II. BOOK and to the fhop of the retailer. They must generally too, though there are fome exceptions to this, belong to refident members of the fociety. The capital of a wholesale merchant, on the contrary, feems to have no fixed or neceffary refidence any-where, but may wander about from place to place, according as it can either buy cheap or fell dear. The capital of the manufacturer must no doubt refide where the manufacture is carried on; but where this shall be is not always neceffarily determined. It may frequently be at a great diftance both from the place where the materials grow, and from that where the complete manufacture is confumed. Lyons is very diftant both from the places which afford the materials of its manufactures, and from those which confume them. The people of fashion in Sicily are clothed in filks made in other countries, from the materials which their own produces. Part of the wool of Spain is manufactured in Great Britain, and fome part of that cloth is afterwards fent back to Spain. Whether the merchant whose capital exports the furplus produce of any fociety be a native or a foreigner, is of very little importance. If he is a foreigner, the number of their productive labourers is necessarily less than if he had been a native by one man only; and the value of their annual produce, by the profits of that one man. The failors or carriers whom he employs may still belong indifferently either to his country, or to their country, or to fome third country, in the fame 1 fame manner as if he had been a native. The CHAP. capital of a foreigner gives a value to their furplus produce equally with that of a native, by exchanging it for fomething for which there is a demand at home. It as effectually replaces the capital of the person who produces that surplus, and as effectually enables him to continue his business; the service by which the capital of a wholesale merchant chiefly contributes to fupport the productive labour, and to augment the value of the annual produce of the fociety to which he belongs. It is of more consequence that the capital of the manufacturer should refide within the country. It necessarily puts into motion a greater quantity of productive labour, and adds a greater value to the annual produce of the land and labour of the society. It may, however, be very ufeful to the country, though it should not refide within it. The capitals of the British manufacturers who work up the flax and hemp annually imported from the coafts of the Baltic, are furely very ufeful to the countries which produce them. Those materials are a part of the furplus produce of those countries which, unless it was annually exchanged for fomething which is in demand there, would be of no value, and would foon cease to be produced. The merchants who export it replace the capitals of the people who produce it, and thereby encourage them to continue the production; and the British manufacturers replace the capitals of those merchants. V. BOOK : A particular country, in the fame manner as a particular perfon, may frequently not have capital fufficient both to improve and cultivate all its lands, to manufacture and prepare their whole rude produce for immediate use and con, sumption, and to transport the furplus part either of the rude or manufactured produce to those distant markets where it can be exchanged for fomething for which there is a demand at home. The inhabitants of many different parts of Great Britain have not capital fufficient to improve and cultivate all their lands. The wool of the fouthern counties of Scotland is, a great part of it, after a long land carriage through very bad roads, manufactured in Yorkshire, for want of a capital to manufacture it at home. There are many little manufacturing towns in Great Britain, of which the inhabitants have not capital fufficient to transport the produce of their own industry to thofe diftant markets where there is demand and confumption for it. If there are any merchants among them, they are properly only the agents of wealthier merchants who refide in fome of the greater commercial cities. When the capital of any country is not fufficient for all those three purposes, in proportion as a greater share of it is employed in agriculture, the greater will be the quantity of productive labour which it puts into motion within the country; as will likewife be the value which its employment adds to the annual produce of the land and labour of the fociety. After agriculture, the capital employed in manufactures puts puts into motion the greatest quantity of pro- CHAP. ductive labour, and adds the greatest value to the annual produce. That which is employed in the trade of exportation, has the leaft effect of any of the three. V. The country, indeed, which has not capital fufficient for all those three purposes, has not arrived at that degree of opulence for which it seems naturally destined. To attempt, however, prematurely and with an infufficient capital, to do all the three, is certainly not the shortest way for a fociety, no more than it would be for an individual, to acquire a fufficient one. The capital of all the individuals of a nation, has its limits in the fame manner as that of a fingle individual, and is capable of executing only certain purposes. The capital of all the individuals of a nation is increased in the fame manner as that of a fingle individual, by their continually accumulating and adding to it whatever they fave out of their revenue. It is likely to increase the fastest, therefore, when it is employed in the way that affords the greatest revenue to all the inhabitants of the country, as they will thus be enabled to make the greatest savings. But the revenue of all the inhabitants of the country is necessarily in proportion to the value of the annual produce of their land and labour. It has been the principal cause of the rapid progress of our American colonies towards wealth and greatness, that almost their whole capitals have hitherto been employed in agriculture. They have no manufactures, those houshold and coarfer BOOK coarfer manufactures excepted which necessarily II. ☑ accompany the progress of agriculture, and which are the work of the women and children in every private family. The greater part both of the exportation and coafting trade of America, is carried on by the capitals of merchants who refide in Great Britain. Even the stores and warehouses from which goods are retailed in fome provinces, particularly in Virginia and Maryland, belong many of them to merchants who refide in the mother country, and afford one of the few instances of the retail trade of a fociety being carried on by the capitals of those who are not refident members of it. Were the Americans, either by combination or by any other fort of violence, to stop the importation of European manufactures, and, by thus giving a monopoly to fuch of their own countrymen as could manufacture the like goods, divert any confiderable part of their capital into this employment, they would retard instead of accelerating the further increase in the value of their annual produce, and would obstruct inftead of promoting the progrefs of their country towards real wealth and greatness. This would be still more the cafe, were they to attempt, in the fame manner, to monopolize to themselves their whole exportation trade. The course of human profperity, indeed, feems fcarce ever to have been of fo long continuance as to enable any great country to acquire capital fufficient for all those three purposes; unless, perhaps, we give credit to the wonderful ac counts |