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superintendence necessary to their labor. In a well regulated prison, they will always do this. There must always be something deeply culpable in the arrangements of such an institution, where this is not the result.

And thus, where a society is so organized, that every man is left to suffer the results of idleness; that is, where labor is made necessary to the acquisition of every thing desirable, and where the results of that labor are most perfectly secured to the laborer, there will exist the greatest stimulus to labor, and, of course, production will be most rapidly augmented.

SECTION IV.

THE GREATER THE RATIO OF CAPITAL TO LABOR, THE

GREATER WILL BE THE STIMULUS TO LABOR.

The principle to be considered in this section may be thus illustrated. Capital is useless, that is, will' yield no revenue, unless it be united with labor. A farm will yield nothing, unless it be tilled, and the grain be harvested; raw cotton and a manufactory will produce nothing, unless there be workmen to labor in it. Hence, every man who holds capital, is desirous of uniting it with industry, that he may share, with the laborers, the profits of the resulting product. On the contrary, he who has industry, is desirous of uniting it with capital, because, unless he can so unite it, it will yield nothing in return. man can earn nothing by spending his whole time in beating the air. Hence, when the number of laborers is great; that is, where labor is abundant, and the amount of capital small, there will be a competition of laborers for work, and the price of labor will fall; that is, the laborer will receive a less compensation for his work. On the contrary, when

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the number of laborers is small, and the amount of capital great, there will be competition among capitalists for labor; that is, the price of labor will rise; and the laborer will receive a greater compensation for his work. Thus, we see, the greater the amount of capital, in proportion to the number of laborers, the greater will be the rate of wages, and, of course, the stronger the stimulus to industry.

It deserves, however, to be remarked, that this principle is liable to some important modifications. Thus, it is practically true, only in so far as men continue to be operated upon by the hope of reward. When this ceases to operate, and wages are so low as to render the utmost amount of labor necessary to avoid starvation, men will work more assiduously, the lower the wages; that is, the nearer they are to actual starvation. But, to this, there is also a limit. Human beings cannot long endure great toil, under the depressing influences of despair. Many very soon die, and thus a diminished population again raises the price of labor. Another common result of such a condition of laborers, is domestic insurrection. Men who have long stood on the borders of starvation, become desperate. They know, that by no change could their condition be made worse; hence cupidi rerum novarum, they unite under any agitator who promises them bread; the whole fabric of society is prostrated; and civil war and anarchy succeed.

Another modification of this principle, is the following: I have said above, that the stimulus to labor is in proportion to the wages of labor. This will be true, only of those cases where the facilities of gratifying desire are equal. Although wages be high, yet if only few objects of desire can be procured in exchange for them, there will be wanting one important element in stimulating the human being to labor. Hence, the stimulus to labor will be the most effective, when the wages are highest, and when, by means of wages, the greatest number of desires can be gratified.

Thus, in a newly settled country of great fertility, wages are high, because a vast amount of land is open to cultivation, and a proprietor can afford to give a high price for labor. Still, industry is not active in proportion to the rate of wages, because, the desires which can be gratified in a new country are few, and a man can procure all that is attainable with a less amount of labor than he is able to exert. Hence, the reason why men labor so intensely in prosperous seasons, in large cities. The remuneration at such times is high, and the desires which wealth can gratify are innumerable. A merchant in New York, during the season of business, when profits are high, will cheerfully impose upon himself, labor, which he knows will, in all probability, ruin his constitution; labor, which, he would not, on any account, impose upon a slave.

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Hence, we see that the accumulation of capital is more for the advantage of the laborer than of the capitalist. The greater the ratio of capital to labor, the greater will be the share of the product that falls to the laborer. The greater the ratio of labor to capital, the greater will be the share of the product that falls to the capitalist. Hence, the laboring classes are really more interested in the increase of the capital of a country, than the wealthy classes. Hence, when one class of the community repine at the prosperity of another class, they repine at their own mercies, and the means of increasing their own rate of compensation.

It is, however, evident, that the accumulation of capital, in any nation, does not depend simply upon its annual production, but upon the proportion that its annual production bears to its annual expenditure. A country that annually expends all its production, let it produce ever so much, will never increase its capital. A country that produces ever so little, if it annually expend somewhat less than its revenue, will be accumulating something; and must, in progress of time, become richer than its more

highly favored neighbor. This explains the fact, that the countries blessed with the richest soils, and the greatest natural advantages, have not generally become the richest. The result has, within moderate limits, been almost the reverse.

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Hence, we see, that every mode of unnecessary expenditure, whether individual or national, by diminishing the annual accumulation of capital, tends directly to lower the rate of wages, and thus injure the condition of the laboring classes. The millions which are wasted and destroyed by intemperance, if saved, would add to the capital of a country, and thus increase the demand for labor. All unnecessary expenditure, for the maintenance of civil government, has, of course, the same tendency. Hence arises, also, one of the most afflicting consequences of war. Had the almost incalculable sums which Great Britain has expended in wars, for the last hundred years, been added to her operative capital, and, but for these wars, it would have been so added, all her inhabitants would have found, at all times, abundant employment, and, at a rate of wages, which would, by this time, have banished almost the recollection of poverty from her shores.

SECTION V.

INDUSTRY WILL BE APPLIED TO CAPITAL, IN PROPOR-
TION TO THE INTELLECTUAL IMPROVEMENT OF
A PEOPLE.

Intellectual cultivation tends to increase the industry of a people, in two ways. 1st. By exciting a people to exertion; and, 2d. By directing that exer

tion.

1. Intellectual cultivation excites a people to exertion. Ignorant men are indolent, because they know

neither the results that may be accomplished, nor the benefits that may be secured, by industry. This is one of the most common causes of the great indolence of savage nations. An Indian, who knows of no condition better than his own, of no covering better than a skin, of no habitation better than his wigwam, and of no weapon better than his bow and arrow, has no motive to industry, beyond what may be adequate to procure these simple necessaries. Let him know that, by additional effort, he can provide himself with a blanket, and, by a still additional effort, that he can exchange his bow and arrow for a rifle, and his wigwam for a comfortable house, and you present motives to additional labor. His industry will thus expand with the occasion. The case is the same with a nation, at a more advanced period of its history. Hence, the impulse which is always given to industry, by any important improvement in the intellectual character of a people. It was a knowledge of the conveniences and luxuries of the East, which the crusaders brought back to western Europe, that was the precursor and the cause of that dawning of improvement which succeeded the night of the dark ages.

2. Intellectual cultivation directs to a profitable end, the industry which it has previously excited.

Agriculture will be successfully prosecuted, only in proportion as men are acquainted with the best modes and seasons of culture, the laws of vegetable and animal physiology, and the probable existence of that demand which it will be most profitable to supply.

Manufacturing labor will be successful, in proportion as the manufacturer is able, by his knowledge, to avail himself of the improvements of other countries, to understand the laws of nature, and invent means of applying them to his own advantage, and as he is able, by his intelligence, to modify his occupation in any manner that may be for his in

terest.

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