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Show 466 ON THE IMl\IEDIATE CAUSES [CH. VI'L habits, they ~ould not afford a~ adequate 1narket to each other by exchanging thetr several products. There rnust therefore be a considerable class of other consumers, or the mercantile classes could not continue extending their concerns, and realizino- their profits. In this class the landlords no doub~ stand pre-eminent; but if the P?wers of production amono- capitalists are cons1derable, the consumption ;f the landlords, in additio~ to that of the capitalists then1selves and of theu \VOI:k ... men, n1ay still be insufficient to keep up and Increase the exchanaeable value of the whole pro- o . duce, that is, to make the increase of quantity more than counterbalance the fall of price. And if this be so, the capitalists cannot ~ontinue the same habits of saving. They must either consume 111ore, or produce less; and \vhen the mere pleasu1~e of present expenditure, 'vithout the accoinpanitnents of an in1proved local situation and a.n advance in rank, is put in opposition to the cont1nued labo~r of attendino· to business during the greatest part of the day, tht)e probability is that a cons1'd er-able body of then1 will be induced to prefe~ tl:e latter alternative, and produce less. But If, In order to balance the demand and supply, a permanent din1inution of production takes place, rather than an increase of consun1ption, the whole of the national wealth, which consists of what is produced and consumed and not of the excess of produce above consun1p' ti<;>n, will be decidedly diminish.ed. 1VIr. Ricardo frequently speaks, as 1" f savl.f lOb ' were an end instead of a n1eans., Yet even with SEC. IX.] OF THE PROGRESS OF WEALTH. 467 regard to individuals, where this view of the subject is nearest the truth, it must be allo·w·ed that the final object in saving is expenditure and enjoyment. But, in reference to national wealth, it can never be considered either in1n1ediately or permanently in any other light than as a means. It may be true that, by the cheapness of commodities, and the consequent saving of expenditure in consumption, the san1e surplus of produce above consutnption may be obtained as by a great rise of profits with an undin1inished consutnption; and, if saving were an end, the same end 'vould be accomplished. But saving is the means of furnishing an increasing supply for the increasing national wants. If however commodities are already so plentiful that an adequate portion of them is not consumed, the capital so saved, the office of which is still further to increase the plenty of commodities, and still further to lower already lo\v profits, can be con1paratively of little use. On the other hand, if profits are high, it is a sure sign that commodities are scarce, co1npared with the den1and for them, that the wants of the society are clan1orons for a supply, and that an increase in the means of production, by saving a considerable part of the new revenue created by the high profits, and adding it to capital, will be specifically and perm a nen tl y beneficial. National savino- therefore, considered as the means of increaseco!' production, is coi1fincd WJ.~ h"I n much narrower litnits than individual saving. While son1e individuals continue to spend, other HH2 |