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Show !)7 -l SUl\IJ\fARY. l'Acm actual producers of then1 had no other motive than t.he desire of enjoying them : it is the ·want of ueces anes which tnainly stimulates the labouring cla e to produce luxuries . . · · · · . . . 379 At an ear1 y pe rl.od of cultivation' when only the nchest soils are work e d, l.t 1"s genera' lly found that the greates.t pr. op. or-tion of the p ople i e1nployed upon the land, wlnch I JUSt ccntrary to what would happen if it ·were true that, t~1e more ea:sily food is procured, the n1ore tiine will be pent 111 the production of luxurie . . . . ib. In England, which has pu hed its cultivatwn farthe~· than n1ost countries, a s1naller proportion of the people 1s employed on the land than in any large n ation of Europe, or of the world . . . . · 380 If facility of production prevents the gro,vth of .national industry, the most fertile land n1ay become practically unpro-d uct1. ve . 381 In the san1e manner, if the facility of procurin_g food creates habits of indolence in the individual, he n1ay prefer the luxury of working little to the luxury of po ses ing conve-niences and c01uforts . . . . · ib. The state of the Spani h dmninions in A1nerica, as described by I-Iuiuboldt, strongly illustrates these pos1·t 1· 0ns . . · · · 38Z frhe produce of the banana, compared with the labour employed upon it, is so prodigious, that the inhabitants of the districts where it prevails will never, it is said, be roused fr01n their excessive indolence till the cultivation of it has be en proh 1'b 1' te d . . . . . . . . · · · · · . 38:3 "fhough the labouring classes have such ample ti1ne to work f01: conveniences and cmnforts, they arc ahnost destitute of them· and fron1 in1provident habits, suffer at times even for want o' f food . . . . . . . . . · 384 Thi poverty is not confined to the lower regions of New ~pain. In ascending the Cordilleras to the fine t climates 1n the world, the state of things i not very different . · · . · 385 Maize, which is the chief food of the people on the Corchlleras, very greatly exceeds in productiveness the grains of E urope . . . . . . . . . ib. Even in Mexico sub istence may be obtaine<l by one or two 575 day8' labour in th k PAGE poor . e Wee ' yet the people are Wl'etchedly . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6 The same po~~rty prevails iu the country districts; and f~mi~e : ~rom the failure. of the crops of maize, combined with the mdolence and. improvidence of the people, are frequent, and are mentioned by Humboldt as the most desttuctive check t? pop~ation , . . , . . . • . . . • . 387 Such ~abtts of mdo!ence and improvidence necessarily act n formulable obstacles in the way of a rapid increase of wealth and population • . . . . . . • . . • . 388 Th~ in~olence of t~1e ~at~ves is aggravated b,Y their political ~1tuatwn; but still 1t y1elds to excitement and demand, as IS proved by the rapid cultivation which takes place in the neighbourhood of new mines Except in the neighbourhood of. the ~in~s, .and ~ea1: ~ea~ ib. towns, the effective demand for produce is not such as to induce the gteat prop1·ietors to bring their immense tracts of land under cultivation 389 An Indian tenant, cultivating grain, would seido;u be ~bl~ to. pay a rent equal to what the land would yield in pasture . ib. Though the landlords have ample power to support a large population on their estates, they have not the will, and under a deficiency of commerce and manufactures, Spanish America might remain for ages poor aud thinly peopled, compared with her natural resources . . . • . • • 390 The actual poverty of New Spain, compared with its powers, is justly attributed by Humboldt to a want of consumers , that is, a want of effective demand . • . , . . 392 That it is the want of demand rather than the want of capital which retards the progress of wealth in New Spain, may be inferred from the abundance of capital noticed by Hum- AI!~:t~;r, the state of Ne; S~ai~ s;ro~gl; ilius;rat~s ~liC. ib. position, that fe1·tility of soil alone is not an adequate stimulus to the increase of wealth . . . . . . . . . 393 A similar conclusion may be drawn from the state of Ireland, where the introduction of the potatoe as the general food of .the. working classes renders the labour necessary to mamta1n a family unusuaUy small 'b 1 • |