then, we must turn the wisdom of the economists the other way up. We must say over-production of wealth cannot make poverty, for that means that the more of a thing is produced the less of that thing there is; and we must say that under-consumption cannot cause poverty, for that means that the more of a loaf you eat the more you will have left.
Such rubbish as that may do for statesmen and editors, but it is of no use to sensible men and women. Let us see if we cannot think a little better for ourselves than these very superior persons have thought for us. I think that we, without being at all clever or learned, may get nearer to the truth than some of those who pass for great men.
Now, what is it we have to find out? We want to know how the British people may make the best of their country and themselves.
We know they are not making the best of either at present.
There must, therefore, be something wrong. Our business is to find out what is wrong, and how it may be righted.
We will begin by asking ourselves three questions, and by trying to answer them.
These questions are—
1. What is wealth?
2. Where does wealth come from?
3. Where does wealth go to?
First, then, what is wealth? There is no need to go into long and confusing explanations; there is no use in splitting hairs. We want an answer that is short and simple, and at the same time good enough for the purpose.
I should say, then, that wealth is all those things which we use.
Mr. Ruskin uses two words, "wealth" and "illth." He divides the things which it is good for us to have from the things which it is not good for us to have, and he calls the good things "wealth" and the bad things "illth"—or ill things.
Thus opium prepared for smoking is illth, because it does harm or works "ill" to all who smoke it; but opium prepared as medicine is wealth, because it saves life or stays pain.
A dynamite bomb is "illth," for it is used to destroy life, but a dynamite cartridge is wealth, for it is used in getting slate or coal.
Mr. Ruskin is right, and if we are to make the best of our country and of ourselves, we ought clearly to give up producing bad things, or "illth," and produce more good things, or wealth.
But, for our purpose, it will be simpler and shorter to call all things we use wealth.
Thus a good book is wealth and a bad book "illth"; but as it is not easy to agree as to which books are good, which bad, and which indifferent, we had better call all books wealth.
By this word wealth, then, when we use it in this book, we shall mean all the things we use.
Thus we shall put down as wealth all such things as food, clothing, fuel, houses, ornaments, musical instruments, arms, tools, machinery, books, horses, dogs, medicines, toys, ships, trains, coaches, tobacco, churches, hospitals, lighthouses, theatres, shops, and all other things that we use.
Now comes our second question: Where does wealth come from?
This question we must make into two questions—
1. Where does wealth come from?
2. Who produces wealth?
Because the question, "Where does wealth come from?" really means, "How is wealth produced?"
All wealth comes from the land.
All food comes from the land—all flesh is grass. Vegetable food comes directly from the land; animal food comes indirectly from the land, all animals being fed on the land.
So the stuff of which we make our clothing, our houses, our fuel, our tools, arms, ships, engines, toys, ornaments, is all got from the land. For the land yields timber, metals, vegetables, and the food on which feed the animals from which we get feathers, fur, meat, milk, leather, ivory, bone, glue, and many other things.
Even in the case of the things that come from the sea, as sealskin, whale oil, fish, iodine, shells, pearls, and other things, we are to remember that we need boats, or nets, or tools to get them with, and that boats, nets, and tools are made from minerals and vegetables got from the land.
We may say, then, that all wealth comes from the land.
This brings us to the second part of our question: "Who produces wealth?" or "How is wealth produced?"
Wealth is produced by human beings. It is the people of a country who produce the wealth of that country.
Wealth is produced by labour. Wealth cannot be produced by any other means or in any other way. All wealth is produced from the Land by human Labour.
A coal seam is not wealth; but a coalmine is wealth. Coal is not wealth while it is in the bowels of the earth; but coal is wealth as soon as it is brought up out of the pit and made available for use.
A whale or a seal is not wealth until it is caught.
In a country without inhabitants there would be no wealth.
Land is not wealth. To produce wealth you must have land and human beings.
There can be no wealth without labour.
And now we come to the first error of the economists. There are some economists who tell us that wealth is not produced by labour, but by "capital."
There is neither truth nor reason in this assertion.
What is "capital"?
"Capital" is only another word for stores. Adam Smith calls capital "stock." Capital is any tools, machinery, or other stores used in producing wealth. Capital is any food, fuel, shelter, clothing supplied to those engaged in producing wealth.
The hunter, before he can shoot game, needs weapons. His weapons are "capital." The farmer has to wait for his wheat and potatoes to ripen before he can use them as food. The stock of food and the tools he uses to produce the wheat or potatoes, and to live on while they ripen, are "capital."
Robinson Crusoe's capital was the arms, food, and tools he saved from the wreck. On these he lived until he had planted corn, and tamed goats and built a hut, and made skin clothing and vessels of wood and clay.
Capital, then, is stores. Now, where do the stores come from? Stores are wealth. Stores, whether they be food or tools, come from the land, and are made or produced by human labour.
There is not an atom of capital in the world that has not been produced by labour.
Every spade, every plough, every hammer, every loom, every cart, barrow, loaf, bottle, ham, haddock, pot of tea, barrel of ale, pair of boots, gold or silver coin, railway sleeper or rail, boat, road, canal, every kind of tools and stores has been produced by labour from the land.
It is evident, then, that if there were no labour there would be no capital. Labour is before capital, for labour makes capital.
Now,
