In the third place, infinitely more must be ascribed to our improvements in machinery, and our consequent saving of labour, than to either of the preceding causes ; though, if we trace this cause up to its source, we shall find, that these improvements in machinery, and this saving of labour, would not have taken place, unless the manufacturers had been protected by a free government ; and probably not unless they had been further protected by duties on foreign goods, and bounties and drawbacks on their own. But whatever may have been the dis posing causes of these improvements in machinery, by which so much labour is saved, there can be no doubt, that to them we should mainly ascribe the flourishing state and extent of our manufactures at present. It is sufficiently obvious, that men will prefer those articles, whether of necessity, comfort, or luxury, which are of fered to them of the best quality, and at the cheapest rate ; and it is equally obvious, that cheapness of price must depend, in a great measure, on the smallness of the quantity of labour by which they are produced, or on the low rate of wages or mercantile profit. The low rate of mercantile profit will afterwards be considered ; but with respect to the low rate of wages, it may be re marked, that where it exists, the workmen are dispirit ed, and by no means disposed to exert themselves with that industry, attention, and skill, which are requisite to produce articles of a superior quality; but by the intro duction of machinery, though the rate of the workmen's wages is high, the actual sum of wages which enters into the price of any article is very low : Thus machi nery at once enables the manufacturer to sell his goods cheaper, and to continue the same rate of wages, or per haps to increase it, to his work people.
In the fourth place, the immense capital possessed by the manufacturers of this country must be regarded as one cause of the flourishing state of our manufactures. This acts, in many respects, in the same manner as ma chinery ; by enabling the possessor of it to buy his raw material cheaper than he could otherwise do, it enables him to sell it cheaper. He can also afford to give longer credit, which is, in fact, to sell goods cheaper.. But the most striking analogy between the effects of large capi tal and of machinery, remains yet to be pointed out and explained. We have just seen, that where machinery is used in the manufacture of goods, the value of the la bour which enters into the price of those goods is much diminished, though the wages of the labourers continue the same ; in like manner, when a manufacturer is pos sessed of a large capital, the rate of profit which he de rives from the sale of his goods may be diminished, and yet his actual pl'ofit may remain the same ; so that he can, by means of his capital, afford to sell his goods cheaper, and yet derive the same pecuniary benefit from his trade, which he did before his capital was increased. It is obvious also, that as the possession of a large capi tal is necessary to the erection and maintenance of ma chinery, and to the payment of the numerous labourers which it requires, capital, in this view of it, may be re garded as contributing to a diminution of price, and to superiority of quality, and consequently to an extension of demand, of trade, and of profit.
In the fifth place, the division of labour is carried much further in this country than in any other part of the world ; on the consequences of this, so far as regards dispatch and dexterity (whatever may be its effects on the mind,) it is unnecessary to enlarge.
Lastly, besides these causes of the present flourishing state of the manufactures of this nation, all of which have been frequently pointed out and explained, there seems to us to be another cause which has not been suf ficiently attended to and appreciated, in considering this subject. It is, we believe, generally admitted, that an English labourer will work with much greater and longer continued exertion than the labourers of most other nations. In two respects he is supetior to them : in the first place, he possesses more activity and energy, both of body and mind, than the labourers of those na tions who can plod at their work with equal steadiness, and for an equal length of time. ; and in the second place, he more than compensates for that superior quick ness and agility of body and mind, which the labourers of France and some other countries display, by the steady and unremitted nature of his exertions. Such is the character of the English labourers in general ; but it is obvious and natural, that this character will not display itself fully and permanently in action, unless there are circumstances sufficiently powerful to bring it forth ; or, in other words, that the English labourer, like all other men, requires a powerful stimulus to induce him to work, with all the activity, energy, and steadiness of which he is capable. It was therefore desirable that his reward should be in exact proportion to his services ; but in the case of his being paid by the clay, this could not be the case, as his reward then was in proportion to the time lie was employed, not in proportion to the quantity of work which he performed. Accordingly it was the interest of the master to pay his workmen by the piece ; nor was it less their interest to accede to this proposition, since thus they were enabled to acquire more wages than they could possibly do when paid by the day. This system of task work, so common in al most all the branches of our manufactures, must there fore be considered as one of the causes of the cheap ness, if not of the excellence, of the articles they pro duce ; since, where a master pays his workmen in this manner, he is certain of getting a greater quantity of woi k done for the same money than if lie had paid them by the day, and consequently can afford to sell his goods at a cheaper rate ; while the workmen, feeling a more direct and deep interest in what they are about, will work with mot e spirit and enterprize.