[Footnote 205-6: A man with $100,000 a year has a much less incentive to make savings than 100 men with $1,000 each per annum, for the reason that his economic wants are already all richly satisfied, and he can have little hope of improving it by saving. (_von Mangoldt_, V. W. L., 141.)] [Footnote 205-7: _Harrington's_ fundamental thought (1611-1677, Works, 1700) is, that the nature of the constitution of a state depends on the distribution of the ownership of its land. "Balance of property!" Where, for instance, one person owns all the land or the larger portion of it, we have a despotism; where the distribution is more equal, a democracy, etc. All real revolutions are based upon a displacement of the centre of gravity of property, since in the long run, superstructure and foundation can not be out of harmony with each other. For this reason, agrarian laws are the principal means to prevent revolutions. (_Roscher_, Gesch. der English. Volkswirthschaftslehre, 53 ff.) _Montesquieu_ also pays special attention to the political consequences of the distribution of wealth. Thus, for instance, in monarchies, the creation of large fortunes should be promoted by the right of primogeniture; in aristocracies, on the other hand, the great wealth of a few nobles is as detrimental as that of extreme poverty. (Esprit des Lois, V, 8, 9.)] [Footnote 205-8: The common assertion of the socialists, that the inequality of property is frightfully on the increase, is as far from being proved as is the opposite one of _Hildebrand_, Nat. Oek. der Gegenwart und Zukunft, I, 245 ff. According to _Macaulay_, Hist. of England, ch. 3, there were, in England, in 1685, only about three (ducal) families with an annual income of about £20,000 a year. The average income of a lord amounted to £3,000; of a baronet, to £900; of a member of the house of commons, to scarcely £800; and a lawyer with £1,000 per annum was considered a very important personage. At the same time, there were 160,000 families of free peasants, that is more than 1/7 of the whole population, whose average income amounted to from £60 to £70. For the year 1821, _Marshall_, Digest of all Accounts, etc., II, 1833, assumes, that there were 4,000 families with over £5,000 yearly income; 52,000 families with from £1,500 to £5,000; 386,000 families with from £200 to £1,000; 2,500,000 families with less than £200. Compare, _per contra_, the Edinburg Review, 1835. The income tax statistics of 1847 show that 22 persons had an income of at least £50,000 a year; 376 persons, from £10,000 to £50,000; 788, from £5,000 to £10,000; 400, from £4,000 to £5,000; 703, from £3,000 to £4,000; 1,483, from £2,000 to £3,000; 5,234, from £1,000 to £2,000; 13,287, from £500 to £1,000;