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

"58· Qf Population, PrO'Vision,
mately converted into human provi~ion)
raised from
it, 'Of wha~ the ~ame soil yields in rt: moter and more
neglected parts of the i country. Wherever a thriving
manufactory finds means to establish itself, a
new vegetaticn springs up around it. I bdieve it is
true that agriculture never arrives at any considerable,
much less at its highest degree of perfection,
where it is not connected with trade, that is, \\'herc
the demand for the produce is not increased by the
consuillption of trading citiES.
/. Let it he rememberf:d then, that agriculture i~ the
imm~diate source of human provi~ion; that trade
conduces to the production of provision only as it
promotes agriculture; that the whole ~ystem of com ..
merce,_ vast and various as it is, hath no other public
ilJlportance than it~ subserviency to this end.}
We return to the propo~ilion we laid do-,vn, "~at
emplr)yment universally promotes population:" From
this proposition it follows} that the comparative util ..
ity of different branches of national commerce is
measured by the number which each branch cn:ploys.
. pon which principle a scale may ea~iIy be construct ..
ed, which shall a~~jgn to the several kinds and divi.
Population alwa}'s
sions of foreign trarle their respectivf' degrees of public
importance. In this scale the fir.rt place belongs
to the exchange of wrought goods for ra\v materials,
as of broad-cloth for raw :-.ilk; cutlery for wool;
clocks or watches for iron, flax~ or furs ; because this
traffic provides a market for the labour that has alrf.3ady
been expended, at the same time that it supplies
mate,ials for Dt'W industry.
flourish~s \vhere this 'pecies of commerce obtains to
. any considerable degree. It is the cause of empJ Jrment,
or the certain indication. As it takes off the"
manufacture!- of the country, it promote', employment;
as it brings ill raw materials, it, suppo~e'"' the
existence of manufactories in the country, atlJ a demand
for the article when manufactured.-rJ'he sect
ond place is due to that commerce, which barti!r~ one
specieJo. of wrou:~ht goods for another, as stuffs fo.r
talicoes, fustians for cambrics, leather for paper, Ol~