 upon the whole1 be serviceable to the ,state8 ,independent of the advantages which would arise from a truly free and judicious system of commerce1 viz4 #ast1 ,that of procuring what we have not1 by means of some article which we have in abundance1 and which our neighbours want2--#b;dly1 ,the bartering of the superfluity of our best articles in one kind1 for the superfluity of what is best in a different kind2--#c;dly1 ,not to barter what we can make cheaper than others1 except for goods which would cost us more were we to manufacture them2--independent1 ,i say1 of these three1 advantages1 where would be the inconvenience1 though our bartering should be confined merely to the innocent folly of exchanging one toy for another1 or one rag for another8 ,the great1 the true1 the only advantage1 of an exchange of property1 would not even in this case be lost to mankind2 the man who is employed only in marking the game1 while two persons are amusing themselves1 whole days1 in tossing a ball from one to the other in a tennis-court1 is nevertheless supported at the expence of the players4 ,and are not the owner of the court1 his wife and children1 maintained likewise at their cost8 ,if1 having considered the ,exchequer metaphorically1 under the type of the ,keeper of the ,tennis ,court1 we afterwards1 without a metaphor1 consider this ,keeper as a poor man who chooses this way of subsistence1 do not the players pay this tax 7which they impose on themselves7 in favour of the poor1 with more pleasure1 though the tax may be greater1 than a certain other tax1 which perhaps becomes necessary1 only from the difficulties with which we embarrass both the game of passing from one parish to another1 and the game of imports and exports1 which is as innocent1 and more lucrative than that of tennis8 ,the nominal ,value of the generality of ,exports1 considered in different ,periods1 and with respect to its ,effect on foreign ,correspondence4 ,when a manufacturer is compelled1 by the general augmentation of prices1 arising from taxation1 to pay his workmen and materials ten per cent4 ,i suppose1 dearer than usual1 and he exports #ajjj hats1 upon each of which a draw-back of #f shillings1 ,i will suppose1 is allowed him on exportation1 he does not reflect on the difference of #aj per cent4 diffused through the general run of prices1 by the mechanical reaction of the total of the taxes on all that is not taxed2 he remembers well the effect of this reaction in the account which he makes out for himself1 to know at what rate he must in future sell his hats in foreign markets2 he only considers the draw-back1 the remittance of the #f shillings duty1 and concludes that it puts him in a situation to deal with foreigners on the same terms as he did previous to the taxes1 which have increased every thing to the amount of #aj per cent4 ,nevertheless1 the thousand hats1 with which1 previous to the taxes1 he furnished his foreign friends for #ajjjl4 ,i will suppose1 are now raised to #abjjl4--,point out this circumstance to him1 he will tell you he cannot sell his hats cheaper1 and that foreigners must pay #abjjl4 instead of #ajjjl4 since the foreigner wants them4 8,besides1 7says he7 what is the sum of two hundred pounds more1 divided among a thousand persons1 who will purchase the hats from the merchant abroad1 to whom he sells them80 ,the manufacturer does not want to look further2 and the writer who from the nature of his subject1 or his manner of considering it1 wants only to reflect a little more1 will only add1 ,thus it is that foreigners pay our taxes1 and never suspect that they do so4 ,this is the truth1 but not the whole truth4 ,i shall endeavour to find it out4 ,the general trade of ,england with the rest of ,europe is not confined to some thousands of pounds sterling1 to be settled once for all2 it is an immense sum1 which must be renewed every year4 ,let us begin by being thoroughly convinced of this necessity1 in order to submit to its consequences3 we shall find moreover that these consequences are not destructive4 ,the annual exports of ,england amount to about a fifth of the products of her industry1 and consequently represent about a fifth of the labour of her artificers4 ,if the taxes1 after the war of #agee1 had raised the price of every thing at the rate of #aj per cent4 7,i can err but by a little more or less7 the total of her exports1 which1 before that war1 amounted1 on a medium of ten years1 7see ,sir ,charles ,whitworth7 only to a sum of #ab1ggf1fad pounds sterling1 let us say #ac millions1 amounted1 after the peace1 to #ad millions #cjj thousand4 ,let us now suppose the trade of ,england exhibiting to its foreign correspondents1 in the year #agfb1 this total in exports of #ac millions 7at the old prices7 under the name of #ad millions #cjj thousand pounds1 7a price rendered unavoidable by the advance in the prices of all commodities1 on account of the taxes72 and let us suppose these correspondents to have1 really and annually1 no more to pay them than #ac millions of their own manufactures1 indicated by this modest number1 because they had not the honour to support1 during seven years1 a war the most brilliant and successful in the memory of man1 in ,germany1 ,america1 and ,india4 ,i think one of the three following consequences must be the result3 ,either ,that the total of ,english exports must have been reduced from #ad millions #cjj thousand pounds to #ac millions1 for want of means in our foreign buyers to pay the whole amount of ,english exports at their advanced price3 ,or1 ,that ,england must have been complaisant enough to call #ac millions1 in a foreign market1 the amount of her exports1 which the effects of her new taxes obliged her to call #ad millions #cjj thousand pounds at home3 ,or1 ,that ,england must have allowed her foreign connexions to call #ad millions #cjj thousand pounds the same quantity and quality of their manufactures1 which1 before the effect of ,english taxation1 they called only #ac millions1 and which1 till then1 had made the balance of what they imported from ,england4 ,in the first case1 the ,english manufactories1 which furnish the exports1 would have been necessarily reduced one tenth2 upon which it is necessary to observe1 that the tenth of the ,english exportation makes a fiftieth of the total value of the product of her industry1 and that the inutility of the fiftieth of those products1 occasioned by the impossibility of their being purchased by foreigners at the price occasioned by the ,english new taxes1 must have deprived of subsistence1 as well as of employment1 a fiftieth of the ,english artisans1 and rendered useless a fiftieth of the capitals appropriated to exportation4 ,in the second case1 the prices of commodities would not be perceptibly increased any where else but in ,england2 the prices of her correspondents would have been1 ten years after the peace1 almost as they were in #aged4 ,in the third case1 the prices would have increased1 among the foreign correspondents of the ,english1 nearly in the same proportion as in ,england4 ,the first case is evidently false1 since ,sir ,charles ,whitworth's ,statements prove that the exports of ,england1 which amounted1 as we have before observed1 upon a medium of #aj years before the war1 only to #ab millions #ggf1fad pounds sterling1 amounted1 upon a medium of #aj years after the peace1 to #ad millions #iba1jfg pounds sterling1 and even to #ae millions #aa1baa pounds sterling1 if we take a medium of #ab years from the peace to #aggc1 at which period ,sir ,charles ,whitworth's ,statements conclude2 7which exhibits1 independently of the nominal augmentation supposed to have been occasioned by the taxes1 a real augmentation of about a #agth1 notwithstanding the real vacuum owing to the loss of those men who would have increased this exportation1 if they had not perished in ,germany1 ,india1 ,america1 and at sea47 ,the second case is more universally acknowledged to be false1 since there is not a single country in ,europe where the price of every thing has not1 upon a medium1 increased at least #aj per cent4 from #aged to #aggj2--which proves the truth of the third case3--thus it happens that foreigners have paid the old taxes of ,england1 without suspecting it2 as ,england does not1 in the least1 suspect that those taxes are no longer paid either in ,england or elsewhere1 although their produce returns nevertheless to the public creditor4 ,let us consider1 however1 whether this general increase of prices could finally prove prejudicial to ,england1 or to her connexions abroad4 ,it could not prove so to ,england1 because she was obliged to submit to this increase1 or else to give up the manufacturing of a tenth of the commodities she exported to foreign countries 7where she exports nothing of what she can sell at home71 and because a deficiency of a #ajth of her exports would have inevitably deprived a #ejth of her artisans of sustenance1 and rendered useless a #ejth of the capitals devoted to exportation4 ,besides1 considering this object in another light1 what loss would ,england sustain by receiving1 under the denomination of #ad1 ,i suppose1 the same commodities which before were furnished for #ac1 while she gave for the purchase1 only #ac 7old prices7 which the effect of taxation made her call #ad8 ,it could not prejudice her foreign connexions1 because this increase of prices1 which abroad was not owing to taxation1 was only an encouragement to labour1 which must in general have increased its products1 always entitled to a profit over and above the price paid for that labour4 ,a circumstance which was necessary for ,england1 without doing her the least harm1 has1 then1 proved useful to the rest of ,europe4 ,but let up remark two very essential points3 ,the first is1 that it is impossible in the nature of things1 to keep up foreign consumption1 upon which depends the continuation of our exports1 without giving foreigners leave to increase the price of theirs1 by so much as the commodities carried to them must be increased by our taxes2--in the same manner as it is impossible in the nature of things1 to keep up interior consumption1 national consumption1 upon which depends the payment of taxes1 without a general interior increase in the price of labour1 as well as in the price of its products1 when the wants of the ,state require new contributions4 ,the second observation which ,i deem equally essential1 is1 that such a work1 7a work of an utility which may be called universal7 has been brought about1 consummated1 without the ,ministers of any ,state whatsoever being entitled to any glory from the event1 except that of having facilitated the operation1 if they have favoured the general liberty of communication in all articles of trade2 and without their having deserved any other blame but that of retarding it1 if their zeal1 their greediness for the favourable balance1 has suggested to them any device to attract and overthrow it in the only country entrusted to their management4 ,we must universally ruin ,credit1 ,trade1 ,commerce1 and the ,banking business1 if we pretend to prevent ,wealth from extending itself universally1 a little sooner or later4 ,the owner of any kind of riches whatever1 has it not in his power to do any thing else1 but to choose the place1 the object1 and the time1 of giving the first motion2 all the rest is merely the effect of a stone cast into the water3 observe how the undulations succeed one another1 how they are renewed and extended2--can you fix the point where they shall stop8--,we pretend to direct them6--,scilicet is superm labor est8 444 ,istne animia clestibus cur8--,indeed1 indeed1 too many cares occupy the minds of our ,gods6 ,i return to the grand points4 ,methinks upon viewing the picture ,i have drawn1 it is easy now to conceive1 why1 as ,i have observed in page #fb1 a person1 however strongly convinced of the cruel effect which ought naturally to arise from a debt of #fd millions sterling1 contracted from #aged to #agfb1 could not nevertheless cite in ,england1 from #agfc to #agge1 a single indication of a decay in agriculture or commerce1 nor any falling-off in the enjoyment of luxury1 public or private1 nor less insolence in the bulk of the people4 ,the reason is this3 the two capitalists1 who failed not to increase the price of every thing they were concerned in1 according to the exigency of the taxes1 determined also 7after a few little formalities1 always necessary with regard to the people1 when nothing but luxury has been taxed7 to augment the price of labour in proportion to that of its products2 foreigners1 on the other hand1 raised the price of their goods in proportion as taxes had increased the goods of ,england exported to them2 and the old equilibrium was restored every where1 as soon as the general increase of prices had made the general power of consumption1 equal to the need the ,state was in of an exterior as well as an interior1 i4 e4 of a foreign as well as a national consumption1 in order that all the taxes might be productive4 ,but if the debt of #fd millions1 contracted from #aged to #agfb1 had increased1 by #aj per cent4 the nominal value of all merchandise exported from ,england since that period1 how shall we prevent the #fj millions of the last debt1 from increasing1 from #h to #aj per cent4 the nominal value of all commodities to be exported after this later period8 ,and if the general augmentation of prices1 which has clearly followed the debt contracted in ,england from #aged to #agfb1 has proved advantageous to all ,europe1 without hurting ,england1 why should not the general increase of prices1 which results1 and will inevitably result from the last ,english debt1 prove unprejudicial to ,england1 although it will prove advantageous to all ,europe8 ,but if this increase of #aj per cent4 generally acknowledged1 in the price of all merchandise in ,europe1 had extended only to the products of industry2 if the price of the total of the produce of agriculture had not increased in the same proportion2--had not ,nature always silently and successfully opposed all the dreams of speculation on this head1 to what a degree of misery and wretchedness would not agriculture have been reduced in all parts of our so much enlightened ,europe6--,it was not so4#aj ,the quantity of wheat sold at ,berne at #fi batz1 on a medium of five years taken from #agea to #agee1 was sold for #ib batz from #agff to #aggj4 ,the quantity of wheat sold at ,dijon at the lowest1 #bl4 #aas4 #e;d4 on a medium of #e years from #agec to #ageg1 was sold at the lowest1 #dl4 #es4 #i;d4 on a medium of #e years from #agff to #aggj4 ,the quantity of wheat sold at ,ble for #il4 #is4 on a medium of #e years from #aged to #ageh1 was sold for #acl4 #ads4 #b;d4 on a medium of #e years from #agff to #aggj4 ,the quantity of wheat sold at ,geneva for #bg florins1 on a medium of #e years from #agea to #agee1 was sold for #cg florins1 on a medium of #e years from #agff to #aggj1 7see ,arthur ,young's ,political ,arithmetic47 ,we find upon the total1 from #agee to #aggj1 as ,i observed in my ,reflexions on a singular revolution in ,france1 about #dj per cent4 increase in the price of wheat4--,ten per cent4 was enough to discharge1 without expence to any body1 and without any attention being paid to it1 the interest of the debt contracted in ,england1 from #agee to #agfb2 but #cj per cent4 more was necessary1 in order to come 7without injuring ,england7 nearly to an equality with the ,english price1 a price advantageous to the agriculture of all ,europe2 an advantageous price1 which the barriers and barricadoes set up in ,france1 had till then prevented from extending to ,switzerland4 ,the barriers having been removed1 ,switzerland and ,france must necessarily have been enriched1 or ,england ruined3--,france and ,switzerland were better pleased to be enriched2 and so it will necessarily happen after the removal of the barriers subsisting between ,england and ,ireland1 that the agriculture of the latter must be enriched2--unless she should choose to do herself a real prejudice by keeping to all her former low prices1 in order to procure an imaginary advantage to ,irish industry1 in hopes of prejudicing the ,british manufacturer2--which would indeed be very strange4 ,but if this proportionate augmentation in the price of every thing1--as evident as it is necessary1--as general as it is useful1--as natural as it is little suspected1--in consequence of a national debt contracted by a country trading with all ,europe1--getting rich by trading with all ,europe1--and who cannot get rich without sharing her wealth with all ,europe1--be also a complete demonstration of the burden being ,,null1 so soon as the little private interests have rendered it general1 and no longer permit the supposition of its being productive of any other bad effects1 but such as necessarily result from a bad system of taxation2 does the point lie in rectifying the system1 or in effecting a reimbursement8--,at least1 is a tax to be levied for the purpose of reimbursing1 before we have searched deep into ,,the ,,question ,,the ,,most ,,interesting ,,to ,,society ,,that ,,ever ,,was ,,propounded8 ,and in the supposition1 that it should result from the examination1 as it does from my ideas1 that there neither is1 nor can be any real and lasting harm in the taxes1 but that which is the consequence of a bad system of taxation2 as there is however so much more harm done1 at least of a transient nature1 as there are more taxes imposed1 even in the best manner1--would it not be necessary to conclude1 that loans bearing annuities1 esteemed the most advantageous to the ,state1 7although they always require an heavier1 and sometimes a double taxation71 might have proved the most pernicious and worst devised1 in any other circumstance but that of a total discredit1 if they did not now furnish the ,sovereign with the means of redressing what is most oppressive in the old taxes1 without imposing new ones8 ,on ,luxury4 ,i can sum up all that ,i have said hitherto1 by transcribing a couple of pages out of a pamphlet written in ,america in the year #aggd1 laid before the ,academy of ,sciences in #aggh1 and printed at ,paris in #agha4 ,i should certainly be excusable had ,i no other motive in this respect1 than to prove that my opinions are neither suggested by1 nor depending on circumstances4 ,the reflexion contained in the following quotation from that pamphlet1 on the war that broke out in #aggi1 is but a survey of the new order of things1 which would not have presented itself to my mind1 had it not been in my power1 even then1 to have published in several large volumes1 that which ,i now comprise within three hundred and some pages1 in order to render its perusal less laborious to the reader4 8,all the mystery of society1 consists in establishing1 without the knowledge1 and to the greatest advantage of the parties concerned1 the most equal1 the most exact1 and the most equitable division that possibly can be made1 between the land proprietors1 who are in possession of all1 and the pilferers who are in possession of nothing4 8,this division operates of itself1 by shackling1 as little as possible1 the natural passions of the one1 and the factitious passions of the others1 that is to say1 by obstructing1 as little as possible1 communications of all kinds4 8,this division is inseparable from the greatest possible quantity of productions and consumptions1 which cannot be effected but by the greatest number of productors and consumers1 who will always be found and attracted where the laws shall be as little prohibitory as possible4 8,a prohibitory law in one country1 may be1 should be1 and no doubt will be1 instantly followed by ten others1 in ten different countries1 which will soon enforce the re-establishment of the equilibrium dictated by ,nature1 the only one that deserves to be attended to1 and the only one that must prevail at last4 8,to the present war1 a war of revolution if ever there was one1 will probably succeed the only useful and necessary war that can be waged between nations enlightened by the longest and most melancholy experience2 a war essential to the happiness of mankind1 since the only contest left for decision will be1 who shall prove the most able to devise1 or the most ready to adopt1 those laws that are calculated to procure the greatest possible consumption1 on which depends the highest degree of public revenue3-- 8,discussions these1 important at all times1 dangerous for every one a few years ago1 unbecoming perhaps in a private individual at a time when the true politicians of ,europe will find themselves compelled to make them the object of their most serious meditations2--discussions1 in fine1 entirely out of the way of a cultivator1 who could not1 without a palpable folly1 suffer himself to be led into them by the examination of his blade of grass1 and of a principle too evident to be contested40 7,essai sur la culture de la canne sucre47 ,when a man has shewn himself capable of looking upon a war as the readiest means that could conduce to a general union of interests1 no one will be surprised if that very man should allow to luxury the principal honour in the accomplishment of such a prophecy4 ,nor would any one be surprised if he were to add1 that the rage for luxury1 in a discerning despot1 would soon lead him to establish within his dominions the greatest freedom1 from which alone he can expect the greatest display of all kinds of luxury1 the choice and first fruits of which would be always at his command4 ,nor again would any one be surprised were the prophet to add1 that wherever luxury should be at its summit1 none but the idle would be at a loss for a livelihood1 and that not a mean one2 that even the idiot1 as well as the worn-out labourer1 would find there1 under the designation of a hospital1 an asylum equal to the habitation of a ,king3--,the habitation of the ,kings of ,great ,britain is not comparable to some of her hospitals4 ,would not the question about luxury1 reduced to its elements1 like those other questions which ,i have touched upon hitherto1 present consequences diametrically opposite to those ideas which perhaps are yet too common1 only because they have not been thoroughly examined8 ,methinks ,i have advanced one step towards the solution of the problem1 by proving 7if ,i have proved it7 that the tax laid on that pretended monster1 ,luxury1 is in fact the most oppressive for the people1 on account of the following effects1 from which the impost cannot be freed4 ,first1 ,if that tax lessens the consumption of the article taxed1 provision must be made1 by a fresh tax1 for the deficit in the first1 which nevertheless has already deprived of sustenance1 those who derived it only from that article of consumption annihilated by the tax4 ,secondly1 ,if the rage for the article taxed1 gets the better of the rigour of the tax1 or in other words1 of the absurd disproportion thereby established between the real and nominal value of that article1 the land proprietor has no other resource left1 whereby to provide for the tax1 and for the rest of his standing expences1 than to raise the prices of his commodities accordingly2 and the poor1 whose consumption has not been taxed1 pays dearer1 nevertheless1 for his bread1 and for all that he consumes besides1 whilst the tax laid on luxury alone1 is pleaded by all the capitalists as a pretence for not increasing the price of labour amongst the people they employ4 ,thirdly1 ,if the little private calculations1 of which ,i have spoken1 did not rectify 7as ,i contend they do by degrees1 and as they ought to do sooner7 the mistakes of the grand calculations in the administration of finances2 that is to say1 if the land proprietor did not increase the price of his commodities1 in proportion as the tax bears heavy on that article of luxury which he still persists to consume3 it would appear still more heinous in the eyes of the moralist2 for those artificers who1 without remorse1 without a blush1 should employ themselves in the work of ,satan1 of which the consumption should continue the same1 would subsist undisturbed in peace and plenty on that very work1 whilst a considerable number of scrupulous artisans1 employed hitherto on articles free from censure1 but of which the consumption should have decreased by the counter-blow of the taxes on luxury1 would most scandalously be left starving and unemployed4 ,i shall now inspect the question more minutely2 for all ,i have said hitherto is not so much an apology for luxury1 as an exposition of the inconveniences attending its being made the principal object of taxation3 ,i beg to be excused1 if ,i grow unwillingly more familiar in my style1 when the dignity of the subject seems to require one of suitable dignity in the manner of treating it4 ,it is the quality of the land that determines the division of its products3 however ungrateful the soil1 the man who cultivates it1 first deducts what is necessary for his subsistence1 and a trifle more2 the rest is divided amongst the landlord and some others1 for one reason or another admitted to a share4 ,this division1 determined by the most general quality of the land1 brings down the proprietor1 who farms out his estate1 to about one third of its productions1 and reduces nearly to the like proportion1 those who are employed in wresting them from the bottom of the earth4 ,in order therefore to consume as much as #hj men1 the proprietor must have a landed estate capable of giving food to #bdj2 and out of these #bdj1 #afj must be provided for before the proprietor can think on his own consumption4 ,consequently1 it would be unreasonable to call him to any other account than for that portion which he has received3 but ,i readily subscribe to the necessity of having that account examined with the utmost rigour1 since the object is to justify the dissipation of so considerable a surplus1 and since the employment of that surplus1 well ascertained1 will give us sufficient light on the employment of the other parts of the revenue1 which by that means it will be useless to examine4 ,the highest pitch of extravagance1 in point of luxury1 is1 beyond contradiction1 that which1 in the smallest possible compass1 contains the largest quantity1 as well as the greatest perfection of labour1 and of a labour the most easy to destroy4 ,let us suppose a man who1 to the fancy of being possessed of such an article1 should join that of seeing constantly at work all those hands which must be employed to complete it2 such a fancy never produces any other effect1 but that of tertiating or doubling the price of things4 ,the ,patriarchs of old1 busied and amused themselves1 no doubt1 in setting to work those whom they enabled to eat2 they lived too near the time when man was condemned to labour1 to maintain them in idleness4 ,the modern ,patriarch of whom ,i am speaking1 provided with a pound weight of flax1 which costs him #f;d4 divides it among #be working people1 who give it every preparation necessary to answer the purpose it is intended for4 ,after an entire month of the most slavish precautions1 the most minute details1 a thread1 hardly perceptible to the naked eye1 presents to the warm imagination of the proprietor1 the idea of the chef-d'uvre of which this thread is to be the foundation2 after #d or #e months more1 devoted to the most patient and assiduous industry1 he is at last put in possession of some slips of lace1 weighing in all #d or #e drachms1 picked out and sorted1 thanks to the last refinement of art1 from that pound of flax which had cost six-pence4 ,five-pence three farthings1 and a few fractions1 are then1 it seems1 in the strictest calculation1 the only real loss--the only devastation which is occasioned by luxury carried to the highest pitch of extravagance2 and this loss is compensated by some very curious pieces of workmanship1 which it is impossible to value at less than #bbgl4 #ajs4 being the amount of #deej days work at #ab;d4 paid to each of the #be working people1 who have owed their subsistence1 for six months1 to that pretended inutility4--,amongst all the passions with which ,providence has been pleased to gratify the rich for the advantage of the poor1 name me only one that occasions less devastation1 and maintains a greater number of indigent persons1 than luxury carried to excess4 ,o ye rigid men1 who have left off wearing lace1 join with me who have left it off too1--join with me in teaching those who continue to wear it1 how many of their brethren they nourish without knowing it6 ,make them virtuous by teaching them1 that in order to be so1 they need only do1 from a sentiment of humanity1 what hitherto perhaps they have done through a motive of puerile vanity1 or from a principle of ostentation1 which1 when considered1 needs to be considered with some indulgence4 ,another aspect1 whimsical enough perhaps1 but by no means foreign to the title of this pamphlet1 would be that under which we should view those prodigies of art and patience1 as the work not only of #be artificers who were busied upon it for six months1 but also of #ab or #ae husbandmen whose existence and labour were indispensable for the sustenance1 during the same time1 of the #be labouring people employed in that great work4444 ,a peevish man would perhaps exclaim1 ,was it indeed worth while to be born1 if all ends with this life8--,and yet1 even in this case1 thread-lace ought not to be proscribed3 it was not worth while indeed to come into the world1 solely to make lace2 but1 once born1 we must work at something1 in order to bear1 without weariness1 every instant even of a life which should not require lace-making for its support3 as to the nature of the work1 let us not find fault with that of others1 before we justly estimate our own4444 ,can we find many of our fellow-creatures1 who on their death-bed are able to shew the work of their whole life 444 worth the smallest shred of lace then in being8 ,after this single instance of luxury1 by which #be men are fed during six months at the expence of another1 by daily reducing his revenue from #hj to #ee1 ,i think that1 without being an enthusiast or a declaimer1 it would be difficult1 even for a good man in the right sense of the word1 to withstand the pleasure 7although perhaps rather of the mischievous kind7 of observing that little more is wanted beyond two such fancies as we have stated1 to bring the ,proprietor1 reduced in the origin from #bdj shillings to #hj1 and then from #hj to #ee--to bring him1 ,i say1 exactly to the level of the cultivator1 whom he has brought down to #i;d4 or #aj;d4 and of the mechanic on whom he has bestowed #aa or #ab;d42 however1 ,i am willing to allow him #bd for his real1 personal1 and daily consumption4 ,twenty-four pence6 will it be said1 ,what signifies being so rich1 to consume so little6 ,yes1 twenty-four pence2 and this is by much too much1 if we deduct1 as we ought1 from the price of each article supposed to be consumed by the rich1 the sum that remains in the hands of the pilferers of all kinds1 who stand1 unknown to him1 between him and that article4--,how6 what say you then to that plate of green-peas which costs #f1 #h1 or #aj guineas6--,but1 my good friend the consumer of green peas1 if you knew how many pilferers it conceals1 of whom you have not the least idea6 if you knew how many wants it has supplied to some1 how many indulgences of luxury it has procured to others1 before it found its way to the table of an ,epicure1 or of an ostentatious man6--,let us try to enumerate them3 workers of mines and quarries1 masons1 carpenters1 glaziers1 colliers1 lock-smiths1 ,english and ,french sailors for the common-spice trade2 ,dutch seamen1 for the more precious kinds2 ships of war of the three ,powers1 indispensable for the protection of the merchantmen employed on those objects2 wood-fellers in ,sweden1 sail-cloth weavers in ,russia1 ship-builders1 pilots1 admirals of the three nations1 husbandmen busied in the four parts of the world in procuring food for themselves1 in order to prepare food for all those wood-fellers1 glaziers1 admirals1 c4 exclusive of the ,dutch gardener1 and the ,french cook who alone can worthily crown the mighty operation4--,imagination loses itself in that single plate of green peas4 ,how many reductions from #af pence to #h1 and from #h to #d1 have been required to produce it6 ,it is inconceivable that it should not sell for more than #f or #h guineas2--but if each of those pilferers above mentioned takes back the small portion by which he has increased the intrinsic value of the article4444 ,o ye1 who must have swallowed up #ejj properties1 in order to eat1 without being guilty of extravagance1 that plate of green peas1 and who flatter yourselves with the idea of having consumed on that day fifty or sixty crowns worth1 learn and reflect henceforward1 without remorse and without vanity1 that you have not spent above half one penny1 the real value of any other dish of greens which you might have substituted to the peas you have consumed4 ,scrutinise1 in the same manner1 your wearing apparel2 choose1 like a child1 what pleases most the eyes of the body2 or1 like a fastuous man1 all that is most imposing to the eyes of the imagination2 or1 miser-like1 that which costs least money2 or1 in fine1 like a man of sense1 what your means or your taste incline you to wear2 the difference1 as to essentials1 is little or none4 ,it cannot be positively asserted1 that your consumption will be more or less considerable in one than in the other case2 but recollect that thread lace1 for which you could not pay less than #bbgl4 #ajs4 because there stand between you and the pound of flax from which it has been extracted1 #ce or #dj intermediate pilferers1 to be fed during six months2--this lace1 however1 in spite of that extravagant price1 could not1 as you have seen1 be set down to account amongst the articles of your real and personal consumption1 for more than sixpence1 supposed to be the intrinsic value of a pound weight of flax1 which has gone through so many hands to be converted into lace4 ,now1 on this principle1 you might be wrapped in lace from head to foot3 and your entire mummy1 instead of presenting to the eye of a sworn appraiser a consumption of #cj or #dj1jjjl4 would in this instant of its highest splendor1 only present him with a devastation of #bjjlb4 of flax1 sacrificed to decorate that mummy1 or to hide its defects4--,and as the object would be #bjjlb4 of flax1 the value of which is fully known by the number of people to whom it would afford support1 instead of dealing so lightly as ,i did with a single pound1 when ,i introduced my ,patriarch1 the appraiser would reckon with you rigorously2 he would consider1 that in the hands of the ,arts1 no part of the works of the creation can be lost2 that1 as it is their triumph1 so it is their duty1 to divide into #aj1 #bj1 or #cj parts1 whatever requires such a division1 in order that each may receive the degree of utility of which it is susceptible1 and which the ,arts are bound to account for to society3 the appraiser would then carry you to the lace-merchant1 in order to lay before you ten different sorts of an inferior lace1 taken from parts chosen successively after that which serves you for a wrapper1 and descending still from pilfery to pilfery1 he would at last inveigle you into the cabins of some pretended wretch1 where he would shew you the quantity of coarse and substantial shirts1 necessary to teach you that #c or #d lb4 of flax1 at the most1 are the only possible devaluations your mummy can be reproached with1 as two shillings are the only expence your vanity can boast of in the #be or #cj1jjjl4 which you could presume to have consumed4 ,yet1 let us grant something to the pretended importance of being possessed of #ejj properties1 each of them sufficient to the support of one man4 ,i shall accordingly suppose you to be habitually cloathed in those stuffs1 which1 to the richness of the materials that compose them1 join the perfection of workmanship1 7which concerns you1 as you have seen1 in no other light1 but that of either a benevolent1 or an unintentional provider for the necessary consumption of the labouring man72--but #aj lb4 of silk1 as they come out of ,nature's hands1 are not worth #cj shillings3--without enquiring why they may then be valued at #cj shillings1 bring all the other parts of your dress to the touchstone ,i have furnished you with2 consider1 that if you wear the same coat every day1 it would be far from being worn out at the end of the year1--and how far it would be of course from standing for two or three pence in the account of your daily consumption2--add thereto your real and personal wastings in coals1 wood1 pomatum1 essences1 elixirs1 c4 valued after the same principle2--at what a distance you still remain from the #bd pence ,i have granted you for consumption6--,and do not say that you renew your coat every season2--had you swallowed up #ejjj instead of #ejj properties1 and should you change cloaths every day1 your real consumption would not be the greater for it3 would not your valet de chambre1 to whom you should have given that suit of cloaths1 for which you had paid #dj guineas1 and which you had worn only once--would not1 ,i say1 your valet de chambre sell it for #ae guineas to an old cloaths-man1 who would get #bjl4 for it from a strolling player8--,be pleased now to trace that suit from ,paris to ,lisle1 to ,brussels1 ,dresden1 ,poland1 ,russia2 see how many people will get a livelihood by carrying it about2 how many guineas it will bring to the travelling ,roscius1 who will shine in so many countries at your expence2 reflect1 on the revolutions which the elegance of that dress will occasion in the modes at ,petersburgh2 how many draughtsmen1 embroiderers1 working people of all sorts1 will be employed and fed1 7thanks to your luxury71 in copying that master-piece of taste and fancy4--,this is not all2 you might probably1 at the end of #ae years1 meet again in ,paris with the same suit1 cut into small pieces1 in the hands of some ladies of the first rank1 busily engaged in unweaving the rags1 to send1 as soon as possible1 those precious relics of your seemingly spoiled cloaths1 to ,lyons1 c4 where ten workmen are waiting its arrival1 to get bread by restoring to it a great part of its former value1 under another form4--,and you would presume to have consumed it8444 ,the work of ,god is not so easily destroyed1 nor his beneficence so easily concentered4 ,was it worth being so rich1 to consume so little8 ,were you to say1 ,is it worth while to commit an injustice in order to grow rich1 when we can consume but so little1 and when the means are so numerous of pilfering so lawfully all that is wanted for consumption8 ,i could then understand you2--but since you are in possession of #ejj properties without having been guilty of injustice1 it is something to reflect that they are really to you1 the source of numberless enjoyments which you have it in your power to render worthy of a rational being3 and1 as the continuance of those enjoyments depends entirely on the health and bodily strength of so many others who are to contribute thereto1 it is something to be conscious that we find our own pleasures in the interest of others2 it is something to reflect1 that these pleasures are a very gentle mean1 devised most probably by an universal ,watchfulness1 to induce you to provide men destitute of every thing1 with that modicum of goods which was not granted to them1 and which1 nevertheless1 being necessary for their sustenance1 is sufficient to their moderation1 and prevents their feeling the privation of all the rest3 it is something to reflect1 that you feed in fact #ej1 #ajj1 #ejj perhaps of your brethren1 amongst whom there are #aj1 #ae1 #cj1 as well fed as yourself1 since they live on what comes from your table4 ,as to the others1 whose faces you will never see1 since some of them are at ,pekin1 in ,arabia1 at ,constantinople1 and others in ,france1 ,russia1 c4 be assured that1 with much less meat than you1 but more bread1 potatoes1 or rice1 and a few glasses of an acid liquor1 the idea of which1 whilst ,i venture to speak of it1 is enough to crisp all your nerves1 they are as contented1 as happy as you1 because they consume1 without any reflection1 without any solicitude for the morrow1 all they want1 in order to view that morrow with the same tranquillity4--,would it not be unjust in that ,being1 who weigheth the mountains in a balance1 if there were1 amongst men1 one condition more unfortunate than another8 ,would he not be unjust1 if amongst men1 there were one condition more blessed than another8 ,i suppose1 indeed1 that there exists a ,being1 who weigheth the mountains in a balance1 as others have supposed that there is a future life1 where happiness is more visibly equal2 and ,i have hitherto ventured upon so many suppositions6--yet ,i would beg leave to offer one more1 relating though indirectly perhaps to the object now under consideration2 but this shall be the last3 ,i will ask 7upon the supposition that there really exists a ,being1 not only ,estimator1 ,moderator1 but ,creator also of all that thinks1 wishes1 and can be happy7 444 yes1 ,i presume to ask1 whether the created being1 capable of conceiving the idea of giving immortality to the creature capable of wishing for it1 of fostering the hopes1 and feeling the value of it1 would not be greater than the ,creator himself1 if the ,creator had not conceived such an idea8--,i freely confess1 that ,i should think myself better than the ,creator1 had the ,creator conceived such an idea without putting it in execution4 ,i now return to the point which requires no kind of supposition1 ,i mean the real consumption4--,let us pass from that very insignificant possessor of #ejj properties1 to the greatest ,monarch upon earth4--,what difference is there between his consumption and that of the meanest of his subjects8--,he has the choice of every thing1 such is the ne plus ultra of his power3 three1 four1 or five pounds weight of nourishing food1 are really as sufficient for the one as they are necessary to the other2--and on all points1 what is the object that procures to the ,monarch either advantage or pleasure1 the price of which as paid by him1 were it even of fourfold the value1 is not exactly composed1 both of the amount of the sustenance that was necessary to the production of that object1 and of a sum which will infallibly pay for other productions1 which must be purchased to forward new ones--from which the people will constantly have deducted their necessaries1 before they are permitted to satisfy the superfluities1 the luxury of any whosoever8--,such is that never-ending screw1 that adorable chain1 which nothing can stop or break1 unless it be the insanity of a monster1 who should receive that fourfold price1 and bury it under ground1 lest it should prove useful to society4--,that wretch was very consistent with his feelings1 who wished the ,roman people to have but one head1 that he might exterminate the whole nation at a single blow2 but the phnix will ever rise from its ashes2 and ,humanity1 with all her resources1 all her rights1 would be reproduced from the very stones1 were it possible that not a single head should escape the sword of that consistent being who might wish to cut them all off4 ,thoughts on the ,colonies4 ,the question concerning luxury leads to the investigation of some ideas on the ,colonies2 ,i do not mean that of taxing them1 either in a direct or indirect manner1 for the reason truly specious1 that the wars undertaken for their protection1 having loaded the nation with taxes to an enormous amount1 it is but just that they should come in for a share of the burden4 ,it has been observed1 that a national debt contracted1 no matter for what1 occasioning in every thing an indispensable increase of price1 the ,colonies pay their quota of such a debt 7notwithstanding the drawbacks7 when they purchase goods at the rate to which the said debt has advanced them3 it must also have been noticed1 even how necessary it was that the price of commodities from the ,colonies should increase in proportion to the price of those of the ,mother-country1 in order that the former might be able to answer that advance of prices1 without hurting the two essential points1 consumption and re-production2 whence it follows1 that if new taxes are introduced1 either directly or indirectly1 to defray their pretended proportion in the interest of the national debt1 neither harm nor good will result1 if the price of their commodities be increased in the same proportion2 but that if they be taxed1 without that increase in the price of their commodities1 they will consume by so much less of national goods or of foreign ones paid for in national merchandise1 that is1 to the amount of the sum which the tax shall have taken from them3 this point is evident4 ,thus it is1 that after the war in #agee1 all ,europe was obliged1 as has been shewn1 to increase her prices1 so as to put them on a level with those in ,england2 and had not ,great ,britain submitted to that reciprocal advance1 and all the rest of ,europe condescended to receive only1 for the #ac effective millions of their own goods1 the #ac nominal millions of that quantity of ,english commodities which was worth #ad1 on account of the taxes only1 the nominal million which would have remained in the hands of ,england1 would have been without value1 and no longer reproduced for want of consumption1 for want of means to pay for it1 and to encourage such a reproduction4 ,i think also that it is useless to examine whether the colonies can add any thing to the real power of a nation1 since1 in order to be convinced of the very reverse1 it is enough to observe1 that if #b or #cjj ships mounting from #aj to #abj guns be required1 in order to protect effectually an extent of between #aejj and #bjjj leagues of colonial coasts1 distant #ajjj1 #aejj1 nay #djjj leagues from the mother-country1 the #ajj1jjj men employed in time of war1 on those floating citadels1 are always furnished by the ,metropolis1 and do not in any manner exempt her either from erecting those permanent citadels which must be scattered along the coasts of the mother-country1 or from providing the number of men necessary to defend them in case of an invasion4 ,in this point of view1 the colonies would therefore rather diminish than increase the national power4 ,on the other hand1 experience has just taught us1 that as soon as those very colonies1 for which it is pretended so much blood has been spilt1 and so much money wasted1 are in a situation to stand up in their own defence1 there is no depending upon them1 but inasmuch as they are on the footing of allies2 and interest alone fixes the duration of every alliance4 ,the above three objects deserve not1 methinks1 any further dissertation3 the question that merits a more particular scrutiny1 is that which concerns the utility of those very colonies1 when their weakness is a pledge of their fidelity4 ,that utility consists in securing to the mother-country1 #ast1 an exclusive mart for such goods as she thinks proper to export there2 and #b;dly1 the exclusive sale of the returns1 in which1 it is said1 she finds a compensation for the expence she is at to carry her goods to that market4 ,i shall investigate1 under various points of view1 all relative to those two objects1 the utility of those colonies whose commerce is fully ascertained1 before ,i speak of any other2 and ,i shall only draw the necessary inferences from the most incontrovertible facts4 #ast4 ,we find in the ,statements of ,sir ,charles ,whitworth1 that the exports from ,england to the colonies1 whose independence can no longer be disputed1 amounted annually1 upon a medium of #e years1 taken from #agfi to #aggc1 to the sum of #b1dia1bcjl4 ,now the two wars of #agci and #agee1 undertaken1 it is said1 for the protection of those colonies1 that is1 to preserve to the mother-country the monopoly of them1 have cost ,great ,britain #ii1ada1fbel42 and these #ii millions1 though the interest has been reduced as often as possible1 still cost ,england annually #c1ejj1jjjl4 ,it is then a sum of #c1ejj1jjjl4 which1 even so early as the year #agfb1 ,england had resolved to pay annually1 in order to preserve1 and the better to secure to herself the exclusive privilege of exporting annually to ,north-,america1 ,european goods to the amount of #b1dia1bcjl4 #b;dly4 ,the imports from those colonies into ,great ,britain1 upon a medium of the said #e years1 did not exceed the sum of #a1bjh1ffel4--,great ,britain1 therefore1 has enjoyed during the space of #e years1 a pretended balance of #a1bhb1efel4 against those colonies2--but is that glorious balance any thing more than the advantage of having given to those colonies1 in the space of #e years1 a credit in the sum of #f1dab1hbel4 supposing that such sum was the amount of her claims in that part of ,america1 or of the half1 if in fact half only of that sum remained due to her1 notwithstanding the enormous appearance in ,sir ,charles ,whitworth's ,statements8 #c;dly4 ,if the colonies1 now independent1 will henceforth call in all the other nations of ,europe to a share in the advantage of crediting them in the same manner1 can it be supposed that ,england will not find in ,europe1 some other nation willing to receive that part of the ,english credit1 which the independent colonies shall no longer think proper to make use of8 ,in this case1 can any thing more be required1 on the part of ,england1 than to manufacture in less quantity such goods as suit only the inhabitants of ,america1 and somewhat more of those that may suit the different nations of ,europe2 and to this first operation to add the complaisance of receiving a greater quantity of their goods than she has imported hitherto8--,in this case likewise1 what ruinous consequences could ,england experience by exporting her goods to her neighbours1 instead of sending them to ,america8 #dthly4 ,if the complaints set up by ,england against the ,united ,states1 are grounded only on their incapacity of making returns proportionate to the value of the goods exported there since the peace1 are the ,united ,states to blame if ,european cupidity has exported to ,america1 in the space of six months1 as much as its inhabitants could consume and pay for in two years8 ,does such an event1 almost infallibly the result of a long interruption of correspondence1 prove any thing more than the necessity of a balance between production and consumption1 the advantage of knowing as soon as possible the difference from the one to the other1 the inconvenience of a trade1 in which we lose sight of our capital for whole years together1 and the advantage of a trade which would #e or #f months after return to the hands of the capitalist the stock he had laid out8 #ethly4 ,had even those colonies remained in1 or returned to a state of subjection to ,england1 would not the same interruption of correspondence have been productive of the same inconvenience8--,during the war1 which terminated by the treaty of ,aix-la-,chapelle1 all the ,french colonies had remained under the dominion of ,france1 and yet during all the first1 and great part of the second year of peace most of the ,french goods were sold at ,martinique and ,st4 ,domingo1 #ae and #bj per cent4 below the prime cost in ,europe2--between dependent and independent colonies1 then1 in this respect1 who can perceive a shadow of difference8 #fthly4 ,if the ,english merchants1 after having over-stocked the ,american markets with ,european goods1 have attempted to strip ,america of the little money she had to boast of1 and to leave her goods on her own hands1 do the complaints set up in ,england on this subject1 prove any thing essential either to ,england1 or to the rest of the world1 more than the impossibility of carrying into execution beyond a certain degree1 the plan1 as destructive as it is absurd1 of any other trade but that which is founded on a reciprocity of advantages1 on an exchange of the gifts with which ,nature and ,art have favoured one country1 against those with which ,nature and ,art have favoured another country8 ,and even1 upon a supposition1 that ,america should have returned under the domination of ,england1 if the ,english merchants had1 in this case1 attempted to wrest from her the little money she was possessed of1 would not the ,american colonists have been justified in taking every measure necessary to preserve it8--,would they in enforcing that right have been free from the misfortune1 common to mankind1 of always doing1 in order to guard against an injury1 much more than is either just or necessary8--,the impossibility of making returns adequate to the extravagant invoices sent by the ,french traders to their colonies in ,america1 after the war ,i have mentioned1 determined also the agents of the ,french trade to strip those colonies of all the money they could lay their hands upon3 no other way to put a stop to that spoliation was left1 but to bore in the middle of their dollars a large hole1 which restoring the equilibrium between the rapacity of the foreign trader1 and the wants of the interior commerce1 preserved within those colonies the trifling sum in specie that still remained there4 ,soon after1 the equilibrium was also restored between the imports and the consumption2 and from that instant an end was put to the thirst after money1 as well as to the necessity of boring the dollars4--,what difference then can exist1 in this respect also1 between a colony and a free ,state8 #gthly4 ,all the exports from ,england to the colonies1 the monopoly of which she has preserved by the peace1 7including her trade to ,india7 amounted1 in #aggc1 to #b1dcj1dbjl4 7for the details see ,sir ,charles ,whitworth74 ,now the annual expence of the ,british navy1 and its accessaries1 considering the increase in that of ,france1 must be1 at present1 or will be soon1 #b1jjj1jjjl4 ,may it not be fairly concluded1 that ,england is about to pay the annual sum of #b millions sterling1 in order to maintain herself in the exclusive privilege of carrying annually to the distance of #aejj1 of #bjjj1 of #d or #fjjj leagues1 the value of #b1dcb1dbjl4 in ,european goods8--,and would not that privilege be dearly bought1 were not ,france to lay out annually likewise #de millions of livres tournois1 in protecting her privileged exportation8 #hthly1 ,i have at present before my eyes no other standard1 whereby to estimate the exportation of ,france to her sugar-colonies1 than that of ,england to hers2 that exportation amounted1 in #aggc1 to #aig1bcfl4 ,but the population of the ,french colonies is far from being in a treble proportion to that of the ,english colonies1 and luxury is equal in both2 yet let us suppose that the amount of the exports from ,france to her colonies1 including those she sends to ,india1 be annually #hj millions tournois4--,the interest of the national debt in ,france is #bjb millions tournois1 7see ,administration des ,finances de la ,france7 one half1 or rather three fourths of which have been incurred for the protection of her establishments in those parts of the world4--,may it not be said1 that ,france is at the yearly expence of #aej millions tournois1 independently of the #de millions for her navy1 for the purpose of maintaining herself in the exclusive privilege of exporting every year the value of #hj millions tournois1 in ,european goods1 to her possessions in ,india and ,america8 #ithly1 ,all the ,european exports1 carried by ,england in the year #aggc1 either to ,india1 ,africa1 or ,america1 including the exports for which she held an exclusive privilege in the part of ,america now independent1 amounted to #d1ige1aibl4 we shall say #e millions3--if you value at #aj millions of the same currency1 the exports of all the other nations of ,europe to those parts of the world1 we shall find a capital of #ae millions sterling in goods annually exported from ,europe3--but the yearly expence of a navy1 which cannot be dispensed with for the protection of those exports1 is valued at #h millions sterling1 #d of which fall to the share of ,england and ,france4 ,exclusive of those #h millions sterling1 the interest paid by ,england to acquire1 preserve1 and protect that part of ,european exports that concerns her1 amounts to about #f1ejj1jjjl4 including that of the last war2 the interest paid by ,france1 comes nearly to the same sum2 the interest paid by ,spain could not be computed1 were the depopulation of that country to be taken into the account2 but estimate them at #d millions1 including those which other ,european nations have sacrificed to the same ,idol3 let us say nothing about ,holland1 who for many years 7except the few last7 has made some figure ,europe1 only by her good luck in alleviating the distresses of others1 her sole motive for which was her own advantage3 and we shall sum up1 at last1 an annual expenditure of #be millions sterling1 in interest and naval expences1 incurred by ,europe1 in order to preserve the exclusive privilege1 #ast1 of exporting every year #ae millions sterling in ,european goods to her colonies1 both in ,india and ,america2 and1 #b;dly1 of establishing in those colonies the system of government best calculated to prevent that exportation from becoming more considerable4 #ajthly1 ,we have observed1 that the exports from ,england to the colonies of ,america1 and to ,india1 amounted1 in #aggc1 to #d1ijj and some thousand pounds sterling1 suppose #e millions3 now her importation of commodities from those various countries is about #e1ijj1jjjl4 7see ,sir ,charles ,whitworth72 but we have also noticed1 that she left yearly in ,north ,america #a1bhb1jjjl4 more than she received therefrom4 ,this matter1 considered in the most favourable light1 that is1 as a balance of trade1 ought to be added to the former2 and the whole together will give us a total of #g millions1 shewing an annual benefit of #b millions some hundred thousand pounds sterling4 ,it appears then1 that an annual benefit of #b millions some hundred thousand pounds sterling costs ,england annually #f1ejj1jjjl4 interest for her debt1 and #b millions for the support of her navy4 #aathly1 ,we have seen1 that the annual and general exportation of ,european goods to ,america and ,india amounted to about #ae millions sterling4--,if #e millions of ,english exports return no more than #b millions some hundred thousand pounds annual benefit to ,england1 that ,england1 who sets the highest price on her goods of all kinds1 the general exportation of #ae millions1 to which ,england contributes only one third1 cannot1 of course1 afford to the whole of ,europe1 a profit of above #f millions and some hundred thousand pounds2--but it seems that a benefit of #f millions and some hundred thousand pounds is dearly bought at the rate of #be millions laid out annually by ,europe1 both in paying the interest of their respective national debts1 and for the support of the ,european navies designed to preserve1 protect1 and secure such a benefit4 #abthly1 ,if it were very true1 as it is to this day asserted1 that those #be millions of annual and indisputable expenditure1 are in reality so many yearly losses to the nations who sustain it1 might it not be reasonably concluded1 would it not be impossible not to conclude1 that all the colonies of ,europe were established only for her ruin8--,if we only attend to the last war1 which in fact loads the different nations who took a share in it1 with an annual interest of #i or #aj millions1--#i or #aj millions to be paid every year1 partly to preserve the right1 partly to obtain the permission of exporting ,european commodities into a country1 of which the inhabitants1 besides their own importation1 consume annually to the amount of only #b1dia1bcjl4 of those same commodities which are exported to them by others--who 7to assume the trader's phrase7 cannot clear by that exportation1 a greater annual profit than #c1 #d1 or even #ejj1jjjl46 444 it seems indeed that one cannot see without surprise and concern1 the shocking disproportion between the end proposed1 and the sole means of obtaining it4 #acthly1 ,if1 on the contrary1 it be true1 as ,i maintain it to be1 that after the peace1 when a perfect equilibrium is restored to every thing1 the #i or #aj millions interest of the national debt1 has no other effect but that of ,,adding ,,to ,,every ,,thing ,a ,,nominal ,,value ,,which ,,injures ,,no ,,one1 ,,though ,,it ,,may ,,be ,,advantageous ,,to ,,many2 ,a ,,nominal ,,value1 ,,which1 ,,in ,,every ,,state1 ,,proportions ,,itself1 ,,first ,,to ,,the ,,sum ,,of ,,its ,,revenue ,,compared ,,to ,,that ,,of ,,its ,,debt1 ,,and ,,soon ,,after ,,to ,,the ,,difference ,,which ,,the ,,debt ,,contracted ,,by ,,the ,,nation ,,called ,,the ,,most ,,loaded1 ,,and ,,which1 ,,in ,,fact1 ,,is ,,only ,,the ,,greatest ,,exporter1 ,,has ,,produced ,,in ,,that ,,enormous ,,quantity ,,of ,,the ,,goods ,,she ,,exports2--if it appear more reasonable to adopt that idea1 than to give up a trade1 which1 without that very idea1 would prove the most absurd1 as well as the most destructive that human genius could invent1 7the alternative seems to be forcibly established72--in this case the regret will be heart-felt1 when we consider the loss of men sacrificed during the last war3 but if from this general aggregate of truths little suspected1 and much less reflected upon1 there should result a system of ,politics in ,europe1 of ,administration in her different ,states1 of ,government in her ,colonies1 which should procure to ,europe1 at the least expence1 the greatest exportation of that of which she has a superabundance1 and the greatest importation of that in which she is deficient 444 then indeed1 then1 might we find consolation for the evil1 in adverting to its consequences4--,and1 upon this principle1 what can ,england have suffered by losing her sovereignty over ,america8 #adthly1 ,the contagion of example has been apprehended4 ,let us suppose the fact4 ,what then would be the loss sustained by ,europe8 ,none1 ,i believe1 unless the consequence of the general independency of the colonies1 should be that they would give up ,european commodities they have been used to1 and which they can so readily procure by means of a multitude of other articles1 which would be of no value to them were they not calculated to procure them those ,european commodities which they are in the habit of consuming4--,but ,i beg leave to ask1 what purpose could their independence answer8--,it appears to me1 they could not think of it without a palpable folly2 and that it is impossible they should think of it1 without that kind of vexation which brings a man to the necessity of choosing between two extremes4--,another consideration1 which tends to make ,europe easy1 at least in regard to the colonies situated beyond the tropic1 is1 that no rivalship can subsist between them and their mother-countries in any thing that concerns the soil and industry4 ,in regard to the productions of the soil1 all that part of ,america inclosed within even the #cjth degree of north1 and the #cjth degree of south latitude1 could not yield1 without double and treble expence1 any thing that can be produced in ,europe1 and in the other part of ,america1 from the #cjth degree to the pole4 ,and1 on the other hand1 at what an amazing expence must all ,europe1 jointly with that part of ,america now independent1 produce1 even in a kind of degradation1 what the other part of ,america yields naturally in the most perfect state6 ,in regard to industry1 can it be feared that the ,south ,americans1 even supposing them independent1 should be tempted to import rough materials from ,europe1 in order to have them wrought by ,american hands1 which are so naturally and so profitably employed in the production of ,american articles8 ,is it even to be feared that they should aim at a competition with the ,europeans in the exportation of ,american articles1 when they are in need of ship-timber1 or rather when in this1 much more than in any other respects1 there is no ,european work1 which1 if done in ,america1 would not cost three times as much as when imported from ,europe8--,all ,european prejudices1 relative to commerce1 are founded on the following principle1 which may be looked upon as the quintessence of the ,navigation-,act3--,to do every thing ourselves1 in order that no one's assistance may be wanted1--that no one may do without our assistance1--and that no assistance be given1 but at the prices prescribed by the ,lords of the ,seas4--,the ,navigation-,act was1 without doubt1 the last effort of the human mind about the middle of the #agth century#aa4 ,it seems to me1 that the only point which essentially concerns all ,europe1 in regard to other parts of the world1 where she can give law1 would be to find out what kind of ,administration would be the best calculated to increase in all those parts the consumption of ,european goods1 and to procure to herself a more considerable stock of foreign goods and products1--which would1 as they have ever done1 give1 either directly or indirectly1 a fresh encouragement to her agriculture and manufactures4 ,let any one examine1 whether the utility of the colonies be not strictly confined to this single point4 ,i speak of all ,europe1 it is true1 as if she formed but one ,state1 whilst she is supposed to exhibit so many interests1 and these so very opposite to each other4 ,this question deserves a deeper discussion than ,i am able to give it2 yet ,i presume to think that the answer ,i could give1 might be susceptible of demonstration1 had we1 on all the countries in ,europe1 statements only similar to those which ,sir ,charles ,whitworth has given of the ,british trade1 and were we to add thereto the means and faculties which are to be met with in ,england of procuring the details and proofs of every particular that concerns the public4 ,destitute however of an advantage so precious1 so worthy of a nation sufficiently enlightened to dread nothing but being left in the dark on any part of her own interests1 of a nation judicious enough not to disdain a ray of light1 from whatever quarter it may come1 and generous enough to perceive1 with pleasure1 that by enriching herself1 she has1 to this day1 enriched all ,europe2-- ,if it were admitted1 that money is only the representation of value2 that multiplying the sign1 without multiplying the articles which it is calculated to represent1 is debasing fruitlessly the representation2 and that1 on the contrary1 multiplying the article is the most infallible means of attracting the sign and keeping it up to its value3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that nothing contributes so much to the multiplying of the articles1 as the multiplicity of the channels through which they can be introduced3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that the multiplicity of channels in another nation1 for the introduction of our own goods1 is necessarily inseparable from the multiplicity of channels opened in our own country for the introduction of foreign goods3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that with the fullest persuasion that money ought to be the sole aim of trade1 it has only proved1 hitherto1 the means of supporting it3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that notwithstanding the prejudices to the contrary1 as deeply rooted in the heads of ,ministers1 as they are in the hearts of ,merchants1 and notwithstanding all the national cupidities1 private interest in all countries has always proved sufficient to reject effectually all the useless1 and procure all the necessary money3 ,if it should result1 not from arguments1 which very seldom contain what they ought to contain1 in order to become uncontrovertible1 but from the experience of a whole century1 sufficient to estimate the effect of the passion the most ardent1 and the most attached to its object1 that contrary to the common ideas1 and in spite of the general rage for money1 the whole of commerce has1 to this day1 been ultimately confined to its true balance1 i4 e4 to bartering goods for goods1 except the little money which is wanted every where1 and which has constantly penetrated every where1 to answer either to the new productions when they had actually increased in their quantity1 or to the advance of prices when the taxes had at last produced every where1 and on the generality of prices1 their effect1 as equitable as it is necessary and harmless3 ,if the same experience should evince1 that the richest individual1 or he who becomes such the soonest1 has no other advantage in point of commerce1 than the choice of the men whom he is pleased to admit to a share of his wealth without impairing it2 and that the inference to be drawn therefrom is1 that such a man must be a dupe who confines his choice to ten1 when he can make it from among thirty3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that riches and ease1 like the light1 stand in want of no assistance whatever1 to propagate themselves equally in every direction1 as general interest requires2 that the private interest of one man1 or of a body of men1 is always sufficiently opposed1 protected1 balanced1 by the interest of another man1 or of another body of men1 wherever administration confines its attention to the maintenance of strict justice and good order2 and that from this equilibrium in which they mutually keep1 or soon replace one another1 there results1 for both1 the greatest advantage they can hope for1 and for the ,state the highest prosperity it can attain3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that on all these various objects1 no difference whatever can subsist between one nation and another3 ,if it were acknowledged also1 that all ,europe1 as well as each ,state in particular1 is essentially1 finally1 strictly1 composed only of three kinds of capitalists1 or proprietors1 the landed capitalist1 the capitalist of industry1 and the proprietor of money1 considered either as a dependant or as a capitalist3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that those three interests center in the greatest quantity1 as well as the greatest variety and best quality1 of the products both of agriculture and industry1 and in the greatest consumption of both at the most reasonable rate3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that the ,fisc1 or ,exchequer1 owes the whole of its revenue to the produce of the taxes only2 and that this produce rising of course as the productions and consumption increase1 the interest of the ,exchequer can no where be different from that of the three capitalists or proprietors3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that at present nothing can result from several institutions1 pretended very wise1 but a great diminution in the products and consumption1 as well as in the revenue of the ,exchequer2 because there is nothing so easy as to balance1 every where1 institutions pretended very wise1 by others not less so3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that the necessary expenditure of the ,exchequer once ascertained1 all diminution of its revenue1 occasioned by the pretended very wise institutions1 carries with it the necessity of imposing new taxes1 in order to make up the deficit of former ones3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that each new tax1 increasing necessarily the price of every thing in the nation1 for the purpose of supporting1 at least1 the interior consumption1 on which depends the discharge of the taxes1 would add to the inconvenience brought about by those pretended very wise regulations1 and would soon lead to a decrease in the external consumption1 which the nation might have preserved1 if other countries did not raise their own prices accordingly1 in order to pay with the same products the same quantity of articles which they used to take before the advance occasioned by the taxes2 that therefore such a general propagation of increase in prices1 being of a general interest to the production and consumption every where1 would not fail to take place every where as it has always done1 and to dwindle again into a childish play1 much beneath the adolescence of the age we live in3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that the general repeal of those pretended very wise institutions could1 at the worst1 be productive of no other effect within the ,state1 but that of a general rise in the prices1 wherever they are not in due proportion to the real values1 and a general fall in all the prices1 wherever they are fixed by monopoly1 and not by the natural equilibrium2 but that1 whereas nothing but profit can accrue to those who raise their prices1 it is very probable that the prices would increase much more almost every where1 than they would decrease any where3 ,if it were1 besides1 acknowledged that such an increase1 or decrease1 7it matters not which7 soon becoming general and proportionate1 7without any other agent to work that miracle1 but that reciprocal pressure which establishes a perfect symmetry in a bee-hive17 then no alteration could arise therefrom in the circumstances of the two essential capitalists1 since it is perfectly indifferent whether we purchase the labour of others at #e or #f per cent4 dearer1 if we sell our own labour in proportion3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that in regard to the money proprietor1 whether dependant or capitalist1 nothing can result from it but the certainty of procuring henceforth and for ever1 at the most equitable price1 that which he had paid for hitherto according to the rate set on it by monopoly1 and often by a scarcity cunningly prepared and managed3 ,if it were acknowledged1 that as to the external interests of the ,state1 no other effect can result from the general repeal of those pretended very wise institutions1 but the facilitating of all the branches of foreign correspondence1 the opening of new channels of consumption1 the encouragement of all kinds of production1 of which consumption is the very soul1 and the power of obtaining every where1 at the most equitable prices1 by means of competition1 the most equitable share we have a right to expect in those gifts which nature1 in all probability1 has not bestowed on any part of the world1 to confine them to that particular spot3 ,if all the foregoing points1 ,i say1 were acknowledged1 it would be a hard matter to conceive that there is1 not only in ,europe1 but all over the globe1 any other enemy to destroy but ,monopoly1 or any other interest to favour but ,labour4 ,,finis4 ,the judgement of the ,public1 on the ideas thrown out in this ,essay1 will determine the fate of some others1 which are nothing else but the consequences or developement of these4 ,,pr,,face ,,de ,l',,diteur4 ,ce n'est point un ,trait que l',auteur annonce3 ce n'est rien de plus que des ,considrations sur le ,mchanisme des ,socits4 ,un pareil titre n'astreint point un plan rgulier1 sauve mme le risque de prparer les ,lecteurs un enchanement d'ides qui n'chappera point leur sagacit1 s'il existe2 sur lequel on ne les abuseroit point1 s'il n'existe pas4 ,mais dans un tableau consacr au monde comme la patrie1 aux peuples comme leurs matres1 il falloit que l'objet saillant1 l'objet sur lequel on dirigeoit leur premire attention1 ft d'un intrt assez gnral pour les engager progressivement l'examen de tous ceux de ses dtails qui mritent d'tre approfondis1 dont les rapports sont mconnus ou mal jugs4 ,l'objet qui fixe aujourd'hui l'attention de tous les tats de l',europe1 tous dbiteurs cranciers1 c'est la dette publique de l',angleterre1 les mesures que va prendre ce sujet1 l',assemble du monde la plus claire sur les intrts du peuple1 la plus jalouse de ses droits1 la plus libre du moins dans ses dbats4 ,c'est par l'examen de cette formidable dette1 de son influence sur la richesse de l'tat l'aisance du peuple1 que l',auteur ose commencer4 ,mais avant d'en expliquer le mchanisme1 dont le rsultat prsente des ides trop contraires l'opinion gnrale1 l',auteur tche de familiariser peu peu ses ,lecteurs avec la sienne1 par des ,rflexions gnrales sur la situation actuelle de l',angleterre2 ces rflexions ne lui permettant pas de douter1 que la nation ne ft en #aggi1 malgr la dette nationale1 plus riche qu'au commencement du sicle1 du quadruple1 ou du double seulement1 suivant le calcul de population auquel on sera le plus attach4--,on voit que l',auteur1 relativement son plan1 n'attache aucune importance la diffrence des opinions sur cet article4 ,une vue plus particulire du sujet1 prsente l',auteur de nouvelles raisons qui lui paroissent capables de tranquilliser le crancier le plus inquiet4--,ce n'est la vrit que par le moyen des pargnes faites faire journellement sur #h sols1 portion exacte qui revient chaque individu dans le revenu gnral1 qu'on a pu parvenir l'opulence1 qu'il est possible de s'y maintenir2 mais l',auteur cherche les pargnes qu'on ne peut mconnotre dans l'agriculture dans l'industrie3 il trouve que celles de l'agriculture ont suffi depuis un sicle1 non-seulement pour satisfaire aux charges publiques1 mais encore pour doubler le revenu territorial2 il dtaille ensuite une quantit d'objets1 faciles vrifier1 qui semblent dmontrer le mme progrs dans l'industrie4 ,ici l',auteur commence se croire assez ferme sur son terrein1 pour convenir qu'il ne voit rien dans la situation actuelle de l',angleterre qui puisse justifier l'ide d'une banqueroute1 quoique les papiers publics de cette nation en insinuent trs-souvent la commodit4 ,l',auteur s'oublie mme jusqu' examiner srieusement1 s'il seroit avantageux de rembourser ou de ne pas rembourser1 mme dans la supposition que les #bch millions emprunts disparus1 reparotroient dans les coffres de l'chiquier4 ,aprs avoir prsent la question sous plusieurs points de vue1 l',auteur n'hsite point se dcider pour la ngative1 tche ensuite de prouver qu'une ,thsaurisation antrieure qui et mis la ,nation en tat de soutenir la dernire guerre sans imposer aucune taxe additionelle1 auroit fait beaucoup plus de mal que les nouvelles taxes n'ont t capables d'en faire4 ,l',auteur devenu plus hardi1 parce que personne ne le contredit lorsqu'il est seul 7 en vrit il est seul bien souvent71 entreprend de rconcilier le genre humain avec les taxes1 au moyen d'une premire dcomposition de l'impt2 il abandonne la vrit une de ses parties comme onreuse1 7il est fcheux rellement qu'elle soit indispensable1 heureusement c'est la moindre27 mais il dfend hautement l'autre partie1 comme une ressource trs-prcieuse pour cette portion du peuple qui mrite le plus de captiver l'intrt du ,gouvernement4 ,malgr toutes les prcautions que l',auteur a prises jusqu'ici pour ne pas effaroucher ses ,lecteurs1 il lui reste un tel pas franchir1 qu'on le voit presque genoux pour supplier qu'on lui permette de le franchir en vingt fois s'il n'y russit pas en dix2 c'est--dire1 qu'il desire beaucoup que son ,ouvrage ne soit pas condamn dfinitivement1 avant d'avoir t lu jusqu' la fin2 en effet il n'est pas impossible qu'une proposition dtache1 dont le ridicule est frappant l'exposition1 devienne cependant trs-raisonnable lorsqu'elle aura t successivement rapproche de toutes celles qui doivent la suivre4-- ,un ,editeur doit encore plus au ,public qu' un ,ouvrage auquel il seroit mme assez flatt de procurer une petite fortune2 je crois donc tre oblig 7in foro conscienti7 de prvenir que ce n'est qu'aprs avoir parcouru cinquante quelques pages qu'on souponne pourquoi l',auteur n'a pas annonc ds la premire1 les singularits qu'il se proposoit insidieusement d'tablir pied pied dans sa brochure3 mais enfin on peut alors pressentir ce qu'on doit attendre d'un homme qui vient de conter que les taxes ne sont qu'un petit mal1 que la ,thsaurisation en seroit un trs-grand1 qu'un remboursement est au moins inutile1-- qui aussi-tt annonce modestement qu'il pourra bien1 par la suite1 lui chapper quelques bizarreries1--comme s'il pouvoit y en avoir de plus complettes que les trois propositions dont je viens de rendre compte4 ,cependant il ne faut pas tre trop svre2--le ,lecteur a-t-il t seulement amus par le coin du ,tableau jusques-l dcouvert8--qu'il se prte la petite manie de l',auteur2 on renonceroit montrer des curiosits1 si l'on n'avoit pas la libert de lever le rideau sa fantaisie1 si l'on n'avoit pas le droit de ne montrer1 chaque annonce1 que la petite partie de la curiosit1 sur laquelle on veut fixer pour le moment les yeux du ,spectateur3-- ,mais si le ,lecteur n'a pas encore observ la moindre variation dans le compas malgr la diffrence des positions2 s'il n'a pas t un peu branl par les raisonnemens dont on l'aura berc jusqu'alors1--qu'il jette la brochure au feu2 car l',auteur1 dont je ne prtends point imiter la circonspection1 ou adopter les craintes1 ou justifier l'audace1 ou partager le dlit1 n'entreprend rien moins que d'engager toute l',europe1 7toute ,europe67 examiner3 #a4 ,s'il seroit possible qu'il en coutt l',angleterre au-del de #e millions sterling1 une fois trouvs1 pour assurer1 perptuit1 de la faon la plus solide1 le paiement de l'intrt d'une dette de #bch millions1 cet intrt fix #i millions mme monnoie4 #b4 ,s'il n'y a pas sans qu'on l'imagine1 dans le ,systme de ,finance de l',angleterre1 quelquesunes des imperfections si bien observes1 si justement1 si amrement critiques dans celui de la ,france2 si un remboursement national n'est pas le plus facile de tous les jeux avec lesquels un ,ministre de ,finance peut amuser la ,socit1 sans la servir4 #c4 ,si la possibilit d'une balance de commerce toujours favorable1 n'est pas aussi douteuse que la ncessit d'une banqueroute1 l'avantage d'un remboursement4 #d4 ,si l'quilibre en tout par tout1 n'est pas indispensable2 si1 pour maintenir ou rtablir cet quilibre1 il faut de grands efforts d'imagination de la part de ceux qui croient tenir la balance4 #e4 ,si la diffrence des prix est quelque chose ou rien2 s'il a fallu en ,france au-del de #ff millions tournois1 une fois trouvs1 pour assurer1 jamais1 l'intrt #e p4 cent d'un emprunt national de #aejj millions4 #f4 ,si le monstre d'une concurrence en fait de commerce1 prtendue invincible graces la lgret des prix dont elle seroit arme1 n'est pas aussi fantastique que celui d'une balance toujours favorable4 #g4 ,si le prmium d'exportation le plus pardonnable1 est autre chose qu'une injustice devenue ncessaire pour en balancer une infinit d'autres4 #h4 ,s'il ne rsulte pas du rtablissement toujours infaillible purement mchanique de l'quilibre dans tous les prix1 que les taxes sont d'une innocence absolue en elles-mmes2--s'il est au-del d'une espce de taxation1 qui n'augmente la masse gnrale des prix que du montant prcis de la taxe2--si toutes les autres n'en triplent pas l'effet2--si la plus pernicieuse1 aprs la capitation1 n'est pas celle du luxe2-- si du moment o toutes les taxes bonnes ou mauvaises1 ont ragi sur tout1 le fardeau de la dette nationale n'est pas videmment ,,nul dans tous les pays4 #i4 ,si le crdit n'est pas1 aprs le ,monopole1 l'effet de la richesse qui enchrisse le plus tous les produits de la terre de l'industrie4 #aj4 ,si tel pays o la contrebande fut dfendue sous peine des galres1 ne doit pas la contrebande un cinquime des produits de son agriculture1 dont le commerce profite avec aussi peu de scrupule que s'il n'et pas sollicit la loi abominable contre les contrebandiers4 #aa4 ,si l'absurdit de l'ide gnrale sur le moyen le plus propre pour tablir une concurrence avantageuse en fait de commerce1 n'est pas dmontre par l',histoire d'une rvolution singulire en ,france2 rvolution aussi peu douteuse que les deux guerres de #agee de #aggi4 #ab4 ,si l'impossibilit des deux balances prtendues par la ,france par l',angleterre1 n'est pas prouve par les faits allgus dans les deux pays pour tablir l'existence de ces deux monstres2--si cette impossibilit n'est pas dmontre par d'autres faits aussi peu quivoques2-- s'il n'est pas de l'intrt de l',angleterre de la ,france1 d'abjurer au plus tt l'idole1 de renoncer authentiquement ses uvres comme ses pompes4 #ac4 ,si les exportations importations ne sont pas un jeu aussi innocent que celui de la paume2 un jeu nanmoins dont tous les ,gouvernemens pourroient tirer un grand parti1 tous les sujets un grand avantage1 tous les tats un accroissement de force de richesse4 #ad4 ,si la gnralit des exportations de l',angleterre en diffrens priodes1 considre relativement la correspondance trangre1 ne dmontre pas une espce d'lectricit dont on n'avoit pas encore l'ide1 qui n'est pas indigne d'amuser le loisir des plus grands ,politiques4 #ae4 ,si le badinage du luxe n'est pas aussi innocent que le jeu des exportations importations2 combien le plus fastueux1 le plus prodigue1 le plus sensuel de tous les ,princes1 consomme au-del du plus avare de ses sujets4 #af4 ,combien1 en ngligeant les sols les deniers1 l',angleterre a perdu en perdant ce qu'on appelloit son bras droit2 combien1 en ngligeant les sols les deniers1 toute l',europe perdroit si elle perdoit la souverainet des deux ,amriques4 #ag4 ,si tout ce qui avoit paru l',auteur fond en raison en justice1 ne se trouve pas finalement1 en dpit de la conjuration gnrale de tous les ,peuples de tous les ,ministres1 conforme aux faits les plus douteux2-- s'il ne rsulte pas de la runion des faits des raisons1 que l'assertion de l',auteur la plus intressante pour l'humanit1 c'est--dire pour tous les ,princes comme pour tous les ,peuples1 est de la vrit la plus incontestable1 la plus facile mettre la porte de tous les intresss4 ,j'irai plus loin quoique ,editeur4 ,je supposerai qu'il rsultt aussi de cette runion de raisons de faits1 que les moyens qu'on a crus jusqu'ici les plus propres soulager le ,peuple1 toient les plus infaillibles pour le vexer2 qu'est ce que cela fait au ,peuple pourvu qu'on ne le vexe plus8 ,le pass est-il autre chose qu'un songe8 ,je supposerai encore qu'il en rsultt qu'on n'a jamais travaill plus solidement diminuer les revenus du ,prince1 que lorsqu'on s'est flatt de les augmenter2 qu'est-ce que cela fait au ,prince1 pourvu qu'il ne soit plus possible de se mprendre sur les vrais moyens de l'enrichir8 ,n'est-ce pas de l'avenir sur tout1 qu'un grand ,prince doit s'occuper8 ,je supposerai encore qu'il en rsultt qu'on a eu grand tort de s'imaginer qu'il falloit diminuer le revenu du ,peuple pour augmenter celui du ,prince2 qu'est-ce que cela fait au ,prince au ,peuple1 pourvu qu'ils soient l'un l'autre bien convaincus qu'il n'est pas possible d'enrichir l'un1 sans enrichir l'autre de la mme manire1 dans la mme proportion8 ,je supposerai encore qu'il en rsultt videmment qu'il n'y a pas eu jusqu'ici dans les finances d'aucun pays1 un seul principe1 une seule ide qui en mritt le nom2 qu'est-ce que cela fait aux ,ministres qui dirigent aujourd'hui les finances8 ,le pass est-il leurs ordres8 ,et n'est-ce pas dans la rectification des abus dcouverts1 que consiste la vraie gloire d'un ,ministre8 ,je supposerai mme1 pour combler la mesure1 qu'il en rsultt pour un trs-simple individu ,amricain1 une petite branche de cet arbuste ,europen qu'on appelle laurier femelle2 qu'est-ce que cela fait tous les ,ministres1 tous les ,peuples1 tous les ,princes de l',europe8 ,l',amrique consommera-t-elle moins de marchandises ,europennes1 produira-t-elle moins d'or d'argent1 pour avoir produit une ide8 ,illustration ,,footnotes #a ,the #ah millions sterling in circulation1 as calculated in #afhh1 by ,dr4 ,davenant1 were1 in #agaa1 brought down to #ab millions1 probably as we reduce now to #bj or #be1 the #dj millions and upwards which might be supposed in ,england1 were we to confine ourselves to the calculation of the coin struck in the present reign1 and of the old pieces preserved on account of their weight being unimpaired4 ,the sequel will shew1 that it is next to an impossibility for a country1 tolerably governed1 to preserve1 for any length of time1 more or less money than its wants require4 #b ,i have mentioned the fatal tree1 as a consequence of the miseries attending war4 ,this is more sensibly felt in ,england than any where else1 for reasons obvious to every one4 ,during the first years that immediately follow a peace1 a four-fold number of wretches1 to what are executed at other times1 are brought to the gallows4 ,it is with much ado that a man returns within the sphere of the confined and daily occupations of the handicrafts or husbandmen1 when he has for some years rioted in that licentiousness permitted1 in a manner1 to soldiers and sailors1 in every thing that does not concern their respective service4 #c ,this idea is the more to be attended to1 as1 supposing it were possible that an increase of coin1 within the nation1 should enhance the produce of industry alone1 the landed proprietors would certainly be obliged to petition for an act of parliament1 prohibiting the importation of bullion1 for fear it should be turned into coin2 just as they would be obliged to pray for a tax on the productions of the earth1 if none but the taxed articles were to increase in price4--,we now petition against taxes2 we should then pray to be taxed4 ,this would be no bad subject for a ,comedy1 if attempted by a writer who would handle it properly4 ,i hope the labouring man would be allotted a very bustling part2 that is1 he would engross the best wishes of all good men1 and command the attention of all those who do not think themselves entitled to that appellation4 #d ,since my writing the above ,i have seen the account-book 7,bilan7 of another nation2 ,i shall notice it in its proper place4 #e ,under the idea of labour1 ,i comprise all kinds of capitals necessary to keep in action the labouring man2 a stock1 or capital1 is but an accumulation of savings1 made from former labours1 whether it represents the savings of a certain number of years1 in regard to one man1 or those of some centuries1 in regard to the nation or some privileged individuals4 #f ,one of the most respectable ,english writers has been charged with having entirely given up the ,american cause1 which he had hitherto so strenuously supported2 in my opinion it is a mistake4 ,it was not to the ,americans that the ,doctor was attached1 it was to certain maxims1 plain but fertile1 by which they seemed to have been directed1 and which the said author1 establishes and recommends as the only guides for all ,princes and ,nations1 to lead them to that point of prosperity the limits of which can be prescribed by ,nature alone2 the ,americans most probably will return to those maxims1 and ,i presume to think1 that they will instantly be restored to the favour of that worthy ,divine2 my opinions so nearly approach to those of that honest man on every point that truly concerns society1 that ,i wish either to convert him1 or to be perverted by him1 with regard to the reimbursement4 ,i must confess1 that if the ideas which are the ground-work of my principles1 be false1 the error is mine alone2 if ,i am right1 the mistake of the ,doctor1 7like the imperfections in ,shakespeare71 is the fault of his age1 not of himself4 ,i shall further add1 that the reimbursement1 according to the principles ,i have laid down1 is not a measure by any means material to the ,state2 it is only a trifling injustice done to very little purpose1 and not even suspected by those who sustain it1 a je ne sais quoi giving to one a little credit and a little uneasiness to others1 keeping the bulls and bears in spirits and the writers of paragraphs in full employ1 but luckily productive of a light and transitory sensation only1 and even that in a small part of the machine3 so little is reimbursed at a time6 so soon is one tired of reimbursing6 ,presently1 the only essential object1 the price of every thing shapes itself so well by the circumstances attending the reimbursement1 that ,i should not hesitate to ascribe the ordinary1 the infallible reparation of all evil1 to the credit of one sole principle of all good1 were it not my invariable maxim 7as it is the ,doctor's and his friend ,m4 ,turgot's7 not to scandalise even those who do not believe in ,god4 ,there is a prejudice much more unaccountable in ,england1 in the proud ,england1 than the whim of a national reimbursement2 it is that prejudice which all the hired writers1 pro and con1 endeavour to propagate from age to age in all countries1 a prejudice1 on the destroying of which every unhired writer can never be too intent1 that prejudice stating1 that the prosperity of a ,state depends on one single individual4 ,where is that ,phnix to be found8 ,there are always two pretenders at least1 who cry at once1 ,i ,,am ,,the ,,man1 and a thousand voices exclaiming together1 ,,he ,,is ,,the ,,man4 ,the prosperity of a ,state1 be its extent what it may1 solely depends on its agriculture1 its industry1 its knowledge1 and on that degree of liberty with which those three objects can exert themselves in every way4 ,this is the grand truth which ought to be impressed on every mind4,let one great man die in a country where great men are appreciatedstamp on the ground1 and ten such men will start up3 many more will start up when every body1 without respect either to face or mask1 is at liberty to stand as a candidate4 #g ,let the question on this very point be asked of any one1 who can remember1 and compare4 ,i except no article whatsoever of industry1 which is brought to perfection4 #h ,it is truly farcical to hear and see the deep-fetched sigh of a tradesman1 when he is reminded by a purchaser1 that the subject matter of the bargain is dearer than it used to be3 8,alas6 ,sir1 7says he7 this very article is taxed one shilling2 and1 ,sir1 ,i say nothing of that cursed shop-tax40 ,but why8 ,if the purchaser has some kind of labour1 no matter what1 and no matter how1 to dispose of1 it is evident that1 as soon as the sigh will have gone round1 the tax will be paid1 without any expence but that of some thousands of sighs exchanged by the community at large4 #i ,i must confess ,i wish also that a little time could be spared to examine whether all kinds of taxes1 already devised or to be devised1 already established or to be established1 on any other object but consumption1 whatever may be the appellation with which they may be honoured or disgraced1 from the land-tax down to the shop-tax1 are not in fact so many poll-taxes3--that is to say1 ,i wish they would be pleased to examine1 whether that man whose hand is obliged1 under pain of distress1 to give at such a day such a sum1 can1 upon due recollection1 disguise to himself that his head is as really taxed1 as if the subsidy to be paid was called a poll-tax1 or la taille4 ,if ,i am not mistaken1 the case is this3 the shopkeeper feels that he ought not to pay a tax upon his shop2 he pays it and cries out like an eagle2 he is right3 the land proprietor does not know that he ought not to pay a tax upon his land2 he pays it and says nothing2 he is wrong3 the ,minister wanted money2 he thought that nothing remained untaxed2 he suspected that the land proprietor would at last cry out as loud as the shopkeeper1 if the land-tax was increased2 he taxed the shops3 a shop1 in truth1 does not appear 7very evidently at least7 more sacred than the land upon which it is erected4--,it is not at all impossible1 but that in some few years all these misunderstandings will be talked of with as little reverence as witchcraft2 but till then1 the good mother ,nature must work underhand1 as she ever did1 and probably ever will4 #aj ,in the ,political ,arithmetic of ,mr4 ,young1 may be seen the accounts1 year by year1 whence ,i have drawn the inferences here submitted to the ,reader4 ,it is but a few days ago that ,i thought of comparing with my own ideas the result of the whole of those accounts4 #aa ,it is a very good idea1 according to the ,navigation-,act1 to restrain1 as much as possible1 the ,english sugar-colonies1 which their strongest interests attach for ever to ,england1--to restrain1 ,i say1 those sugar-colonies1 in order to enlarge the faculties of some relics of timber1 tar1 and wheat-colonies1 which their strongest interests will detach from ,england as soon as they shall be strong enough to make the best of their timber1 tar1 and wheat4 ,it is said in ,england1 that the sugar-cane planters are so immensely rich1 that they can well afford to pay #bj per cent4 dearer to their dutiful brethren1 for what they could purchase #bj per cent4 cheaper from their revolted ones4--,a sugar-cane planter1 with a clear revenue of one or ten thousand pounds sterling in sugar1 is neither more nor less rich than a freeholder in ,great-,britain1 with a clear revenue of one or ten thousand pounds sterling in wheat or grass2 the one1 as well as the other1 is every day rich by the #b or #d pounds weight of food he can digest1 and by the #f or #aj or #ae lb4 of cloaths he can wear2 the one1 as well as the other1 picks out those #aj or #bj pounds from the materials that best suit his taste or fancy4--,to the shame of thy power1 ,opulence1 here thou must stop6 huc usque venies4--,such is the truth1 no greater is the truth1 no less trivial is the truth1 before which that great globe itself1 that immense and baseless fabric of premiums1 prohibitions1 restrictions1 and so many other financiering visions--shall dissolve1 and leave not a wreck behind6