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agricultural power of a nation; and gradually to apply a remedy to



that evil in so far as it is the result of previous institutions;



no better means exists (apart from the promotion of emigration)



than to establish an internal manufacturing power; by which the



increase of population may be gradually drawn over to the latter;



and a greater demand created for agricultural produce; by which



consequently the cultivation of larger estates may be rendered more



profitable; and the cultivator induced and encouraged to gain from



his land the greatest possible amount of surplus produce。



    The productive power of the cultivator and of the labourer in



agriculture will always be greater or smaller according to the



degree in which the exchange of agricultural produce for



manufactures and other products of various kinds can proceed more



or less readily。 That in this respect the foreign trade of any



nation which is but little advanced can prove in the highest degree



beneficial; we have shown in another chapter by the example of



England。 But a nation which has already made considerable advances



in civilisation; in possession of capital; and in population; will



find the development of a manufacturing power of its own infinitely



more beneficial to its agriculture than the most flourishing



foreign trade can be without such manufactures; because it thereby



secures itself against all fluctuations to which it may be exposed



by war; by foreign restrictions on trade; and by commercial crises;



because it thereby saves the greatest part of the costs of



transport and commercial charges incurred in exporting its own



products and in importing manufactured articles; because it derives



the greatest advantages from the improvements in transport which



are called into existence by its own manufacturing industry; while



from the same cause a mass of personal and natural powers hitherto



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  

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