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Show so .~ ON 'l'IIE II\11\IEDIA'J'E <..'AU SES [en. VII. war, partly by the unrecovered destructio1i \vhich it sustained during the last t\VO years of the contest, but still 1nore by the sudden \vant of consun1ptiou and detnand \vhich occurred on. its tern1ination ; how is the lost capital ever to be recovered, if \ve are not active in accun1ulation? I am very far indeed from saying that we must not accun1ulate. It is perfectly true that there is no other possible \vay of recovering our lost capital than by accu1nulation. All that I n1ean to say is, that, in looking to this most desirable object, the r~covery and increase of our capital, 've should listen to the dictates of those great general laws which do not often fail ·to direct us in the right course. If population \Vere ever so deficient in a state compared \Vith its territory, yet, if the \vages of labour still continued very scanty, and the people ,~·ere emigrating, the great general laws of den1and and supply \Voulcl instruct us that some previous change in the state of things was necessary, before we ought to \Vish for an increased proportion of n1arriages; which in fact, under the actual circutnstances, '\IVould not accomplish the object aimed at. In the sarne n1anner, if a portion of our profits be destroyed, and yet the profits of the ren1ainder are lo,v, and its en1ployment attended with such frequent losses as, joined to its tendency to emigrate, make it stationary or even retrograde; surely the great general laws of demand and supply cannot more clearly shew us that something else is wanted before ·we can accumulate with effect. SEC. X.] OF THE PROC HESS OF \VEJ\ LTH. 505 What is no\v wanted in this country is an increased national revenue,-an Increase in the e .. ,.changeable value of the whole produce estimated in bullion,-and in the co1nmand of this bullion over don1estic and foreign labour. When we have attained this, \vhich can only be attained by increased and steady profits, we may then begin again to accumulate, and our accumulation vvill then be effectual. But if, instead of saving from increased profits, 've save from diminished expenditure; if, at the very titne that the supply of co1nmodities compared with the demand for then1, clearly admonishes us that the proportion of capital to revenue is already too great, we go on saving fron1 our revenue to add still furt~1er to our capital, all general principles concur in she\lving that we must of necessity be aggravating instead of alleviating our distresses. But how, it will be asked, are' 've to obtain this increase of revenue? What steps are \\re to take in ·order to raise the exchangeable value of the whole pr~duce, and prepare the \Vay for the future saving which is ackno\vledged to be necessary? These questions I have endeavoured to answer in the latter Section of this very long Chapter On the i1nmediate Causes of the Progress of Wealth, where it has appeared that a union of the means of distribution with the powers of production is absolutely necessary to create an adequate stimulus to the continued increase of wealth ; and that the three causes, \vhich, by favouring distribution, tend |
