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Show oN THE !~!MEDIATE CAUSES [cH. VII. exactly equivalent to each othe: in excha11ge, yet ,vhy 111ay not .both be so plenttfu~ as not to con1- mancl 111ore labour, or but very ltttle more than they have cost; and in this case,.'vould the den1and for then1 be effectual? Would 1~ be such as to. encourao ·e their continued production? U nquestwnably ~ot. Their relation to each other n1ay not have changed; hut their relatio~ to the ~rat~ts of the society, their relation to bulhon, and theu re .. )ation to domestic and foreign labour, 1nay have experienced a n1ost in1portant change. . It ,vill be readily allo,ved that a ne\V con1~1od1ty throvvn into the n1arket, 'vhich, in proportion to the labour employed upon it, is of higher exchangeable value than usual, is precisely calculated to increase den1ancl; because it implies, not a mere increase of quantity, but a better adaptation .of the produce to the tastes, 'vants and consun1pt1on of the society. But to fabricate or procure coinmodities of this kind is the grand difficulty; and they certainly do not naturally and necessarily follow an accun1ulation of capital and increase of conn~odities, n1ost particularly \vhen such accutnulatron and increase have been occasioned by economy of consumption, or a discouragement to the ind~lgence of those tastes and wants, 'vhich are t 1e very elen1ents of den1and. Mr. Ricardo, though he n1ainta1•n s as a ge~ era1 position that capital cannot be redundant, is obhged to n1ake the follo\ving concession. l-Ie says, ·" There is only one case, and that ,vill be tet?po~ rary, in \Vhich the accun1ulation of capital With a SEC. III.] OF THE PROGRESS OF WEALTH. 357 ]o\V price of food n1ay be attended \Vi th a fall of profits; and that is,. when the funds for the maintenance of labour increase much more rapidly than population ;-wages will then be high and profits low. If every man were to forego the use of luxuries and be intent only on accumulation, a quantity of necessaries n1ight be produced for which there could not be any imtncdiate consumption. Of commodities so limited in number, there n1ight undoubtedly be an universal glut; and consequently there might neither be demand for an additional quantity of such cotnJnodities, nor profits on the etnployn1ent of tnore capital. If men ceased to consume, they 'vould cease to produce." Mr. Ricardo then . adds, " This adn1ission does not impugn the general principle."* In this ren1ark I cannot quite agree with him. As, fron1 the nature of population, an increase of labourers cannot be ~rought into the market, in consequence of a particular detnand, till after the lapse of sixteen or eighteen years, and the conversion of revenue into capital n1ay take place n1uch nlore rapidly; a country is ahvays liable to an increase of the funds for the maintenance of labour faster than the increase of population. But it: when ever this occurs ther~ may be a universal glut of cornn1odities, ho~ can It · be maintained, as a o·eneral position that capital is never redundant; a~1d that· because' com .. nlodities may retain the san1e relative values, a glut can only be partial, not general? • Prine. of Polit. Econ. ch. xxi. p. 364-. 2d edit. .-\A 3 |
