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themselves; or by wars and prohibitory import duties?



    We now see into what extraordinary mistakes and contradictions



the popular school has fallen in making material wealth or value of



exchange the sole object of its investigations; and by regarding



mere bodily labour as the sole productive power。



    The man who breeds pigs is; according to this school; a



productive member of the community; but he who educates men is a



mere non…productive。 The maker of bagpipes or jews…harps for sale



is a productive; while the great composers and virtuosos are



non…productive simply because that which they play cannot be



brought into the market。 The physician who saves the lives of his



patients does not belong to the productive class; but on the



contrary the chemist's boy does so; although the values of exchange



(viz。 the pills) which he produces may exist only for a few minutes



before they pass into a valueless condition。 A Newton; a Watt; or



a Kepler is not so productive as a donkey; a horse; or a draught…ox



(a class of labourers who have been recently introduced by



M'Culloch into the series of the productive members of human



society)。



    We must not believe that J。 B。 Say has remedied this defect in



the doctrine of Adam Smith by his fiction of 'immaterial goods' or



products; he has thu s merely somewhat varnished over the folly of



its results; but not raised it out of its intrinsic absurdity。 The



mental (immaterial) producers are merely productive; according to



his views; because they are remunerated with values of exchange;



and because their attainments have been obtained by sacrificing



values of exchange; and not because they produce productive



powers。(4*) They merely seem to him an accumulated capital。



M'Culloch goes still further; he says that man is as much a product



of labour as the machine which he produces; and it appears to him



that in all economical investigations he must be regarded from this



point of view。 He thinks that Smith comprehended the correctness of



this principle; only he did not deduce the correct conclusion from



it。 Among other things he draws the conclusion that eating and



drinking are productive occupations。 Thomas Cooper values a clever



American lawyer at 3;000 dollars; which is about three times as



much as the value of a strong slave。



    The errors and contradictions of the prevailing school to which



we have drawn attention; can be easily corrected from the



standpoint of the theory of the productive powers。 Certainly those



who fatten pigs or prepare pills are productive; but the



instructors of youths and of adults; virtuosos; musicians;



physicians; judges; and administrators; are productive in a much



higher degree。 The former produce values of exchange; and the



latter productive powers; some by enabling the future generation to



become producers; others by furthering the morality and religious



character of the present generation; a third by ennobling and



raising the powers of the human wind; a fourth by preserving the



productive powers of his patients; a fifth by rendering human



rights and justice secure; a sixth by constituting and protecting



public security; a seventh by his art and by the enjoyment which it



occasions fitting men the better to produce values of exchange。 In



the doctrine of mere values; these producers of the productive



powers can of course only be taken into consideration so far as



their services are rewarded by values of exchange; and this manner



of regarding their services may in some instances have its



practical use; as e。g。 in the doctrine of public taxes; inasmuch as



these have to be satisfied by values of exchange。 But whenever our



consideration is given to the nation (as a whole and in its



international relations) it is utterly insufficient; and leads to



a series of narrow…minded and false views。



    The prosperity of a nation is not; as Say believes; greater in



the proportion in which it has amassed more wealth (i。e。 values of



exchange); but in the proportion in which it has more developed its



powers of production。 Although laws and public institutions do not



produce immediate values; they nevertheless produce productive



powers; and Say is mistaken if he maintains that nations have been



enabled to become wealthy under all forms of government; and that



by weans of laws no wealth can be created。 The foreign trade of a



nation must not be estimated in the way in which individual



merchants judge it; solely and only according to the theory of



values (i。e。 by regarding merely the gain at any particular moment



of some material advantage); the nation is bound to keep steadily



in view all these conditions on which its present and future



existence; prosperity; and power depend。



    The nation must sacrifice and give up a measure of material



property in order to gain culture; skill; and powers of united



production; it must sacrifice some present advantages in order to



insure to itself future ones。 If; therefore; a manufacturing power



developed in all its branches forms a fundamental condition of all



higher advances in civilisation; material prosperity; and political



power in every nation (a fact which; we think; we have proved from



history); if it be true (as we believe we can prove) that in the



present conditions of the world a new unprotected manufacturing



power cannot possibly be raised up under free competition with a



power which has long since grown in strength and is protected on



its own territory; how can anyone possibly undertake to prove by



arguments only based on the mere theory of values; that a nation



ought to buy its goods like individual merchants; at places where



they are to be had the cheapest  that we act foolishly if we



manufacture anything at all which can be got cheaper from abroad 



that we ought to place the industry of the nation at the mercy of



the self…interest of individuals  that protective duties



constitute monopolies; which are granted to the individual home



manufacturers at the expense of the nation? It is true that



protective duties at first increase the price of manufactured



goods; but it is just as true; and moreover acknowledged by the



prevailing economical school; that in the course of time; by the



nation being enabled to build up a completely developed



manufacturing power of its own; those goods are produced more



cheaply at home than the price at which they can be imported from



foreign parts。 If; therefore; a sacrifice of value is caused by



protective duties; it is made good by the gain of a power of



production; which not only secures to the nation an infinitely



greater amount of material goods; but also industrial independence



in case of war。 Through industrial independence and the internal



prosperity derived from it the nation obtains the means for



successfully carrying on foreign trade and for extending its



mercantile marine; it increases its civilisation; perfects its



institutions internally; and strengthens its external power。 A



nation capable of developing a manufacturing power; if it makes use



of the system of protection; thus acts quite in the same spirit as



that landed proprietor did who by the sacrifice of some material



wealth allowed some of his children to learn a productive trade。



    Into what mistakes the prevailing economical school has fallen



by judging conditions according to the mere theory of values which



ought properly to be judged according to the theory of powers of



production; may be seen very clearly by the judgment which J。 B。



Say passes upon the bounties which foreign countries sometimes



offer in order to facilitate exportation; he maintains that 'these



are presents made to our nation。' Now if we suppose that France



considers a protective duty of twenty…five per cent sufficient for



her not vet perfectly developed manufactures; while England were to



grant a bounty on exportation of thirty per cent; what would be the



consequence of the 'present' which in this manner the English would



make to the French? The French consumers would obtain for a few



years the manufactured articles which they needed much cheaper than



hitherto; but the French manufactories would be ruined; and



millions of men be reduced to beggary or obliged to emigrate; or to



devote themselves to agriculture for employment。 Under the most



favourable circumstances; the present consumers and customers of



the French agriculturists would be converted into competitors with



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