首页 >出版文学> James Mill>第24章

第24章

  66。Essay,i,75bk。
  i,ch。v。
  67。Ibid。,bk。ii,ch。vi。
  68。Essay,ii,318
  bk。iv,ch。vi。
  69。Essay,ii,315
  bk。iv。ch。v。
  70。Ibid。,ii,326bk。iv,ch。vi。
  71。Ibid。,ii,78bk。iii,ch。v。
  72。Essay,ii,454
  Appendix。
  73Ibid。,ii,82bk。iii,ch。vi。
  74。Ibid。,ii,90bk。iii,ch。vi。
  75。Senior’sThreeLectures,p。86。
  76。Senior’sThreeLectures,p。60。
  77。Essay,i,534
  bk。ii,ch。xiii。
  78。Smith’sWorks1859,i,295。
  79。ObservationsontheEffectsoftheCorn-Laws,1814;InquiryintotheNatureandProgressofRent,1815;andTheGroundsofanOpiniononthePolicyofrestrictingtheImportationofForeignCorn,intendedasanappendixtotheObservationsontheCorn-Laws。
  80。InquiryintoRent,p。1。
  81。Ibid。,p。16。
  82。Essay,ii,35
  bk。iii,ch。ii。
  83InquiryintoRent,p。20。
  84。Ibid。,p。18。
  85。Ibid。,p。38。
  86。InquiryintoRent,p。
  20。
  87。Ibid。,p。37。
  88。EssaysontheApplicationofCapitaltoLand,byaFellowofUniversityCollege,Oxford,1815。
  89。Essay,p。19。
  90。InAnInquiryintotheNatureoftheCorn-Laws,andagain1801inObservationsonAgriculture,etc。,vol。v,401-51。
  91。PoliticalWorks,i,485,etc。Inthispaper,Imayadd,Cobbett,notyetaRadical,acceptsMalthus’sviewofthetendencyofthehumanspeciestomultiplymorequicklythanitssupport。HedoesnotmentionMalthus,butspeaksofthebeliefasuniversallyadmitted,andafterwardsillustratesitamusinglybysayingthat,inhisploughboydays,heusedtowonderthattherewasalwaysjustenoughhayforthehorsesandenoughhorsesforthehay。
  Chapter5:RicardoI。Ricardo’sStarting-PointDavidRicardo,1born19thApril1772,wasthesonofaDutchJewwhohadsettledinEngland,andmademoneyupontheStockExchange。Ricardohadadesultoryeducation,andwasemployedinbusinessfromhisboyhood。Heabandonedhisfather’screed,andmarriedanEnglishwomansoonafterreachinghismajority。Hesetupforhimselfinbusiness,and,atatimewhenfinancialtransactionsuponanunprecedentedscaleweregivinggreatopportunitiesforspeculators,hemadealargefortune,andabout1814boughtanestateatGatcombePark,Gloucestershire。Hewithdrewsoonafterwardsfrombusiness,andin1819
  becamememberofparliament。Hisdeathon11thSeptember1823cutshortapoliticalcareerfromwhichhisperhapstoosanguinefriendsanticipatedgreatresults。Hisinfluenceinhisowndepartmentofinquiryhadbeen,meanwhile,ofthegreatestimportance。Hehadshowninhisyouthsomeinclinationforscientificpursuits;heestablishedalaboratory,andbecameamemberofscientificsocieties。TheperusalofAdamSmith’sWealthofNationsin1799gavehimaninterestintheapplicationofscientificmethodstothequestionswithwhichhewasmostconversant。AcceptingAdamSmithastheleadingauthority,heproceededtothinkoutforhimselfcertaindoctrines,whichappearedtohimtohavebeeninsufficientlyrecognisedbyhisteacher。
  Thefirstresultofhisspeculationswasapamphletpublishedin1809uponthedepreciationofthecurrency。Uponthattopichespokeasanexpert,andhismaindoctrineswereacceptedbythefamousBullionCommittee。Ricardothusbecamearecognisedauthorityononegreatsetofproblemsofthehighestimmediateinterest。Malthus’sInquiryintoRentsuggestedanotherpamphlet;andin1817,encouragedbythewarmpressureofhisfriend,JamesMill,hepublishedhischiefbook,thePrinciplesofPoliticalEconomyandTaxation。ThisbecametheeconomicBibleoftheUtilitarians。
  Thetaskofacommentatororinterpreteris,forvariousreasons,adifficultone。
  ThereisacertainanalogybetweenRicardoandaverydifferentwriter,BishopButler。Eachofthemproducedagreateffectbyashorttreatise,andineachcasethebookowedverylittletotheordinaryliterarygraces。Ricardo’swantofliterarytraining,orhisnaturaldifficultyofutterance,madehisstylestillworsethanButler’s;but,likeButler,hecommandsourrespectbyhisobvioussincerityandearnestness。Heiscontentwhenhehassoexpressedhisargumentthatitcanbeseizedbyanattentivereader。Heisincapableof,orindifferentto,clearandorderlyexpositionofprinciples。Thelogicisthere,ifyouwilltakethetroubletolookforit,Perhapsweoughttobeflatteredbythistacitrelianceuponourpatience,’You,’Ricardo,likeButler,seemstosaytous,’areanxiousfortruth:youdonotcareforornament,andmaybetrustedtoworkoutthefullapplicationofmyprinciples。’
  Inanotherrespectthetwoarealike。Butler’sargumenthasimpressedmanyreadersasademolitionofhisowncase。Itprovokesrevoltinsteadofadhesion。Ricardo,anorthodoxeconomist,laiddownprincipleswhichwereadoptedbySocialiststoupsethisownassumptions。SuchaGodasyouworship,saidButler’sopponents,isanunjustbeing,andthereforeworsethannoGod。Suchasystemasyoudescribe,saidRicardo’sopponents,isanembodimentofinjustice,andthereforetoberadicallydestroyed。Admittingthelogic,theargumentmaybereadasareductioadabsurduminbothcases。
  Ricardohasinvolvedhimselfincertainspecialdifficulties。Inthefirstplace,hepresupposesfamiliaritywithAdamSmith。ThePrinciplesisarunningcommentuponsomeofSmith’stheories,andnoattemptismadetoreducethemtosystematicorder。
  Hestartsbylayingdownpropositions,theproofofwhichcomesafterwards,andisthenratherintimatedthanexpresslygiven。HeadoptstheterminologywhichSmithhadacceptedfrompopularuse,2andoftenappliesitinaspecialsignificance,whichisatleastliabletobemisunderstoodbyhisreaders,orforgottenbyhimself。Itisdifficult,again,tofeelsurewhethersomeofhisstatementsaretobetakenaspositiveassertionsoffact,ormerelyasconvenientassumptionsforthepurposesofhisargument。
  Ricardohimself,asappearsinhisletters,waspainfullyawareofhisownawkwardnessofexpression,anduponthatpointaloneallhiscriticsseemtobeintolerableagreement。Happily,itwillbeenoughformypurposeifIcanlaydownhisessentialpremiseswithoutfollowinghimtotheremoterdeductions。
  Ricardo’spamphletuponMalthus1815givesastarting-point。RicardocordiallyadoptsMalthus’stheoryofrent,butdeclaresthatitisfataltosomeofMalthus’sconclusions。
  Malthus,wehaveseen,wishedtoregardrentasinsomesenseagiftofProvidence——apositiveblessingduetothefertilityofthesoil。Ricardomaintains,onthecontrary,that’theinterestofthelandlordisnecessarilyopposedtotheinterestofeveryotherclassinthecommunity。’3Thelandlordisprosperouswhencornisscarceanddear;allotherpersonswhenitisplentifulandcheap。ThisfollowsuponMalthus’sownshowing。
  Asmenareforcedtohaverecoursetoinferiorsoils,thelandlordobtainsalargershareofthewholeproduce;and,moreover,sincecornalsobecomesmorevaluable,willhavealargershareofamorevaluableproduct。Thequestionapparentlyindispute——whetherweshouldbegladthatsomelandisbetterthantheworst,orsorrybecauseallisnotequaltothebest——seemsratheridle。Therealquestion,however,iswhetherrent,beingablessing,shouldbekeptupbyprotection,4or,beingacurse,shouldbebroughtdownbycompetition?Whatistherealworkingofthesystem?Setthetradefree,saysRicardo,andthecapitalwillbewithdrawnfromthepoorlandandemployeduponmanufactures,tobeexchangedforthecornofothercountries。5Thechangemustcorrespondtoamoreadvantageousdistributionofcapital,oritwouldnotbeadopted。
  Theprincipleinvolvedinthislastpropositionis,headds,oneofthe’bestestablishedinthescienceofpoliticaleconomy,andbynooneismorereadilyadmittedthanbyMr。Malthus。’Toenforceprotectionwouldbe,onMalthus’sillustration,tocompelustousethe’worstmachines,when,atalessexpense,wecouldhiretheverybestfromourneighbours。’6Briefly,then,thelandlord’sinterestisopposedtothenationalinterest,becauseitenforcesaworsedistributionofcapital。Hecompelsustogetcornfromhisworstland,insteadofgettingitindirectly,butingreaterquantity,fromourspinning-jennies。
  ForRicardo,asforMalthus,theultimatedrivingforceisthepressureofpopulation。Themassofmankindisalwaysstrugglingtoobtainfood,andisabletomultiplysorapidlyastoexhaustanyconceivableincreaseofsupplies。Thelandlordclassaloneprofits。Thegreaterthestruggleforsupplythegreaterwillbetheshareofthewholeproducewhichmustbesurrenderedtoit。Beyondthis,however,liesthefurtherproblemwhichspeciallyoccupiedRicardo。