PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

40'>2
Of Population, Pro1Jision,
tivation. The same objection is applk~bk to the
ho!dinl) of lands by fo~'e~~n proprietors, and in some
degrees '.(l estates of ~oo great extent being placed in
the saDie hand~.
(' III. Beside the production of provision, there re ...
Imaills to be considered tile D18TRIBUTION.-It is in
vai!l that provisions abound in the country, unless I
be ab!e to obtain a share of them.. This reflection
belo~gs to every tndIvidual. ,The plenty of provision
produces, the qu~ntity of th.e public stock, afI:~rds
subsistence to individual" and encouragelnent to the
formation of families, only in proportifJn as it ~~ distributed,
that is, in proportion as these indivicl lla)s are
allowed 10 draw from it a ~upply of ,heir ow_vn wants.
(the distribution, t~erefor.e, becomes of ~qual consequence
to populatIon WIth the production. Now,
there is but one principle of distribution that can
. ever become universal, namely, the Principle of ~ e~­
_~an~J or, in other words, that every man have
----something to give in return for what he wants.
Bounty, however it may come in aid of another
principle, however it may occasionally qualify· the
rigour, or supply the imperfection of an established
rule of distribution, can llever itseJf become that rule
or principle; because mt-.l will not work to give the
produce of their labour away. M~)reover, the only
equivalents that can be offered in exchange for pro­
\
(
vision 9 are pfY1.lJcr and labour. AIJ.J?roper90Vo~e! e
· What we call property in land IS the power to use
it, and to exclude o!hers from the use. Money is
the representative of power, because it is converti~
ble into power: the value of it consists in its faculty
of procuring power over things and persons. But
power which results from civil conventions, and of
this kind is what we call a man's fortune or estate,
is necessarily confined to a few, and is withal soon
exhausted : whereas the capacity of labour is eyery
man's natural possession, and composes a constant and
renewing fund_e
The hire, therefore, or produce of
personal i~dustry, is that which the bulk of every
community must bring to market, in exchange for