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Show 568 Ul\fMARY. l'AGJ.~ by the relative estimation in ·which they are held, evinced by their relative exchangeable va~ues . . . 338 Wealth, however, does not always Increase In proportwn to increase of value; but neither does it increase in proportion to the mere quantity of commodities, if they are not suited to the wants of the society . . · · · · · . 339 Wealth depends partly upon the quantity of produce, and partly upon such adaptation of it to the 'vants and powers of the society as to give it the greatest vaJue . . · . · • . 340 But where wealth and value are the most nearly connected, is, in the necessity of the latter to the production of the former . . . . • • . ib.' It is the value of commodities, or the sacrifice which people are willing to make in order to obtain them, that, in the actual state of things, may be said to be the sole cause of the existence of 'vealth in any quantity . . . . . . 341 'l'he market prices of commodities are the immediate causes of all the great movements of society in the production of wealth and these market. prices express their exchange-able v'a lues . . . . 342 The term value, or value in exchange, is always understood here in the enlarged sense explained in Chap. II., and nevel' in the n1ore confined sense used by Mr. Ricardo. . · 343 CHAPTER VII. ON THE IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF TI.;:E PROGRESS OF 'VEALTII. ----- SEcT. I.-Statement if the particular Object if Inquiry. The particular object of inquiry is to trace the causes wh!ch are most effective in calling forth the powers of productiOn in different countries • . · 345 Moral and political causes are, i~ this respect_, of primary i~ ... portance ; but it is intended chiefly to consider those which are more directly within the province of political economy ib. Many countries_, with great powers of production, are poor, and many, with scanty powers of production, are comparatively rich, without any very essential difference in the secqrity of property • · 34 6 lf the actual wealth of a country be not, after a certain pe- SUl\11\IARY. . 5G9 riod, in some degree proportioned to its powers of produc- PAGE tion, there must have been a want of stimulus to produce ; and the practical question for consideration isJ what is the most immediate and effective stimulus to the progress of wealth . . 347 -- SEcT. II.-Of an Increase of Population considered as a Stimulus to the continued Increase if 1Vealtlt. If want alone) or the desire of the necessaries of life among the labouring classes, were a sufficient stimulus to production_, the earth would have been comparatively full of inhabitants 347 A man whose only possession._ is his labour can make no ef- . fectual demand for produce if his labour be not wanted . 348 To justify the employn1ent of capital, there must be a demand for the produce of it_, beyond that which may be created by the demand of the workmen employecl . 349 The efl·ect of the increase of population to raise profits by lowering wages must be very limited) and must soon be checked by want of demand ib. By a reference to experience) it will be found that those states often make the slowest progress in wealth where the sti- . mulus arising from population alone is the greatest . 350 The practical question is) whether the pre~sure of the population hard against the limits of subsistence is an adequate stimulus to the increase of wealth ? And the state of most countries of the world determines the question in the negative 351 SEcT. III.-Of Accumulation, or th.e Saving .f1'om Recenue to add to Capital, considered as a Stimulus to the Increase qf 1Vealth. Those 'vho reject mere population as. an adequate stimulus to the increase of wealth make every thing depend upon accumulation; and there is certainly no other mode of increasing capital than the saving fron1 revenue to add to it 351 But we have to inquire what it is that disposes nations to accumulate_, and renders accumulation effective to the con-tinued increase of wealth 352 |