第28章

But were Property to be so diffused, as I have shewn it may and ought, the Labour, etc. of the People would not come on Terms so unreasonably low, as to support such Excess on the one Hand, or to depress and sink the rest too much on the other: Nay, diffusing Property as aforesaid, will not only remove Luxury so far as it is hurtful to Society, but will in general extinguish all Kinds of Vice together with it. For this too great Inequality of Property, I have now represented, is the sole Source, whence they all spring; and Solomon, the wisest of Men, hath determined this of the Poor, who are the Bulk of Mankind, when he says, as in the Motto I have chosen to this Essay; The Destruction of the Poor is their Poverty. But sure, Destruction was never justly attributed to any other Cause than Vice; wherefore Poverty and Vice must according to Solomon be necessarily connected; and, Ithink, Excess of Affluence must be so too, since it is but changing Solomon's Determination to the other Extream.

But that I may fully prove, that the Execution of this Proposal will certainly remove Luxury, so far as it's hurtful to Society, which is all the Concern we need in the present Case have about it; I assert, that a middling Family in London, will in a very moderate Way of Living, in the middling Station of Life, require about 400 l. per Annum to maintain and make Provision for them, as by a subsequent Estimate shall be made appear: Now this Sum is undoubtedly as much more than the People in the middling Rank of Life can generally get, as the Wages of the labouring People are less than the Estimate for such a Family shews to be needful; therefore I insist, as I have before shewn, that if the Produce of the Ground were augmented about half, the Wants of the People are great enough to consume it all, and that without living in the least luxuriously; since by both Estimates it appears, only necessary Things are allowed for the two Stations of Life, in which almost all Mankind are included. For the Number of those above the lower and middling Stations, are undoubtedly few in Comparison to the Numbers, which must be included within the bounds of these Estimates: If therefore the Produce of the Earth would be wanted and consumed, though it were augmented to so great a Degree as half; and if, as I have before shewn, it is perhaps not possible to increase it so much; and if, however, what we can do to augment it makes Plenty, and the Nature of Plenty be such as necessarily to bring those Things into the Power of the middling and lower People, who are those only that stand in need of them; if these Things are so, how is it possible there should be any general or national Luxury amongst the People, since we can't make the Earth produce so much as will support or cause it? Nay, since the Method of increasing the Produce, naturally and necessarily diffuses the Increase amongst the lower and middling People who alone want it; it must be plain, that this must remove Luxury, so far as it's hurtful to Society; and also, that Luxury is founded in too great an Inequality of Property, as I have asserted: And hence also it must appear, that Luxury is not the Cause but the Effect of a Decay of Trade, since a Decay of Trade is nothing else but the Bulk of the Peoples wanting many Things, which they ought to have, and which, for want of sufficient Employment and Business, it is out of their Power to procure.

10thly, The full and sufficient Execution of this Proposal, will prevent too great a Reduction of the Interest of Money;because the continual inclosing and improving so much waste Land, as will be needful for the Purposes laid down in this Essay, will not only make abundance of Estates to be purchased, which are now not worth one fourth, perhaps, of what they will be when improved, but will raise such vast Quantities of Produce, and consequently Manufactures, to invest that Money in, which the Government may from Time to Time be paying off; which Money, if this Way be not provided for employing and investing it, must again come to Market to find Interest; whereby the Plenty of Money, seeking Interest, will be so great, that Interest must sink, or, which is equivalent, the Premiums on Money at Interest advance, in such Proportion as the Plenty of Money seeking Interest shall increase; which Premiums, with the Interest thereof, must in the End be lost, in consideration of receiving three or four per cent for a Time, instead of such Interest, as the Plenty of Money seeking Interest would naturally bear.

But the executing this Proposal is absolutely needful, as it is the only Means, whereby the Price of all Things can be lowered in such Proportion as the publick Securities shall be paid off:

For these having now the Operation of Money, keep up the Price of all things in Proportion to their Quantity, which, as they shall from Time to Time be paid off and annihilated, will be found to have just the same Effect in lowering the Price of every thing, as as if the Nation had really lost so much Gold and Silver. And though I think this self-evident, yet I shall quote E. Phillips, Esq; to support me, who, Page 42, says, there can be no doubt, that in the Year 1750, or thereabout, when we may suppose the whole national debt paid off, and all the Paper Effects, which now have the Operation of Money, annihilated, all Goods will fall in their Price; because these Paper Effects being then sunk, their Operation must cease of Course. For as the Value of Commodities has risen, by the Increase of Gold and Silver within these 150 Years, so would they of Necessity fall in their Price, if our Golda nd Silver were considerably diminished; the Consequence must be the same, if there is a Diminution of that which hath the Operation of Money.