political economy-第3部分

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ion　has　any；　or　by　foreign　trade；　if　it　has　none。　All　the　exchanges　carried　on　within　a　country；　all　the　purchases　and　sales　which　take　place　among　Englishmen；　for　instance；　do　not　increase　the　specie　contained　within　the　shores　of　England　by　a　single　penny。　Hence　it　is　necessary　to　And　means　of　importing　money　from　other　countries；　and　trade　alone　can　do　this　by　selling　much　to　foreigners　and　buying　little　from　them。　For　in　the　same　way　as　each　merchant　in　settling　with　his　correspondent；　sees　at　the　year's　end　whether　he　has　sold　more　than　he　has　bought；　and　Ands　himself　accordingly　creditor　or　debtor　by　a　balance　account　which　must　be　paid　in　money；　so　likewise　a　nation；　by　summing　up　all　its　purchases　and　all　its　sales　with　each　nation；　or　with　all　together；　would　find　itself　every　year　creditor　or　debtor　by　a　commercial　balance　which　must　be　paid　in　money。　If　the　country　pay　this　balance；　it　will　constantly　grow　poorer；　if　it　receive　the　balance；　it　will　constantly　grow　richer。　　　　　For　a　century；　the　mercantile　system　was　universally　adopted　by　cabinets；　universally　favoured　by　traders　and　chambers　of　commerce；　universally　expounded　by　writers；　as　if　it　had　been　proved　by　the　most　unexceptionable　demonstration；　no　one　deeming　it　worth　while　to　establish　it　by　new　proofs；　when；　after　the　middle　of　the　eighteenth　century；　Quesnay　opposed　to　it　his　Tableau　Economique；　afterwards　expounded　by　Mirabeau　and　the　Abbe　de　Riviere；　enlarged　by　Dupont　de　Nemours；　and　adopted　by　a　numerous　sect　which　arose　in　France；　under　the　name　of　Economists。　In　Italy　too　this　sect　gained　some　distinguished　partisans。　Its　followers　have　written　more　about　the　science　than　those　of　any　other　sect；　yet　they　have　admitted　Quesnay's　principles　with　such　blind　confidence；　and　maintained　them　with　such　implicit　fidelity；　that　one　is　at　a　loss　to　discover　any　difference　of　principle；　or　any　progress　of　ideas　in　their　several　productions。　　　　　Thus　Quesnay　founded　a　second　system　in　political　economy；　still　named　the　territorial　system；　or　more　precisely　the　system　of　the　economists。　He　begins　by　asserting　that　gold　and　silver；　the　signs　of　wealth；　the　means　of　exchange；　the　price　of　all　commodities；　do　not　themselves　constitute　the　wealth　of　states；　and　that　no　judgment　can　be　formed　concerning　the　prosperity　of　a　nation；　from　the　abundance　of　its　precious　metals。　He　next　proceeds　to　survey　the　different　classes　of　men；　all　of　whom；　occupied　in　gaining　money；　and　causing　wealth　to　circulate；　even　when　acquiring　it　for　themselves；　are　not；　according　to　him；　occupied　with　any　thing　besides　exchange。　He　endeavours　to　distinguish　the　classes　possessed　of　a　creative　power；　it　is　amongst　them　that　wealth　must　originate；　all　the　transactions　of　commerce　appearing　to　be　nothing　else　but　the　transmission　of　that　wealth　from　hand　to　hand。　　　　　The　merchant　who　carries　the　productions　of　both　hemispheres　from　one　continent　to　the　other；　and　on　returning　to　the　ports　of　his　own　country；　obtains；　at　the　sale　of　his　cargo；　a　sum　double　of　that　with　which　he　began　his　voyage；　does　not；　after　all；　appear；　in　the　eyes　of　Quesnay；　to　have　performed　any　thing　but　an　exchange。　If；　in　the　colonies；　he　has　sold　the　manufactures　of　Europe　at　a　higher　price　than　they　cost　him；　the　reason　is；　they　were　in　fact　worth　more。　Together　with　their　prime　cost；　he　must　also　be　reimbursed　for　the　value　of　his　time；　his　cares；　his　subsistence；　and　that　of　his　sailors　and　agents　during　the　voyage。　He　has　a　like　reimbursement　to　claim　on　the　cotton　or　sugar　he　brings　back　to　Europe。　If；　at　the　end　of　his　voyage；　any　profit　remains；　it　is　the　fruit　of　his　economy　and　good　management。　The　wages　allowed　him　by　consumers；　for　the　trouble　he　has　undergone；　are　greater　than　the　sum　he　had　expended。　It　is　the　nature　of　wages；　however；　to　be　entirely　expended　by　him　who　earns　them；　and　had　this　merchant　done　so；　he　would　have　added　nothing　to　the　national　wealth；　by　the　labour　of　his　whole　life；　because　the　produce　which　he　brings　back　does　nothing　more　than　exactly　replace　the　valuE　of　the　produce　given　for　it；　added　to　his　own　wages；　and　the　wages　of　all　that　were　engaged　with　him　in　the　business。　　　　　Agreeably　to　this　reasoning；　the　French　philosopher　gave　to　transport　trade　the　name　of　economical　trade；　which　it　still　retains。　This　species　of　commerce；　he　asserts；　is　not　destined　to　provide　for　the　wants　of　the　nation　that　engages　in　it；　but　merely　to　serve　the　convenience　of　two　foreign　nations。　The　carrying　nation　acquires　from　it　no　other　profit　than　wages；　and　cannot　grow　rich　except　by　the　saving　which　economy　enables　it　to　make　on　them。　　　　　Quesnay；　next　adverting　to　manufactures；　considers　them　an　exchange；　just　the　same　as　commerce；　but　instead　of　having　in　view　two　present　values；　their　primitive　contract　is；　in　his　opinion；　an　exchange　of　the　present　against　the　future。　The　merchandise　produced　by　the　labour　of　the　artisan　is　but　the　equivalent　of　his　accumulated　wages。　During　his　labour；　he　had　consumed　the　fruits　of　the　earth；　and　the　work　produced　by　him　is　nothing　but　their　value。　　　　　The　economist　next　directs　his　attention　to　agriculture。　The　labourer　appears　to　him　to　be　in　the　same　condition　as　the　merchant　and　the　artisan。　Like　the　latter；　he　makes　with　the　earth　an　exchange　of　the　present　against　the　future。　The　crops　produced　by　him　represent　the　accumulated　value　of　his　labour；　they　pay　his　hire；　to　which　he　has　the　same　right　as　the　artisan　to　his　wages；　or　the　merchant　to　his　profit。　But　when　this　hire　has　been　deducted；　there　remains　a　net　revenue；　which　was　not　be　found　in　manufactures　and　commerce；　it　is　what　the　labourer　pays　the　proprietor　for　the　use　of　his　land。　This　revenue；　Quesnay　thinks；　is　of　a　nature　quite　different　from　any　other。　It　is　not　wages；　it　is　not　the　result　of　an　exchange；　it　is　the　price　of　the　earth's　spontaneous　labour；　the　fruit　of　nature's　beneficence；　and　since　it　does　not　represent　pre…existent　wealth；　it　alone　must　be　the　source　of　every　kind　of　wealth。　Tracing　the　value　of　all　other　commodities；　under　all　its　transformations；　Quesnay　still　discovers　its　first　origin　in　the　fruits　of　the　earth。　The　labours　of　the　husbandman；　of　the　artisan；　of　the　merchant；　consume　those　fruits　in　the　shape　of　wages　and　produce　them　under　new　forms。　The　proprietor　alone　receives　them　at　their　source　from　the　hands　of　nature　herself；　and　by　means　of　them　is　enabled　to　pay　the　wages　of　all　his　countrymen；　who　labour　only　for　him。　　　　　This　ingenious　system　totally　supplanted　that　of　the　merchants。　The　economists　denied　the　existence　of　that　commercial　balance　to　which　their　antagonists　attached　so　much　importance；　they　asserted　the　impossibility　of　that　accumulation　of　gold　and　silver　which　the　others　expected　from　it；　throughout　the　nation；　they　could　see　only　proprietors　of　land；　the　sole　dispensers　of　the　national　fortune；　productive　workmen；　or　labourers　producing　the　revenue　of　the　former。　and　a　hired　class；　in　which　they　ranked　merchants　also　denying　to　them；　as　to　the　artisans；　the　faculty　of　producing　any　thing。　　　　　The　plans；　which　these　two　sects　recommended　to　governments；　differed　not　less　than　their　principles。　While　the　mercantilists　wished　authority　to　interfere　in　every　thing；　the　economists　incessantly　repeated　laissez　faire　et　laissez　passer　（let　every　man　do　as　he　pleases；　and　every　thing　take　its　course；）　for　as　the　public　interest　consists　in　the　union　of　all　individual　interests；　individual　interest　will　guide　each　man　more　surely　to　the　public　interest　than　any　government　can　do。　　　　　An　excessive　ferment　was　excited　in　France　by　the　system　of　the　economists。　The　government　of　that　nation　allowed　the　people　to　talk　about　public　affairs；　but　not　to　understand　them。　The　discussion；　of　Quesnay's　theory　was　sufficiently　unshackled；　but　none　of　the　facts　or　documents　in　the　hands　of　the　administration；　were　presented　to　the　public　eye。　In　the　system　of　the　French　economists；　it　is　easy　to　discern　the　effects　produced　by　this　mixture　of　ingenious　theory　and　involuntary　ignorance。　It　seduced　the　people；　because　they　were　now　for　the　first　time　occupied　with　their　own　public　affairs。　But；　during　these　discussions；　a　free　nation；　possessed　of　the　right　to　examine　its　own　public　affairs；　was　producing　a　system　not　less　ingenious；　and　much　better　supported　by　fact　and　observation；　a　system　which；　after　a　short　struggle；　at　length　cast　its　predecessors　into　the　shade；　for　truth　always　triumphs　in　the　end；　over　dreams；　however　brilliant。　　　　　Adam　Smith；　author　of　this　third　system；　which　represents　labour　as　the　sole　origin　of　wealth；　and　economy　as　the　sole　means　of　accumulating　it；　has；　in　one　sense；　carried　the　science　of　political　economy　to　perfection；　at　a　single　step。　Experience；　no　doubt；　has　disclosed　new　truths　to　us；　the　experience　of　late　years；　in　particular；　has　forced　us　to　make　sad　discoveries：　but　in　completing　the　system　of　Smith；　that　experience　has　also　confirmed　it。　Of　the　various　succeeding　authors；　no　one　has　sought　any　other　theory。　Some　have　applied　what　he　advanced　to　the　administration　of　different　counties；　others　have　confirmed　it　by　new　experiments　and　new　observations；　some　have　expanded　it　by　developments；　which　flow　from　the　prin