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unemployed will be developed; and especially because the reciprocal



exchange between manufacturing power and agricultural power is so



much greater; the closer the agriculturist and manufacturer are



placed to one another; and the less they are liable to be



interrupted in the exchange of their various products by accidents



of all kinds。



    In my letters to Mr。 Charles J。 Ingersoll; President of the



Society for Promoting Arts and Industries in Philadelphia; of the



year 1828 (entitled; 'Outlines of a New System of Political



Economy'); I tried to explain the advantages of a union of the



manufacturing power with agriculture in one and the same country;



and under one and the same political power; in the following



manner。 Supposing you did not understand the art of grinding corn;



which has certainly been a great art in its time; supposing further



that the art of baking bread had remained unknown to you; as



(according to Anderson) the real art of salting herrings was still



unknown to the English in the seventeenth century; supposing;



therefore; that you had to send your corn to England to be ground



into flour and baked into bread; how large a quantity of your corn



would not the English retain as pay for the grinding and baking;



how much of it would the carters; seamen; and merchants consume;



who would have to be employed in exporting the corn and importing



the bread; and how much would come back into the hands of those who



cultivated the corn? There is no doubt that by such a process the



foreign trade would receive a considerable impetus; but it is very



doubtful whether this intercourse would be specially advantageous



to the welfare and independence of the nation。 Consider only in



case of a war breaking out between your country (the United States)



and Great Britain; what would be the situation of those who



produced corn for the English mills and bakehouses; and on the



other hand the situation of those who had become accustomed to the



taste of the English bread。 Just as; however; the economical



prosperity of the corn…cultivating interest requires that the corn



millers should live in its vicinity; so also does the prosperity of



the farmer especially require that the manufacturer should live



close to him; so also does the prosperity of a flat and open



country require that a prosperous and industrial town should exist



in its centre; and so does the prosperity of the whole agriculture



of a country require that its own manufacturing power should be



developed in the highest possible degree。



    Let us compare the condition of agriculture in the vicinity of



a populous town with its condition when carried on in distant



provinces。 In the latter case the farmer can only cultivate for



sale those products which can bear a long transport; and which



cannot be supplied at cheaper prices and in better quality from



districts lying nearer to those who purchase them。 A larger portion



of his profits will be absorbed by the costs of transport。 He will



find it difficult to procure capital which he may employ usefully



on his farm。 From want of better examples and means of education he



will not readily be led to avail himself of new processes; of



better implements; and of new methods of cultivation。 The labourer



himself; from want of good example; of stimulus to exertion; and to



emulation in the exercise of his productive powers; will only



develop those powers inefficiently; and will indulge himself in



loitering about and in idleness。



    On the other hand; in the proximity of the town; the farmer is



in a position to use every patch of land for those crops which best



suit the character of the soil。 He will produce the greatest



variety of things to the best advantage。 Garden produce; poultry;



eggs; milk; butter; fruit; and especially articles which the farmer



residing at a distance considers insignificant and secondary



things; will bring to the farmer near the town considerable profit。



While the distant farmer has to depend mainly on the mere breeding



of cattle; the other will make much better profits from fattening



them; and will thereby be led to perfect his cultivation of root



crops and fodder。 He can utilise with much profit a number of



things which are of little or no use to the distant farmer; e。g。



stone; sand; water power; &c。 The most numerous and best machines



and implements as well as all means for his instruction; are close



at hand。 It will be easy for him to accumulate the capital



necessary for the improvement of his farm。 Landed proprietors and



workmen; by the means of recreation which the town affords; the



emulation which it excites among them; and the facility of making



profits; will be incited to exert all their mental and bodily



powers for the improvement of their condition。 And precisely the



same difference exists between a nation which unites agriculture



and manufactures on its own territory; and a nation which can only



exchange its own agricultural products for foreign manufactured



goods。



    The whole social state of a nation will be chiefly determined



by the principle of the variety and division of occupations and the



cooperation of its productive powers。 What the pin is in the pin



manufactory; that the national well…being is to the large society



which we term 'the nation。' The most important division of



occupations in the nation is that between the mental and material



ones。 Both are mutually dependent on one another。 The more the



mental producers succeed in promoting morality; religion;



enlightenment; increase of knowledge; extension of liberty and of



perfection of political institutions  security of persons and



property within the State; and the independence and power of the



nation externally  so much greater will be the production of



material Wealth。 On the other hand; the more goods that the



material producers produce; the more will mental production be



capable of being promoted。



    The most important division of occupations; and the most



important co…operation of productive powers in material production;



is that of agriculture and manufacture。 Both depend mutually upon



one another; as we have shown。



    As in the pin manufactory; so also in the nation does the



productiveness of every individual  of every separate branch of



production  and finally of the whole nation depend on the



exertions of all individuals standing in proper relation to one



another。 We call this relation the balance or the harmony of the



productive powers。 It is possible for a nation to possess too many



philosophers; philologers; and literati; and too few skilled



artisans; merchants; and seamen。 This is the consequence of highly



advanced and learned culture which is not supported by a highly



advanced manufacturing power and by an extensive internal and



external trade; it is as if in a pin manufactory far more pin heads



were manufactured than pin points。 The surplus pin heads in such a



nation are: a mass of useless books; subtle theoretical systems;



and learned controversies; through which the mind of the nation is



more obscured than cultivated; and is withdrawn from useful



occupations; consequently its productive powers are retarded in



their progress almost as much as if it possessed too many priests



and too few instructors of youth; too many soldiers and too few



politicians; too many administrators and too few judges and



defenders of justice and right。



    A nation which only carries on agriculture; is an individual



who in his material production lacks one arm。 Commerce is merely



the medium of exchange between the agricultural and the



manufacturing power; and between their separate branches。 A nation



which exchanges agricultural products for foreign manufactured



goods is an individual with one arm; which is supported by a



foreign arm。 This support may be useful to it; but not so useful as



if it possessed two arms itself; and this because its activity is



dependent on the caprice of the foreigner。 In possession of a



manufacturing power of its own; it can produce as much provisions



and raw materials as the home manufacturers can consume; but if



dependent upon foreign manufacturers; it can merely produce as much



surplus as foreign nations do not care to produce for themselves;



and which they are obliged to buy from another country。



    As between the different districts of one and the same country;



so does the division of labour and the co…operation of the


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