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Show 244 OF THE WAGES O:F LABOUR. [cH. IV. bility of success in them,* are all obviously of this description; and in n1any of the instances, it \Vould not be easy to account for their effects on the price of the different kinds of labour, upon any other principle. One hardly sees, for instance, \Vhy the cost of producing a po.acher should be less than that of a con1mon labourer, or the cost of producing a _coal-heaver l11l)Ch greater; yet they are paid very differently. It is not easier to resolve the effects on \vages of the stnall or great trust \vhich 1nust be reposed in a workn1an, or, the probability or in1probability of success in his trade, into the quantity of labour which has been employed to bring hin1 into the market. Adan1 Stnith satisfactorily she\vs, that the "'hole body ofla"ryers is not remunerated s~fficiently to pay the expenses -vvhich the educa- , tton of the \vhole body has cost ;t and it is obvious ~hat par~icular skill, bqth in trades and professions, ts patd htgh, with but little reference to the labour e~ployed it: acq~iring it, which, owing to superior talent, 1s often less than that \V hich is fi·e ·qu~ntly applied to the acquisition of inferior proficiency. But all these cases are accounted for in th~ ~asiest and most natural n1anner, upon the pr1nct~le o_f supply and demand. Superior artists are pal~ h1gh on account of the scanty supply of such sktll, wh~ther occasioned by unusual labour or uncommon genius, or both. Lawyers as a body, are not well· ren1unerated, because the prevalence • Wealth of Nations, B. i. ch. x. part i. p. I.S2. 6th edit. t ld. p. 161. SEC. 1.] OF 'fHE WAGES OF J::A.BOlJR. of other n1otives, besides mere gain, cro\vds the profession -vvith candidates, and the supply is not regulated by the cost of the education; and in all those instances, where disadvantao·es or difficulties . b ?f any_ k1nd accompany particular employn1ents, it 1s. obv1ous that they n1ust be paid cotnparatively htgh, bec~use if the additional remuneration were not sufficient to balance such disadvantages, the supply of labour in these departments would be deficient, as, cceteris paribus, every person would choose to engage in the most agreeable, the least difficult, and the least uncertain occupations. The deficiency so occasioned, \vhenever it occurs ·will naturally raise the price of labour; and th~ adv.ance of price, after son1e little oscillation, ,vill rest at the point \V here it is just sufficient to effect the supply required. . Adam Sn1ith has in general referred to the principle of supply and demand in cases of this kind ' but he has occasionally forgotten it:-" If one species of labour," he says, '' requires an uncomlno~ degree of dexterity and ingenuity, the esteem \Vh1ch n1en have for such talents \Vill o·ive a value h . b to t etr produce, superior to "vhat would be due to the titne en1ployed about it."* And in another place, spe.aking of China, he rernarks, " That if in such a country, (that is, a country with stationary resources,) \vages had ever been tnore than sufficient to maintain the labourer and enable hitn to bring up a family; the competi~ion of the labourers * Wealth of Nations, Book I. ch. vi. p. 71. 6th edit. :rt3 |