Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1Roscher, Wilhelm
History
Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1
Roscher, Wilhelm
Economics
We might be tempted, in view of this contrast, to return once more to the
unproductiveness of personal services. It is not, however, the direction
given to the forces of production, but the squandering of them, that is
injurious. When the Magyar, through mere vanity, drives a yoke of from
four to six horses where two are enough; or when, as in 1831, Irish
agriculture employed 1,131,715 workmen to produce a value of thirty-six
million pounds sterling, while that of Great Britain(341) produced one
hundred and fifty millions a year, and employed only 1,055,982 workmen,
these causes are as sure to impoverish the country, as the waste of the
Spaniards in supporting such an army of clergy and servants. Of course,
the temptation to waste wealth on parks is greater than to waste it in
vegetable gardens! The probability that a man will ruin himself by keeping
too many servants is greater than that he will do the same by employing
too many operatives.(342) And all the more, as there are many and
especially important services which regulate their own remuneration: thus,
as a rule, those of the statesman, those of the military in times of war,
and those of the priest in the age of superstition.(343)
Section LV.
The Degree Of Productiveness.
Concerning the degree of productiveness, it may be remarked that that
application of the factors of production is most productive, which, with
the least expenditure of means, satisfies the greatest want in the economy
of a people. Here, there is a continual change, corresponding precisely to
the change in wants and faculties. After a bad harvest, for instance, the
labor which procures grain from foreign countries or the supplies of
former years, is most productive; and, after an earthquake which has
destroyed a large city, the labor of the builder. Agriculture is, as a
rule, the more productive labor of undeveloped nations, and industry of
highly developed nations.(344)(345)
Chapter III.
The Organization Of Labor.
Section LVI.
Development Of The Division Of Labor.
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