his means of supplying his wants are the same, other things being equal, in each case.

Any increment of distributive wealth for any period, must always be the excess of production over consumption during that period.

When, therefore, production is in excess of consumption, we have an increasing distributive wealth. But when consumption is in excess of production, we shall have a decreasing distributive wealth-or in other words, the people are growing poorer. And, as we shall see more fully bye-and-bye, we have in this, one of the most demoralizing influences that can be at work upon any people in the present state of the world's history.

33. The motives by which men are actuated.

In Political Economy all persons are assumed to be actuated by self-interest, or possibly, pure selfishness. We do not assert or deny that this is right, nor pause to inquire how far it is morally right or wrong. We assume it as a fact too universal to admit of any exceptions, that will materially vitiate the conclusions that may be drawn from it, when taken as universal.

We assume, too, that man is averse to labor and privation, and that he will perform the one, or undergo the other, only as he has a motive to do so,

He

arising from the want of something, that can be procured only by means of labor or privation will work and practice self-denial, only as a means to the gratification of some want of his own.

34. Different kinds of human wants.

In

Nor do we inquire into the moral character of the wants that impel men to labor and self-denial— those are questions for the moralists. The fact of such wants-their existence as motives and stimulants to exertion, is all that the mere student of Political Economy has occasion to consider. reference to the laws of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption, it makes no difference what these wants are, whether it is the want of food to eat, clothing to wear a house and home for shelter and social enjoyment-books and lectures for mental culture-works of art and articles of vertu, for æsthetic enjoyment—jewelry for ornament to the person-an office to gratify one's ambitiona church and religious privileges for morality and the salvation of his soul-a title to satisfy his vanity

-or even the means of vicious indulgence and debauchery-for they are all wants, and as such, will impel men to exertion, and the kind of exertion that creates value.

35. All persons considered as laborers.

We also assume that all persons need to work in

order to get a supply.

the rich, as they are make these exertions.

Some there are, of coursecalled-who do not need to But they are so few in any

community, in proportion to the whole, that we need not take them into account for the discussion of the general principles of Political Economy.

36. Producers and consumers.

Human beings are considered as either consumers or producers.

All are consumers. We eat food-we wear out clothes; and food and clothing are the products of labor. And even in sickness we consume the time of others in taking care of us.

Consumption is of two kinds-productive and unproductive.

The mechanic that makes wool into cloth-cloth into clothes, etc., consumes the commodities that he works up. This, however, is called productive consumption, because the commodity appears the same in substance, though changed in form; and as a general rule with an increase of intrinsic value. This at least is always intended. Hence all manufacture is productive consumption.

37. Unproductive consumption.

A case of unproductive consumption, would be that in which a man eats food, wears clothing, etc., and does nothing—or at least does nothing that in any way increases the value of any commodity or in any way increases the wealth of mankind.

38. Producers classified,

Producers are of three kinds, (1) agriculturists, (2) manufacturers, and (3) traders.

By agriculturists, we mean all those who produce what is called the "raw material." And we call them agriculturists because the material is produced from the earth, and that in one of the three ways, (1) by animal or vegetable growth, or (2) by mining, and (3) by fishing and hunting, and possibly we ought to say lumbering.

In the two latter cases the material already exists in a form more or less gross, and needing to be brought into market. In the former case it exists only in the form of chemical elements, minerals in the earth and air, and must be collected and combined by the processes of growth and organic combination.

39. The function of agriculturists.

The labor of the agriculturist, as such, ceases just as soon as the commodity is collected from the soil and fitted to become an article of trade, to be sold and carried off for consumption or manufacture. And if the producer of the "raw material" carries his commodities to market, he is to that extent acting the part of the trader.

Now it is manifest from this definition, that this class of producers determine the Quantum, or the first factor, of wealth. For since whoever produces the raw material is an agriculturist, as we have defined the term, nothing can become an article of wealth, or pass into the hands of manufacturers without first passing through their hands and receiving from them a portion of labor.

40. The function of Manufacturers.

The second class of producers to be considered are the manufacturers.

The manufacturers are those who take the "raw material" where the agriculturists leave it, and carry it through the successive transformations it may require, until it is ready for final, or ultimate consumption. Thus, the miller manufactures flour out of wheat, the baker manufactures bread out of the