WEALTH is the means of obtaining the products of labour. An individual is rich or poor according to the quantity of the necessaries and luxuries of life which he can purchase ; and a nation is rich or poor, in the aggregate, according to its means of enjoying such advan tages. Labour is the source of wealth, and every addition to its productiveness tends to increase wealth, by lowering the cost of com modities, and rendering them more easy to be obtained. Political economy treats mainly of the means of promoting the increase of national wealth, and of removing obstructions to its development ; and it is the purpose of this article very briefly to enumerate and explain some of the chief principles of that science which bear directly upon the production of wealth. The first object is to encourage industry. This is beat done by leaving it free to obtain an adequate reward, by protecting all persons in the enjoyment of such reward, and in reducing the amount or value of it as little as possible. These encouragements can only be effectually given in a free state, and under a civilised government, where property is secure, and labour free from restraint. Insecurity of person or property, arbitrary and oppressive taxes, mono polies, restrictions upon the free exercise of skill and enterprise, are all impediments to the increase of wealth : they discourage industry by diminishing the inducement to exert it, and they restrain its pro ductive powers when exerted by thwarting the natural intelligence and activity of man in the pursuit of his own interests.
Whatever gives the best direction to industry, and facilitates its operations, is favourable to the increase of wealth. Thus tho separa tion of men into different employments is highly useful, as it perfects their skill and ingenuity in their respective arts, and causes a general economy of time. Still more useful is capital, without which division of labour cannot be extensively practised. It puts labour in motion ; combines the work of many hands ; gives means and power to inven tion; creates mechanical aids to human labour, and finally distributes by degrees what it has assisted in producing. It is capital that incites and utilises improvements in machinery. Without capital, the in ventor could not afford to give his time nor produce the improvement he had made. These improvements always occasion the employment of a more skilled, and, therefore, a better paid labour. And if they materially reduce the cost of the article produced, and it is one in large demand, they necessarily tend to the increase of the number of labourers, however much their first introduction may threaten the contrary. Facilities to the ready and effective application of capital obviously add to its utility; as credit, for example, which lends to one man the capital of another when ho can employ it more profitably and the various descriptions of money (the representatives of capital) which facilitate and cheapen the exchange of labour and its products between man and man. The higher the general rate of profits in a country may be, the more rapidly is capital likely to be accumulated ; because the majority of men are usually desirous of accumulating, and the means of doing so are evidently increased by high profits. If a profit of five per cent, upon a man's capital engaged in business enabled him to live in comfort, and to continue his business without any diminution of his capital ; a profit of ten per cent, would enable him, at the same time, to add to it five per cent. annually, to be employed in
further production and accumulation. It is clear that there can be no increase of capital in any country in which the rate of profits does not leave a surplus beyond the necessary expenses of living. In such a case capital would be stationary, while the population to be supported by it would be on the increase.
The advantages of division of labour have been already noticed. The enriching properties of commerce are of a similar character. By distinct employments labour is made more productive ; by commerce, the natural products and the peculiar arts of different countries are exchanged with mutual benefit and economy of labour to all. In France aria Spain the grape, grown in the open air, provides delicious wine : in England, to make such wine (if it could be made at all), the grape must be grown in hothouses. In England cotton goods can be manufactured more cheaply than in any country in the world. If Franco and Spain would buy them, they would save annually whatever excess of price they pay for similar goods made by themselves; while the capital and labour now applied to such mauufactures could be added to their means of production. To understand the effects of free com mercial intercourse, it is only necessary to keep iu view its analogy to the common dealings of life. No man thinks of making anything himself if he can buy i,t for less than it would cost him to make it. He continues working at his own employment, and buys the article he wants. If he did otherwise, he would lose his own profitable time and labour, and the article made by himself would take still more out of his pocket than if he had bought it; while its quality would most probably be inferior, by reason of his own want of skill and practice in that particular work. The same principle applies to. nations. Com merce extends to all countries the happy results of division of labour, instead of confining them to particular communities.
The last circumstance directly favourable to the increase of wealth, which need be noticed, is a cheap and expeditious communication, both in the interior of a country and with all parts of the world, for the transit of merchandise and for the carriage of passengers. Every deduction from the cost of an article is an addition to the national wealth, and the expense of transit forms no inconsiderable part of the ultimate charge upon the consumer. A saving of time also is an addi tion to the labour and productive energies of a country. The extra ordinary resources added to labour by facilities of travelling by the railways in Great Britain is felt by every one. The importance of cheap and rapid modes of commercial intercourse, in other points of view, need not be pointed out.
In conclusion, the advancement of general knowledge and intelli gence must be noticed as an agent in the production of wealth. It is the mind and the disciplined will of man which render all the circum stances of the world available for his benefit; and in viewing education chiefly as a social blessing, we should never forget to urge its merits as a producer of wealth, upon those who would regard its other recom mendations with less favour.