Chapter 19 Chapter I The Natural Accumulation of Wealth

The trade between the city and the country is an important business in a civilized society.The medium of this commercial exchange is both raw products and manufactured goods, and money.What the country supplies to the city are means of subsistence and materials of manufacture; and what the city supplies to the country is a part of manufactured goods.If a city were engaged in neither the production of means of subsistence nor any other production, the country would have to furnish almost all the wealth and means of subsistence it requires. But this alone does not mean that the gain of the city is the loss of the countryside, and the relationship between the two is mutual.The division of labor works here as it does elsewhere, namely, to the advantage of the various occupations of the inhabitants.It is better for the country dwellers to exchange with the townspeople than to make the manufactures they want themselves, because this enables them to exchange a smaller produce of their labor for a greater quantity of manufactures.The remaining products in the countryside can be taken to the cities to exchange for the items they need.The extent of the market for the surplus produce of the countryside depends on the number of inhabitants of the town and their income.The larger the number of urban residents and their income, the wider the scope of the market and the more beneficial it is to the general public.Corn sold a mile from the city as it was twenty miles from the city sold for the same price in the market.But the selling price of the latter generally affords the ordinary profit of agricultural capital, in addition to compensating the expense of its production and bringing to market.The farmers and cultivators in the vicinity of the cities, therefore, receive from their corn both the ordinary profit of the agricultural stock, and the cost of the carriage; and, besides, they save in the purchase of these things the expense of long-distance transport.

If you compare the cultivation of the villages in the vicinity of the cities with those remote from them, you will see that the commerce of the cities is to the advantage of the country.Urban-rural commerce is not only beneficial to the countryside, but also to the cities. I am afraid that even the various fallacies that propagate the trade balance dare not deny this beneficial effect. From the comparison of the nature of things, the means of subsistence must be produced in priority over convenience and luxuries.Therefore, the production of means of subsistence must also have priority over the industries of convenience and luxuries.That is to say, the cultivation and improvement of the country must take precedence over the increase of luxuries and conveniences.Rural residents can produce surplus products that can be consumed by urban residents only if they maintain their own livelihood.Therefore, only when the surplus products in the countryside increase, can we consider adding urban facilities.However, since the supply of urban means of subsistence need not necessarily be in the vicinity or even in the country of the country, but may also be elsewhere, this exception, though not universal, has produced the progress of prosperity and progress in all ages and countries. difference.

The preference for rural development over urban development, while a necessity in most countries, all countries have their own natural factors that facilitate its realization.As long as human nature is not suppressed by man-made systems, before the land is fully reclaimed and improved, the progress of the city will not exceed the limit that the cultivation and improvement of the countryside can support.Where profits are nearly equal, there must necessarily be a greater number of persons who prefer to invest in the cultivation and improvement of the land, than in industry and foreign commerce.If capital is invested in land, the investor can inspect it more directly, and his property is therefore more secure than the merchant's capital.The capital of a merchant is not only constantly exposed to the turmoil of commerce, but is also constantly at risk from other artificial uncertainties.The reason is that businessmen often have to lend money to people in remote suburbs they are not familiar with, so it is inevitable that they will do some stupid or even improper behaviors and thus be in danger.On the contrary, the landlord's capital can be fixed in the improved products of the land, and can obtain the greatest artificial security.Besides, the country has beautiful scenery, and life in the country can be very pleasant and peaceful; and if the independence that the country offers is not artificially persecuted, everyone is likely to be attracted by this great charm of the country. absorb.Since cultivating the land is the original goal of man, this primitive occupation will be popular as long as there are human beings.

If there is a shortage of craftsmen in farming, then in the process of farming, there will inevitably be many inconveniences, and even the farming will stop working from time to time.Whether it is the services of blacksmiths, carpenters, wheelwrights, plowmen, masons, bricklayers, tanners, or those of shoemakers and seamstresses, the farmers may be in demand.Out of the need to help each other, and because they don't have to live in a certain place like farmers, these craftsmen will naturally gather together in the same place, eventually forming a small town or village.Later, there appeared not only butchers, brewers, and bakers, but also other artisans and retailers who had to supply some impromptu needs.Since they joined, the town has grown in size.Villagers and citizens can provide services to each other.For example, the native products produced by the villagers can be exchanged for manufactured products in the towns.It is through this exchange that the citizens have the materials for work and life, and the quantity of these materials depends on the quantity of finished products that the citizens sell to the villagers.The townspeople, therefore, can only increase their materials and food in proportion to the increase of the countryman's need for manufactured goods.And the degree to which the countryman wants manufactured goods grows in proportion to the development of cultivation and improvement.Therefore, in so far as human institutions do not disturb the natural course of things, the growth of country cultivation and improvement results in an increase in the wealth and size of the cities in proportion to the development of country cultivation and improvement.

In England's North American colonies there were uncultivated lands, though they were readily available for purchase, but no manufactures for export existed in any town.The artisan of North America, when he possesses more capital than is required by his trade for the supply of the neighboring country, does not think of establishing a factory for export, but prefers to employ the surplus means in the purchase or improvement of uncultivated land. On the way, from a mechanic to an agriculturist.When the wages of an artisan are so high that, if it would enable him to live comfortably, he would not be able to induce him to work for someone else, he generally does it for himself.Because, in his view, artisans are just servants who depend on their employers for a living, while farmers who cultivate their own land can get food and clothing from their own family's labor and are real masters independent of the world.

Conversely, when the land in a country has been cultivated or is not readily available for purchase, if the artisan's capital cannot be fully invested in those businesses that are always needed in the neighboring areas, then he will use the rest of his capital to expand the business of exporting. .For example, blacksmiths will start their own ironworks, and weavers will start linen or woolen mills.All kinds of manufacturing industries will slowly carry out a precise division of labor as time goes by, and use various methods that everyone can easily think of to improve production. In cases where the profits are approximately equal, men prefer the former to manufac- turing and foreign trade, just as men prefer agriculture to manufac- turing .The capital of a landowner or farmer is more secure than that of a manufacturer.In the same way, the capital of a manufacturer is more secure than that of a foreign trade, because it can always be inspected.It is true that the surplus of native produce and manufactures of society in every age, that is, that which exceeds domestic needs, must be sent abroad to be exchanged for other goods for domestic consumption.It does not matter whether the capital which sends the surplus produce abroad is domestic or foreign.When the capital of the country is not sufficient to cultivate all the land and manufacture all the original produce, it is extremely advantageous to the country to use foreign capital to transport the surplus of the native produce of the country to foreign countries.Because, with this kind of capital, all the capital of the country can be invested in more beneficial uses.Even if a country's export industry is mostly run by foreigners, the country's citizens can still be very wealthy. This can be fully proved by the wealth of China, India and ancient Egypt.Had the colonies of North America and the West Indies been able to export their surplus by means of native capital, their progress would have been much slower.

Judging from the natural tendency of the development of things, advanced societies invest the greater part of their capital first in agriculture, then in industry, and finally in foreign trade.I believe that the capitals of all independent societies will always be employed to some extent in this most natural order.For, only after some land has been reclaimed first, more cities can gradually be established, and then there can be rough urban manufactures, and gradually some people who are willing to devote themselves to foreign trade. This natural sequence has occurred to varying degrees in all progressive societies.But the situation in many countries of Europe today seems to be quite the reverse of this natural order.Most of the local fine manufactures, or manufactures suitable for export, have been introduced by foreign trade, and have brought about great improvements in agriculture.This order was enforced by the customs and habits of the ruling class at that time, and it was a degenerate order against nature.Although the rule has since changed greatly, the custom has changed little.