solely to material products, they too hastily laid down that all wealth comes from the earth, whereas they might have seen that all exchangeable, or valuable, things do not come from the earth. An uneasy feeling of this nature seems to have troubled at least one of the most distinguished Physiocrates, Le Trosne, who endeavours to point out why personal services are not wealth. He says that personal services are only relative to the person; they are not transmissible, or inheritable, or transferable; they do not result in a product which can be transferred, and whose value can be determined by competition; whereas, products being useful, generally have a value in themselves, and acquire one by industry which may be re-sold. But the answer to this is clear. Personal services, or labour, have a value which is determined by competition, like any other value, and if they can be exchanged once, that is quite sufficient. A baker bakes a bun, and a customer comes in and buys, and eats it. It is destroyed, and cannot be re-sold, it was only exchanged once. But had it no value? and was it not wealth? Suppose a person does a service and is paid a pound for it: and a baker sells bread to the amount of a pound, is not the service equal in value to the bread? what does it matter to either of these persons how soon their product is destroyed, so long as they are paid for it? 28. Le Trosne is equally unsuccessful in his endeavour to exclude Credit from the title of Wealth. He admits that the quality of Wealth depends purely on exchangeability. But he distinguishes between money which has intrinsic value, and bills which have only value from the presumed solvency of the debtor. Le Trosne himself says that value is not a quality absolute, and inherent in things, but proceeds entirely from exchangeability. Hence to speak of money having intrinsic value is evidently a contradiction in terms. Money has no value except that people agree to give something in exchange for it and if it were placed among people who would give nothing for it, it would have no value. A bill has value for precisely the same reason that money has, namely, that the debtor is bound to give money for it at a certain time. It is true, if the debtor fails, the bill will lose its value; but that is just what happens to money if placed where it cannot be exchanged. Hence both the money and the bill have value for precisely the same reason, and lose their value under the same circumstances. Hence it is clear that the value of money is only more general than that of a Bill. It is only a difference in degree, but not in kind. Now it is not, perhaps, to be wondered at that Quesnay, who was a physician, should not have seen clearly the nature of Credit. But Le Trosne was an advocate: he must have studied Roman Law. He must have known that Property is divided in Law, into Corporeal and Incorporeal, and he must have known that Rights, or Incorporeal Property, are expressly included under the term 66 Pecunia" or "Wealth" in Roman Law, and indeed in every system of Law, and, therefore, we may well be surprised at his feeling any difficulty about Credit being Wealth. In fact the Physiocrates fell into exactly the same error with regard to Credit, as they had delivered the world from with. respect to money. In the reaction against the Mercantile System it was said that money is only a sign, or representative, of wealth. The Physiocrates shewed that money is not a sign, or representative, of wealth, but an actual species of wealth, or merchandize, itself. But they saw that though a species of wealth itself, its only use is to be exchanged for other things; hence they repeatedly called it an Order, or Bill of Exchange, or a Title to be paid in f goods. Now Le Trosne says that Credit is not Wealth, but only a title to be paid in Wealth. 11 It is somewhat remarkable that it escaped the sagacity of the Physiocrates, that if money be an Order, or Title, or Bill of Exchange, it follows that a Bill of Exchange or other form of Credit, must be a species of money. For credit clearly bears AА the same relation to money that money does to goods. And as money is not a sign or representative of goods, so neither is credit the sign or representative of money, but is an article of separate independent value, and forms the subject of the most gigantic commerce in modern times. 29. The Physiocrate doctrine that Productive labour is only that which is employed in obtaining the produce of the earth, was not mere logomachy. They based their whole theory of taxation on it; they maintained that all taxation should be laid directly on the Produit net of land, and that all other classes of persons ought to be exempt. We must reserve any examination of this theory till the chapter on taxation. But we may simply say that, as they maintained that all commercial profits are made at the expense of the State, and opposed to the interests of the State, it seems very strange to hold that all these profits should be exempted from contributing to the wants of the State. And farther, as they held that all these profits are obtained at the expense of the original producer, it seems very strange to say that all taxation should be laid on him, and all those who make profits at his expense should go free. 30. The Physiocrates have the immortal glory of having established absolute freedom of trade in every particular, on a great moral basis, as the fundamental right of mankind, proved to be true equally by abstract reasoning and practical experience. And they only missed the glory of seeing it finally established as national policy, by the French Revolution. In 1774, Turgot, the most illustrious of the friends of Quesnay, was appointed Prime Minister of France, and had the satisfaction of abolishing all restrictions on the internal commerce, and the exportation of corn; and thus was able to gladden the heart of his dying master, by seeing the first-fruits of his philosophy. And although this great man was driven from power by the selfish aristocracy, whom he would have saved from the catastrophe that was impending over them, Free Trade doctrines had made such progress that in 1786, Mr. Pitt and the French Government concluded a treaty of Commerce and Navigation, by which all impediments to the free intercourse between the nations were abolished, and the "reciprocal and entirely perfect liberty of navigation and commerce between the subjects of each party in all and every the kingdoms, states, provinces, and territories, subject to their Majesties in Europe for all and singular kind of goods in these places" was established on the payment of moderate duties. But the deluge of the French Revolution swept away this beneficent work, and re-plunged the nations into Economic darkness, from which England only began to emerge in 1822, and the glory of finally assuring the triumph of Free Trade doctrines accrued to the disciples of the second school of Economists by the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. 31. It is sometimes urged that the Physiocrates made the science of Political Economy too dogmatic, or à priori. But this censure must be taken with a qualification. If we knew all the true principles of all things, then science would be entirely à priori. As Bacon long ago pointed out, the very perfection of science is to attain the à priori state: and the more true principles are discovered, the more it approaches the à priori state. Now the Physiocrates, contemplating the position of man on the earth, and the evident intention of the Creator, arrived at the principle inductively that Freedom of Person, Opinion, and Contract, or Exchange, are the fundamental rights of mankind, most conducive to human happiness, increase, and improvement, and that all violations of them are injurious to the human race. Adopting, then, these fundamental principles, they found a state of society existing, altogether violating these rights, and, therefore, afflicted with innumerable evils. And has not history amply vindicated their doctrines? For what have brought the greatest evils on men? Slavery, Religious Persecution, and Commercial Restrictions. During the last 1800 years, what have been the causes of the greatest number of wars? History answers-Religion and Commerce. If the doctrines proclaimed by the Physiocrates had always been held to be true, as they now are by all enlightened persons, nine-tenths of the wars which have desolated the earth during the last eighteen centuries, would never have occurred. 32. The great speculators of the middle ages held the material world in low esteem, as unworthy of the attention of philosophers. But it is the glory of the Baconian Philosophy to have extended the dominion of mind over matter, and brought into subjection, and turned to profit the forces of nature. The philosophers who proclaimed that Law is of Divine institution, and that there is a system of law, which is innately right, anterior to all human laws, confined their ideas to moral rights. But it is the glory of the Quesnayan, or Economical Philosophy, to have shewn that there is a great moral relation existing, not only among men, but connecting man with the material world, most intimately connected with the well being of the human race, which is capable of being discovered and established by human reason, as well as any of the other sciences, which are rightly considered as the h triumphs of the human intellect. Thus Bacon extended the dominion of mind over matter, and Quesnay ascertained the rights of man relating to matter. 33. The Philosophy of the Economists differs from all others. in taking the individual man as the basis of society. Almost all other systems hold the individual as subordinate to society, and it is certain that individual property is not that which originally prevailed throughout the world. But instead of sacrificing man to society, the Economists declared that society is only instituted for the purpose of preserving and defending the rights of the individual. "Governments," says Turgot, "are apt to immolate the well being of individuals to the pretended right of society. They forget that society is only made for individuals, and that it was only instituted to protect the right of all in insuring the performance of mutual duties." How much in advance of their age the Physiocrates were, can only be appreciated by those who will take the pains to acquire a knowledge of the state of society and opinion, when they lived. It is manifestly quite impossible to give any adequate picture of that in the limits of this work. It is sufficient to say that they were the leaders of mankind in that great change or movement, as it has been called, of society from Status to Contract, and their principles are constantly gaining influence throughout the world. Therefore, although certain portions of their doctrines may be erroneous, and have been set aside by subsequent Economists, they are entitled to imperishable glory in the history of mankind. ་ früher bildeten sich Staattin Jucked, getreint aus in gröffen Eint in die Schure des Andern. Dan Kamen Syrunge - Frey. Ravelut. hente türgimigen in Gavenenis iron fich Allyem. und Individuum Vermittels Affociation i versohnen sich тимут 11 |