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Show 5 2 SUMMARY. PAOE Under the e ch~umstances, it might be ra h to conclude that the abolition of the right of primogeniture wonld increase the wealth of the country ; but if we could con1e to this conclusion) it would not determine the policy of a change 437 There is reason to think that the British constitution could not be maintained without an ari tocracy; and an effective ari tocracy could not be maintained without the right of primogeniture . ib. It is not ea y to say to what extent the abolition of the law of primogeniture would divide the landed property of the country; but the division would probably be unfavourable to good government . . 438 Although therefore a more equal distribution of landed propeity might be better than that whicl1 actually prevails, it might not be wi e to abolish the law of primogeniture . 439 But whatever laws may prevail) the principle will remain true, that the clivi ion of landed property is one of the great means of distribution which tends to keep up and increase the exchangeable value of the whole produce ib. SECT. VIII.-Of the Distribution occasioned by Commerce, internal and external, Considered as the Means of increasing the exchangeable Value ~f Produce. Every exchange which takes place in a country effects a distribution of its commodities better adapted to the wants of the society, and calculated to give a greater market value to the whole produce . . . 440 The Economists insisted that commerce only equalized prices which were in some places too high, and in some too low; but the efl'ect of an advantageous exchange is to in-crease the amount of the value of both products . 441 If internal comn1erce did not tend to increase the value of the national produce, it would not be carried on ; as it is out of this increase that the merchants concerned are paid . ib. If it be allowed that the industry of a country is determined by the extent of its capital) still the value of the revenue so derived must depend upon the way in which this capital is employed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 !he whole produce of a nation may be said to have a market SUl\11\IARY. 583 , , , . PAGE ~l'1ce In money and labour. When this price rises, produce Increases; when it falls, the increase of produce is ch cl cd 443 It is only by referring commoditic to a circulating medium that we can ascertain whether they arc so distributed a to command a greater quantity of domestic and foreign la-bour . . 444 }"'rom the harve t of 1815 to the harvest of 1816, the funds for the maintenance of labour were more plentiful than usual, yet, from defective distribution, they w uld not c m-mand so much labour as before ib. W c have no right to assume that a great p1:oduce will always be effectively distributed and consumed. If the whole produce falls in money value, the distribution mu t be such as to lower profits and to discourage production . 446 Referring to labour as the final measure of the value f the whole produce, its bullion value should be previou lyreferred to, in order to ascertain whether its distribution be such as to enable it to command labour in some proportion to its quantity . . 447 The distribution of commodities, occasioned by internal trade, is the first step towards any considerable increase of wealth and capital . 44 The motives which lead to foreign commerce arc the same as those which lead to an extension of the horne tradenamely, an increase of profits, or the prevention of that fall which wuuld otherwise have taken place . ib. Mr. Ricardo says, that no extension of foreign commerce can immediately increase the amount of value in a country; but this is quite contrary to facts, according to the common rneaning of the term used . 449 A present from a foreign country, or the unusual gain~ of a prosperous adventure, may enrich some merchants, w1tlwut proportionately impoveri hing others, and therefore may increase the value of the \Vhole . . . . · · · · · 450 The increased value so obtained will either command more labour, or pay the former quantity of labour better . . 451 'fhougl~ the quantity of money be not immediate~y incrca ed, yet the whole produce will be e timated at a lughcr value . 452 P IJ 4 |
