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Show 578 SUM"l\IAR • l'AG'fo~ By the application of machinery to the n1in of America, the l{ing of pain might obtain .gr at "':'ealth.; but the advantage would be cmnparatively nothmg, 1f the products could not be exported for a marl t . . 410 If, in this country, the products of our machinery c~uld not be exportE-d, there arc no plausible grounds for ayt~g. that the capitals thrown out of e1nployn1ent would a cffectJvely increase the national rev nuc . ib. A country has unquc tionably the power of con uming all it produces, and it ha al o the pow r of a~plying n:uch more labour than it actually applie to prodnctwn; but 1t docs not follow that these power will be put into activity without the usual excitements . . 411 The presumption always i , that facility of production wi~l open adequate markets ; but it n1u t be allowed that, 1f it does not, its advantages are in a gr at degree lost . . 412 Accumulation of capital, fertility of soi 1.1 nnd invention to save labour, arc the three cau cs n1o t dir c.t.ly favourable to production ; but as they all act in the san1c di~cction, and without reference to demand, th y cannot afford an adequate stimulus to the continued increase of wea1 t1 1 . . 413 SEcT. VI.-Of the Necessity of a Union if tlw Powers of Prod?J,Ction witlt tlw Means if Distribution, in order to ensure a continued Increase of Ul'ealtlt. To give effect to the pow rs of production, it is necessary that there should be such a di tribution of the produce, and such an adaptation of it to the wants of tho c who are to consume it as constantly to increase its exchangeable value . ) · · 413 'l'he stimulus to the increase of particular commodities is an increase in their marl et prices ; and in the same way, the greatest stimulus to the increase of the whole produce of a country, is an increase of its value, from a better distribution of it before more labour and capital have been employed . ' . . . . . . . . . . · · · · · 414 If the produce of a country were so distributed as not to be suited to the wants and tastes of the con umers, it would greatly fall in value ; and if it were distributed so as to SUMMARY. 579 be better suited to their wants and tastes PAGE value . . . . . ' it would rise in Upon th~ ~mprovement ~f ~he. co~~u~ica~io~s ~iti. the ~e~ 414 tropohs In this country, by turnpil\e roads and canals the W~lole value of the pro~uce rose considerably, and en~ourag~ ment was given to the employment of a greater capital . . . . . . . . The exchangeable value of the whoie p. roduce of a country ib. may be measured for short periods by bullion . . F 1 . 415 or o~ger periods it may be measured by the labour, do-m~ stiC and foreign, which the bullion price of the produce w1ll command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 General we~Ith, like particular portions of it, will always fol-low effective demand. When the whole produce will comm~ ncl more labour, wealth will increase; when it will command Jess, the progress of wealth will be checke~ . . 417 Mr. Ricardo states that a given quantity of necessaries will set in motion the same labour, whether they have been produced by the exertions of a hundred or two hundred men . but this cannot be true, unless we suppose that the real "Yages of labour are every where, and at all times, alike . ib. In the case of a diminished demand for produce, the capitalist would soon lose both the will and the power to employ the same quantity of labour as before . . . 418 An increase in the value of the produce estimated in labour seems to be absolutely necessary to an unchecked increase of wealth; and to support this value, it is necessary that there should be such a distribution of the produce as to effect a proper proportion between produce and consump-tion . 419 If this value cannot be maintained under a rapid conversion of revenue into capital, how is that saving, which is acknowledged to be necessary, to take place without producing the diminution of value apprehended ? It may take place, and generally does take place, in consequence of a previous increase of revenue. It is this previous increase which gjves the great stimulus to accumulation and ib. makes it effective in the continued production of wealth . ib. M. Sismondi limits the value of the produce of any year to p p 2 |
