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Show 46 DEFINITIONS OF WEALTH , [cH. I. riched by then1? 'vhereas the labour 'vhich is the necessary condition of the supply of n1aterial objects is estimated in the price at 'vhich they are sold,. and 1nay fairly be presun1ecl to add to the "\vealth of the country an an1ount at least equal to the value paid for such labour. And probably, \\tTith few or no exceptions, it is only the kind of labour 'vhich is realized upon 111aterial products that is at' once susceptible of accutnulation and definite valuation. It has been observed by Monsieur Garnier in his valuable edition of the IVealth oJ Nations, that it seen1s very strange and inconsistent to denoininate musical instruments riches, and the labour which produces them productive, while the music 'vhiclt they yield, and 'vhich is the sole object for which they are tnade, is not to be considered in the san1e light; and the performers, who can alone put then1 to their proper use, are called unproductive labourers.* But the difference bet\veen material products and those which are not matter sufficiently warrants the distinction in point of precision and consistency; and the utility of it is imn1ediately" obvious fron1 the facility of giving a definite valuation to the instruments, and the absolute impossibility of giving such a valuation to all the tunes which may be played upon then1. It has also been observed by the same authority that it is still n1ore inconsistent to deno1ninate the clerk of a n1erchant a productive labourer, and a * Vol. V. Note xx. SEC. 11.] AND PRODUCTIVE LABOUR. 47 clerk .. en1ployed by the government, ,vho may in some cases· have precisely the same kind of business to do,' an unproductive labourer:~~ ,.fo this, however, it tnay be replied, that in all business conducted vvith a vievv to the profit of individuals, it may fairly be presutned that there are no more clerks or labourers of any kind en1 played, nor with higher salaries, than necessary. But the same presumption cannot be justly entertained \Vlth regard to the-business of governn1ent; and as the results of the labours of its servants are not btought to tnarket, nor their salaries distributed 'vith the satne rigid attention to the exchangeable value of their services, no just criterion is afforded for detennining this value. At the same titne it n1ay be remarked, that if a servant of governtnent perfonns precisely the san1e kind of labour in the preparation or superintendance of material products as the servant of a merchant, he ought to be considered as a productive labour~r, and one among the · nun1erous instances 'vhich are al,vays occurring of productive labourers, or labourers occasionally productive, to be found amongthose classes of society 'vhich, \vith regard to the great tnass of their exertions, n1ay with propriety be characterized as unpi:oductive. This kind of exception must of course frequently happen, not only an1ong ' the servants of governn1ent, but throughout the 'vhole range of tnenial service, and in every other situation in society. Almost every * Vol. V. Note xx. |
