第27章

8thly, The full and sufficient Execution of this Proposal, is the only Means by which Property can be reasonably and sufficiently diffused amongst all Ranks of People. For whilst the working People have not sufficient and full Employment,(23*)their Labour, like all other Things, whose Quantity is greater than the Demand for them, must be disposed of below its true and just Value; which I have shewn is, or ought to be, as near as possible, so much as will produce a comfortable Subsistence for a Family, suitable to that Rank of Life: Now so long as these in general work so considerably below this Point, that their Wages are generally insufficient to support such a Family, as the Estimate supposes them to have, Property is evidently not so much diffused, as in the Nature and Reason of Things it ought to be;which will necessarily be attended with many Kinds of Evils, in Proportion to the Degree, which the working Peoples Wages fall short of the Point abovementioned: For hence the Wealthy having the working Peoples Labour and Skill so much too cheap, do not only engross that Property, in which the labouring People have a just and natural Right, so far as their Wages fall short of the End aforesaid, but they hereby accumulate a great deal of Wealth, in which the middling People have a reasonable and natural Property; and many of them who understand Trade, are enabled by the Force of such unequal Wealth, to trade on Terms too low to admit many of the middling People to get a Livelihood, suitable to their Rank and Station: For instance, suppose a Man in Trade worth 10000 l. and the Reduction of Interest hath actually brought too many such into several Retail Trades; I say, suppose such a one, in order to turn his Stock once in the Year, will vend his Goods at 10 per cent profit, this will produce 1000 l.

per annum; now let another in the same Way of Trade worth 1000 l.

sell at the same Rate (as he must, or have very little Business)and let him be supposed (because a less Stock may commonly be oftener return'd than a greater) to turn his Stock twice a Year;which, since giving Credit is become so general, is as often as such a Stock in Retail Trade can generally be returned; this though it produces 20 l. per Cent on this Capital, or 200 l. per Annum, shall hereafter be shewn to be very insufficient to bear all Charges of Trade, and support a middling Family, so as it is undoubtedly reasonable such a Family should live, for whose Support 1000 l. of their own Money is employed in Trade: Whilst the other making 10 per Cent on his large Capital, may still more and more encrease it, at the same time that he is bringing on the Ruin of many that have but middling Capitals. Hence therefore it must appear, that not only the labouring Mechanicks, but many of the middling People must with them be dispossessed of that Property, which their Rank in Life, and the Good of the Community, naturally intitle them too, for that Community will always be most powerful, and most happy, that abounds most with middling People; and as there is no Means, by which Property can be diffused amongst the People in general, except that I am pointing out, so I think it self-evident, that this Means cannot fail of diffusing Property, amongst all Ranks of People, to such a Degree, as that all, that will be industrious, and careful, may be comfortably supported according to the several Ranks and Stations, in which Providence may think fit to cast them; and whenever Property is thus diffused, it is not only sufficiently diffused, but involves all the Happiness the Nature of Things is capable of producing to mankind; so that whatever Difference there shall then be in the Circumstances, Conditions, and Ranks of Men, they will only be such as the Author of Nature designed, and such as are inseparably connected with civil Government, in which there must necessarily be high and low, as long as Government subsists.

9thly, The full and sufficient Execution of this Proposal, is the only natural or possible Means, by which Luxury, so far as it is injurious to Society, can be removed.

I don't call that State, Equipage, or Way of Living, which is suitable to the Rank or Condition of a man, Luxury hurtful to Society, how pompous soever, if it be contained within the Limits of his Estate, to such a Degree, a will admit of his making such Provision for his Family, as his Rank and Dignity requires; for Ithink such State and Way of Living necessary and useful to Society, whilst it's confined within the Bounds aforesaid.

Therefore as that Man only can be called luxurious, in a Sense hurtful to Society, who exceeds these Bounds; so a Nation only can be said to be luxurious, when the People too generally exceed in this Respect. That this may possibly be the Case of a Nation, I shall take for granted, and admit, that one must be reduced to Distress, as sure as the other.

Now the Cause of such general or national Luxury, is solely owing to too great an Inequality of Property, by which too many are enabled to live excessively splendid, whilst the rest, having much less than they want, are too much depress'd and sunk; so that whilst one Side are almost adored for their Wealth, the other are almost abhorred for their Poverty; and as this makes the Gap much too wide between these Extreams, it can't be expected, but that the adored Part of Mankind will necessarily be imitated, beyond proper Limits, by most of those between these Extreams; and this compleats the Notion of Luxury hurtful to Society.