CHAPTER VII.

OF THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL CONDITION ON THE PRODUCTION OF WEALTH.

In the Second Part of this work we offered our readers a view of the political condition of the people of Hindostan, France, England, and the United States, showing to what extent their institutions had tended to enable them to exercise in security the rights of person and property,* and what proportion of the produce of labour had been required for the maintenance of those institutions. The result of our examination was, that the cost of government was in the inverse ratio of the security and freedom enjoyed‡-that in India the labourer knew little of the rights of person and property, and the government took a large proportion of the very small product of his labour, while in the United States, and particularly in New England, was to be found the highest degree of security—the most perfect freedom in the application of time, talent, or property to the business of production-the highest degree of control over the application of such portions thereof as were needed for the maintenance of security-the nearest approach to perfect self-government-the most productive application of labour, with the smallest demands upon the labourer for the payment of those persons charged with the direction of the business of the state. In the one we found political freedom and a high

* Chapters ii. and iii.

+ Chapter iv.

↑ Chapter xi.

§ "L'intérêt personnel, encouragé par cette grande liberté presse vivement et perpétuellement chaque homme en particulier de perfectionner et de multiplier les choses dont il est vendeur; de grossir ainsi la masse des jouissances qu'il peut procurer aux autres hommes, aussi de grossir par ce moyen la masse des jouissances que les autres hommes peuvent lui procurer en echange. Le monde alors va de lui même; le desir de jouir, et la liberté de jouir, ne cessant de provoquer la multiplication des productions et l'accroisement de l'industrie, ils impriment à toute la societé un mouvement qui devient une tendance perpetuelle vers son meil leur etat possible.”—Mercier de la Riviere, ii., p. 444.

A distinguished writer of our time speaks of government as "the most difficult of all sciences," and hopes there will be "a further application of the division of labour,

productive power, and in the other a total absence of freedom and a low power of production. The result of a comparison of England and France was similar. In the one we found peace and security-a high degree of political freedom-and a high power of production, while in the other we found a perpetual succession of wars-an almost total absence of security-and a low productive power.

In Hindostan we found a dense population in a state of poverty, while in England we found a population almost equally dense, enriched by peace. In France we found a more scattered population impoverished by war, while in the United States, with still diminished density, we observed a rapid accumulation of capital, the consequence of peace and security. England, with her dense population, was seen to derive from the cultivation of the inferior soils, a constantly increasing return to labour, while the people of the United States, though widely scattered,

the principle upon which all government is founded, by providing an appropriate education for those who are to direct the affairs of the state."-Senior. Outline of Political Economy, p. 160.

If government is to regulate and control the affairs of individuals, no education is sufficient. A Metternich or a Chatham is as likely to do mischief as a Newcastle or a Bute. Men must be permitted to manage their own affairs in their own way, and when this is done, the science of government is most simple. Mr. Senior's suggestion would shut out almost every distinguished man of our age. Mr. Scrope is of opinion that

"The right of every individual in this matter is not to self-government, but to good government—to that form of government which is most highly conducive to the general welfare-a right to have his happiness consulted, and his rights protected, by the authorities entrusted with power, in the same degree with those of every other person in the community."-Scrope's Political Economy, p. 23.

The best government is that which permits men to exercise their own judg ments in the application of their time, labour, and property, with a view to the improvement of their condition, and thus to obtain the largest quantity of commodities in exchange for their labour, and that it is which leads directly to self. government. The characteristics of "good" government vary with the opinions of those who exercise power over their fellow men. Napoleon thought a conquering government was a good one. Philip II. had the same idea of a persecuting one. In the system of self-government there can be no such differences. When the principle is fully carried out, it secures to each man the right of applying his labour and his capital in the manner that appears to himself most likely to promote improvement of his condition, physical, moral, and political, and consequently deprives all others of the right, while it relieves them from the duty of directing him.

and cultivating, to a great degree, the superior soils only, obtained a still larger return; and in both countries labour was seen to be more productive than in France, which is less densely peopled than the first, and more so than the last. In all, the productive power was found to be in the ratio of political freedom-of the secure enjoyment of the rights of person and property.

We have now shown that every increase of the productive power has a direct tendency to cause an improvement of political condition, or in other words, an increase in the amount of security enjoyed, attended by a diminution in the cost thereof, and leading to further increase in the power of production, and further improvement of physical, moral, and political condition.

A careful examination of the facts we have offered to the consideration of the reader must, we think, satisfy him that, when nature is left free to work her own way, there is a constant tendency towards equality of political condition, and that that tendency is strongest where the greatest equality of rights now exists, because there is to be found the highest productive power. He must also, we think, be satisfied that perfect equality can be retarded, or prevented, only by wars, bearing in their train murder, famine, and desolation, preventing improvement in the physical and moral condition of all classes of society. By such means, and such means only, can inequality of political condition be maintained. The real interests of all point, therefore, in the same direction-to peace and tranquillity-leading eventually to self-government.

Changes in the political condition and relations of society may, however, produce insecurity of person and property, and thus measures adopted for the purpose of improving the condition of man, may lead to its deterioration. It becomes, therefore, important to inquire into the manner in which they are effected, with a view to ascertain under what circumstances they tend least to interfere with the productive application of labour, with the increase of wealth, and with permanent improvement in the physical, moral, and political condition. The result of such an examination will be to show, conclusively, that, where the people are already most free-where person and property are most secure-there is the least tendency

to those violent changes of internal or external relations by which security is liable to be diminished-the strongest disposition to maintain peace abroad and to follow the example of nature in making alterations at home, by accomplishing them so gently and gradually as to do least violence to existing interests or feelings; whereas, where men are least free-where they use the sword and the musket instead of the plough and the shuttle -where the moral and physical condition of the people deteriorates instead of improving-are to be found a constant succession of wars abroad, and revolutions at home, accompanied by the plunder of property, the violation of female honour, and the destruction of life.

In INDIA, all revolutions have been accompanied by violence. Almost every sovereign in succession has obtained his seat by the murder of his predecessor, frequently accompanied by that of all his relatives and friends.

In FRANCE, the power of controlling the operations of the government is still limited to a very small portion of the nation, yet their influence is manifest in the increased disposition for the maintenance of peace. The sovereign, compelled to consult the feelings and wishes of the people, is no longer at liberty to carry his arms into Italy or the Netherlands, in the hope of adding new provinces to his kingdom, but, on the contrary, he feels a necessity for interposing for the maintenance of peace among his neighbours. The thirst for glory still exists among a considerable portion of those who influence the action of the nation, and hence we find large fleets and armies employed in carrying on hostilities with the people of Africa, and of North and South America. The tendency to war is, nevertheless, greatly diminished, and the attention of both people and government is now given to the making of roads and canals, tending to the establishment of increased intercourse and increased harmony of feeling between the various portions of the kingdom. Many of the restraints upon internal trade are abolished, and men acquire more full enjoyment of the rights of property. Increased freedom of action and of trade is accompanied by increased productiveness

of labour, giving to the will of the people increased power; and with this alteration in the spirit, we find an almost universal demand for an alteration in the form of government, by an extension of the right of suffrage. The means that are now used for the accomplishment of this revolution in the state are, however, widely different from those required half a century since. Then it was the insurrection of a people who had no political rights, and it was accompanied by plunder and massacre. Now it is the peaceful demand of an important portion of the people, gradually accustomed to the exercise of a portion of their rights, and it will probably be accomplished without the slightest disturbance of security, either of person or property. Then, each little community throughout the kingdom, ignorant of the proceedings of others, acted for itself, and was consequently without weight, whereas now the means of communicating and exchanging ideas are such that the whole body of the people act as one man, and the mass is such as to insure respect. Thus political freedom tends at once to increase of the means of communication and of production, and the facility of obtaining, by united and peaceful action, a further extension of political rights.*

In ENGLAND, under the Plantagenets, changes in the political relations of society were effected by force of arms. At a subsequent period, when the power of the commons was there fully established, peaceful remonstrance and the withholding of supplies effected the various extensions of their political rights. The diminution of those rights under the Tudors, produced the civil war of 1642; but a consequence of the existence of great political freedom was, that no similar war was ever attended

# LL Enlightened opinion in a nation advances gradually against all obstacles; finally overcomes and proves strong enough to destroy them; but, in the baleful days of wild revolution, the masses, once set in motion, prostrate whatever they meet, and, confounding every thing in their blind excitement, sweep away together institutions as well as abuses. Then, positive religion, its ministers, its holy creeds, all are trampled down with contumely. All dikes are broken up; license and immorality rush in; nothing survives in the heart or conscience of the people; and when their regeneration is undertaken, it is discovered that the foundations have disappeared. Such is the situation of France; such will be that of Spain, when she shall begin to recover from the delirium by which she is now carried away."-Ramon de la Sagra.