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Untitled Article
and the skill of the cultivator : land also , producing food for man , will regulate the rent of other lauds . Spontaneous products dependfbr their value on circumstances : woods , in
uncultivated countries , are a burden to the land ; in an improved country , they yield a large revenue : mines depend on various circumstances : river fisheries often produce large rents : sea fisheries in general are not appropriated , though in particular cases claimed , as national property .
But the gveat source of wealth is labour . Capital is merely accumulated labour ; by which , indeed , the possessor obtains lands , purchases implements , enjoys himself , or affords to others subsistence , till the produce of labour is disposed of . What is afforded
to others for their labour is called wages , which is regulated * like every thing else , by demand and -supply . The supply of labour , or the population , naturally tends to regulate itself by the demand j whether it should be affected by a temporary scarcity , lias been made a question , though it
certainly must follow any permanent change * Wages in general find their level in the same civil community ; though usually higher in towns than in the country - , also , where the employment is unwholesome or even disagreeable , difficult to learn , precarious , attended with considerable trust , or with any peculiar risk .
Labour is divided into productive , when the thing produced is permanent , as corn or cloth , and unproductive , where the services perish in the performance , as in the case of professions , public teachers , artists , &c * This definition of Smith ' s is liable to objection . The Economists think no labour
productive , but agricultural ; manufactures only change the form of things produced by agriculture ; commercial men send it to the consumer ; scientific men add greatly indeed to the intellectual and moral enjoyment of society , but however useful , add nothing to the stock of things produced .
Here follows , pp . 456—462 , an elaborate attempt to determine whether agriculture , or manufactures and commerce , are more conducive to the welfare of individuals , the prosperity of nations , and their absolute and relative power . The investigation is ingeniously conducted , « md teruuuuU »
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in favour of the latter- Perhaps their mutual dependence is too close arid intimate to render it expedient to consider them as opposite interests . The next inquiry is , into the causes which invigorate labour , &c . Dr
Smith ascribes this to the division of labour ; the luminous manner in which he has illustrated the effects of which , has in general afforded such pleasure to his readers- Lord Lauderdale , it seems , ascribes it to machinery , chemistry and capita ! . The author thinks
machines only a modification of the division of labour ; and , en passant , considers small farms as an exception to the advantages of the division of labour * Tiie question respecting the utility of machines is next discussed *; in the consideration of which , and whether they should be allowed , it lias often
occurred to us , tiiat it has always been too much overlooked how , supposing \ ve determine against them , are we to get rid of them ; how are we to stop the workings of the minds of ingenious men ? If a Kay invent the fly-shuttle ,
or an Arkwright the spinning-jenny , the question is not , " shall we put it down ? " for that is ynpossible ; but , " shall we take advantage of it ourr selves , as long as we can keep it , * or drive it and its inventor among our rivals abroad >"
The author next proceeds to the consideration of the various systems respecting capital , on which it-should seem that much has been advanced to puzzle an apparently plain subject . The abettors of the mercantile system make it consist in metallic currency , derived from foreign commerce : the
Economists acknowledge no othej- capital than advances on cultivation : Dr . Smith includes in capital whatever is advanced for materials , for labour , the improvement of the soil , all implements and machines for carrying on agriculture , manufactures , or commerce , and all commodities reserved
for general consumption : Lord Lauderdale limits the term capital to implements and machines : Ganilkdefines it , the accumulation of the produce of labour . Mr . Joyce goes on to represent the theories of the various writers on the
formation , employment and influence of capital , on fixed and circulating capital , on the origin of commerce , and the mercantile system , on exports
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706 Review . —Shepherd , Joyce and Carpenter ' s Systematic Education .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1818, page 706, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2482/page/42/
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