Chapter 20 Various uses

Though all capitals are employed in the maintenance of productive labour, the quantity of productive labor which an equal amount of capital can set in motion varies greatly according to the use to which it is employed, and thus adds to the value which can be added to the annual produce of the land and labor of a country, Also very different. There are four different uses of capital.First, to obtain the raw products that the society needs to use and consume every year; second, to manufacture the raw products so that they are suitable for immediate use and consumption; third, to transport the raw products or manufactures from The places with surplus are transported to the places with shortage; fourthly, to disperse a certain part of the original products or manufactured products, and make them into smaller parts, which are suitable for the temporary needs of those who need them.The first usage is that of farmers, miners, and fishermen; the second usage is that of manufacturers; the third usage is that of wholesalers; and the fourth usage is that of retailers.In my opinion, these four usages already cover all investment methods.

These four investment methods are closely related to each other. If one is missing, the others cannot survive alone, and even if they survive alone, they cannot develop.It is also indispensable for the welfare of the whole society. 1. Neither manufactures nor commerce could possibly exist without the use of capital to furnish a considerable abundance of native produce.Second, some of the original products are often processed and manufactured before they are suitable for use or consumption.Assuming no capital is invested in the manufactures to work it, this native product will never be produced, because there is no demand for it; or if it grows naturally, it has no exchange value and cannot increase the wealth of society .3. Where there is abundance of native produce and manufactures, the surplus must be transported from the surplus to the scarcity, which would not be possible without the capital invested in the transport industry.They cannot then produce more than is required for local consumption.The capital of wholesale merchants can exchange the surplus produce of this place for that of other places, so that it can not only reward industry, but also increase the enjoyment of these two places.4. Suppose no capital should be invested in the retail trade, which divides the great quantity of raw produce and manufactures into smaller parts, to meet the occasional wants of those who need them, and all will have to buy in quantities of what they want, more than is at present possible. required.Assuming there were no butchers in society, we would all have to buy one cow or one sheep at a time.It must be inconvenient to the rich, and even more inconvenient to the poor.If a poor laborer wants to buy food for a month or half a year at a time, a large part of his capital must be converted into funds reserved for current consumption, and a part of his capital that could have provided income must have been converted into non-income-providing funds. of.The tools of the trade, the furniture of the shop, must be reduced.For such people, the most convenient way is to be able to buy daily and hourly necessities when they need them.In this way he can employ nearly all his means as capital.The value of the work he can provide will thus be increased, and the profits he will gain thereby will more than offset the increase to the price of the goods by the profits of the retailer.The stereotypes of some publicists about shopkeepers are entirely unfounded.Small merchants stand in groups, and though they may be harmful to each other, they are not harmful to society.Therefore, there is no need to tax them, or limit their number.For example, the demand for groceries in a certain city and its neighbourhood, limits the quantity of groceries which can be sold in that city, and therefore no more capital can ever be invested in the groceries trade than is sufficient to purchase that quantity of groceries.If this limited capital were divided among two grocers, the competition between them would cause both to undercut the price more than it would have been if one had been alone.If it were divided into twenty grocers, the competition among them would be greater, and the chances of them combining to drive up prices would be less.The competition among them may cause some of them to go bankrupt, but we don't have to worry about this kind of thing, and the parties should be careful.Their competition in no way injures either the consumer or the producer.When one or two people monopolize it, it can only make retailers buy expensive and sell cheap.There are many retailers, and there may be bad elements among them, tricking weak customers into buying goods they don't even need.However, this kind of minor harm is not worth the attention of the state, let alone the state's intervention.Limiting their numbers does not necessarily prevent this evil.To take the most obvious example, it is not because there are many hotels in the market that there is a habit of drinking alcohol in our society; it is because of other reasons that the society has a habit of drinking alcohol, so that there are many hotels in the market.

Those who invest their capital in these four uses are productive labourers, whose labor, if properly employed, fixes and realizes in objects of labour, or salable goods, and at least contributes to the maintenance of themselves and The value which they themselves consume, is added to the price of objects of labour, or salable goods.The profit of the farmer, manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer derives from the prices of the goods produced by the former and sold by the latter.However, although the capital invested in these four uses is equal, the amount of productive labor directly driven by the same amount of capital is not the same due to the different uses. The proportions are also different.

The capital of retail merchants who purchase goods from wholesale merchants, compensate and provide the capital and profits of wholesale merchants, so that their business can continue.The retailer's capital employs only himself directly, and he himself is the only productive laborer employed.The employment of this capital adds to the value of the annual produce of the land and labor of the community nothing but his own profit. The capital of wholesale merchants who buy raw products from farmers and manufactured products from manufacturers compensate and provide the capital and profits of farmers and manufacturers so that their business can continue.This is the main method by which wholesalers indirectly maintain productive labor in society and increase the value of the annual output of society.His capital also hired sailors and porters to transport goods.It adds, therefore, to the price of this commodity, not only the value of the wholesaler's own profit, but also the value of the wages of the sailors and porters.So only for the productive labor which it directly employs; so only for the value which it directly adds to the annual produce.But the capital of the wholesale merchant plays a much greater role in both these respects than that of the retailer.

A part of the capital of the manufacturer, employed as fixed capital, is invested in the implements of his trade, and replaces the capital of other manufacturers who sell them, and furnishes them with a profit.The rest is working capital.A part of the circulating capital is employed in the purchase of materials, which replace the capital of the farmers and miners who supply them, and furnish them with profit.The greater part, however, is distributed once a year, or in much shorter periods, to the workmen he employs.The added value of his capital to the materials he works, therefore, includes the wages of hired labourers, and the profits due to the employer's investment in the payment of wages and the purchase of materials and tools.His capital, therefore, directly sets in motion a greater quantity of productive labor, and adds a greater value to the annual produce of the land and labour, of the community, than the equivalent capital of a wholesale merchant.

The greatest quantity of productive labor can be set in motion by the capital of the farmer.His workers are productive labourers, and so are his cattle.In agriculture, too, nature labors with man; and though her labor is free, her produce is as valuable as that of the most expensive labourer.The most important task of agriculture is not so much to increase the productive power of nature, but to direct it so as to produce the plants most useful to man, though it also increases the productive power of nature.A field covered with basil and bramble may often produce as much vegetation as the best-cultivated vineyard or cornfield.Cultivation is not so much to increase the productivity of nature, but rather to dominate the productivity of nature.In addition to manpower, there are still most of the work, which must rely on natural forces.The laborers and animals employed in agriculture, therefore, not only reproduce the value they consume (or, rather, the capital which employs them) and the profits of the capitalists, but also produce greater value, as do the laborers in manufactures.Besides the capital and profit of the farmer, they usually reproduce the rent of the landlord.This rent may be said only to be the product of the forces of nature which the landlord lends to the farmer for his use.The magnitude of the rent depends on the magnitude of the imagined forces of nature, in other words, upon the supposed productivity of the natural or improved productivity of the land.After subtracting all human labor, what remains is the labor of nature.It rarely accounts for less than a quarter of the total production, and often accounts for more than one-third.No equal quantity of productive labor employed in manufactures could have produced so great a reproduction.In manufactures nature does nothing, man does everything; the magnitude of reproduction is always proportional to the magnitude of the forces of the factors of production which lead to reproduction.A capital invested in agriculture, therefore, not only moves a greater quantity of productive labor than an equal amount of capital employed in manufactures, but, in proportion to the quantity of productive labor it employs, it is The annual produce of land and labor adds a much greater value to the real wealth and income of the inhabitants of the country.Of all the uses of capital, investment in agriculture is the most socially beneficial.

The capital invested in agriculture and retail trade always remains within the community.Their use has a certain place, in agriculture, it is a farm; in retailing, it is a store.Moreover, most of their owners are residents of this society.Of course, there are sometimes exceptions. The capital of the wholesale merchant does not seem to be fixed or rested anywhere, nor is it necessary to be fixed or rested anywhere.Because they want to buy cheap and sell expensive, their capital often travels around. The manufacturer's capital, of course, must remain in the place of manufacture.But there seems to be no need to determine where it is made.Sometimes, the manufacturing site is far away not only from where the material is produced, but also far from where the finished product is sold.The materials for manufacturing in Lyon are transported from far away, and the products produced there have to be transported far away before being consumed.The clothes of fashionable people in Sicily are silk made in other countries; the material of silk is a product of Sicily.Some of the wool of Spain was made in England, but some of the woolen fabric woven in England was sent back to Spain.

It does not matter whether we are natives or foreigners who invest in the export of domestic surplus production.If it is a foreigner, the number of productive laborers employed in our country is of course relatively small, but only one; the value of our annual products is of course relatively small, but only one person's profit is less.As for whether the hired sailor is a native, it has nothing to do with whether he is a native. He is a native, and he can also hire foreign sailors and porters.Although there are differences in the nationality of the exporters, if capital is used to export domestic surplus products in exchange for domestic needs, the value given to this surplus product by the capital of foreigners or natives is always the same. of.Whether the wholesale merchant is a native or not, his capital is equally effective in repaying the capital of the person who produced this surplus product, and is equally effective in maintaining the business of the person who produced it. go down.This is the chief assistance which the capital of the wholesale merchants renders to the maintenance of the productive labor of the country, and to the increase of the value of the annual produce of the country.

It is more important that the manufacturer's capital should remain at home.With this capital retained in the country, the quantity of productive labor which it can set in motion must be greater, and the annual produce of its land and labor must also be increased in value.But producer capital that is not located in the home country is also very useful to the home country.English flax-makers, for example, invest yearly in importing flax from all over the Baltic coast for processing.Although such capital is not owned by the hemp-producing country, it is clear that it is beneficial to the hemp-producing country.This kind of flax is only a part of the surplus production of the producing country. If it is not exported every year in exchange for local needs, it has no value at all, and its production will stop immediately.The merchants who export the flax may repay the producers of flax for their capital, and thus encourage them to continue producing;

Like individuals, a nation often has insufficient capital to both improve and cultivate all the land, to process all the native produce, to make it fit for immediate consumption and use, and to transport the remainder of the native produce and manufactures to distant markets. In exchange for items needed domestically.The inhabitants of many parts of Britain have insufficient capital to improve and cultivate all the land which they possess.Most of the wool in southern Scotland had to go through extremely uneven roads and be transported by car to Yorkshire for processing due to the lack of local capital.There are many small industrial towns in England, whose people have not enough capital to carry their produce to distant markets where they are needed.Among them, even if there is a businessman, he can only be said to be the manager of a wealthy businessman.This kind of rich businessman often lives in a relatively large commercial city.

If the capital of a country is not enough to simultaneously engage in these three kinds of enterprises, then we can say that the greater the part invested in agriculture, the greater the amount of productive labor in the country will be promoted, and at the same time, the social land and labor will be affected. The greater is the value added to the annual produce.In addition to agriculture, when pushing the manufacturing industry.The capital invested in export trade has the least effect of the three. All countries which are not sufficiently capitalized to engage in these three businesses at the same time, have not reached the highest degree of wealth that nature will allow.Regardless of whether it is an individual or a society, attempting to do these three things at the same time with insufficient capital is not the fastest way to obtain sufficient capital.Just as there is a limit to the capital of an individual, so there is a limit to the capital of the whole people in a country, and it can be used only in certain ways.To increase personal capital, one must save from income and accumulate continuously; to increase national capital, one must also save and accumulate continuously from income.The capital of the country, therefore, will probably increase most rapidly if it is employed in such a way as to furnish the greatest income to all the inhabitants of the country, and thereby enable them to save the greatest amount.But the size of the income of all the inhabitants of the country must depend on the size of the annual product of the country's land and labor. The British American colonies spent almost all their capital in agriculture.It is mainly for this reason that there is a rapid growth in prosperity and strength.There is no manufactures there, except domestic manufactures and rough manufactures (which must follow the progress of agriculture, and which the women and children of every family can perform).As for the export industry and the shipping industry, most of them are invested and operated by businessmen living in the UK.There are even provinces, notably Vivania and Maryland, where retail shops and warehouses are owned by merchants residing in the home country.This is one of the few instances where the retail industry is not run by local merchant capital.Should the Americans unite, or use other drastic means, to prevent the importation of European manufactures, and to give the natives the exclusive opportunity of making the same, and thereby divert the greater part of their capital into manufactures, it would not only fail to hasten their progress. I am afraid that the increase in the value of the annual product will be hindered, and instead of making the country more prosperous and powerful, it may be hindered.In the same way, the result might be even more so if they were to try to monopolize all exports. The process of human prosperity seems never to have lasted so long as to enable any large country to obtain sufficient capital to simultaneously pursue these three enterprises, unless we think about the wealth and agriculture of China, ancient Egypt, and ancient India. Those strange records are believable.Yet even these three nations, which by all accounts are the wealthiest in the world, excel chiefly only in agriculture and industry.Their foreign trade was not prosperous.The ancient Egyptians had a superstitious fear of the ocean; the Indians also often had this superstition; as for China's foreign trade, it has always been underdeveloped.The great part of the surplus produce of these three countries seems to have been carried abroad by foreigners, in exchange for other things they wanted, which were often gold and silver. Thus, the same capital moves more or less labor in the country, and increases the value of the annual produce of land and labor, according to the proportion in which it is employed in agriculture, industry, and wholesale trade. different.Moreover, for the same wholesale business, the investment results will be very different due to the different types of wholesale business. All wholesale trade, or all trade in which large quantities are bought in order to be resold in bulk, may be divided into three classes, namely, domestic trade, foreign trade in consumer goods, and forward trade.Domestic trade is to buy domestically produced goods from this part of the country and sell them in another part of the country, which includes inland trade and coastal trade.Foreign trade in consumer goods is the purchase of foreign goods for domestic consumption.Trafficking trade is engaged in trade among various countries, that is, the surplus products of country A are transported to country B. Investing in domestic trade, buying domestic products from A to B for sale, and going back and forth once can generally repay both of the capital invested in the country's agriculture or industry, so that the country's agricultural manufacturing industry will not be interrupted.The use of capital to transport commodities of a certain value from the merchant's shop usually results in at least one other commodity of equal value being exchanged.Therefore, if the two parties in the exchange are both products of the domestic industry, the result will of course be to repay the two capitals used to maintain productive labor in the country so that they can continue to be used to maintain productive labor.For example, the capital which transports Scottish manufactures to London, and English corn or manufactures to Edinburgh, once round and round, will undoubtedly exchange for two capitals invested in English manufactures or agriculture. If the foreign goods for domestic consumption are purchased with the produce of the domestic industry, the capital invested in this trade, at each round trip, is also exchanged for two different capitals, only one of which is employed in the maintenance of the domestic industry. of.For example, if British goods are shipped to Portugal, and then Portuguese goods are shipped to the British capital, only one British capital will be repaid for one round trip.The other is Portuguese.Even if, therefore, this trade were to return itself as quickly as the domestic trade, the capital employed in it would, by comparison, encourage only half the domestic industry, and half the productive labor of the country. But such trade seldom pays off as quickly as domestic trade.Most of the capital and profits of domestic trade can be earned back once a year, or even three or four times.It is very difficult to earn back the principal and profit of this kind of trade once a year, and it is not uncommon to earn back once every two or three years.Often the capital invested in domestic trade has been employed twelve times, that is, paid and received twelve times, whereas the capital invested in this trade has been employed only once.Therefore, if the two capitals are the same, the capital invested in the domestic trade will often provide twenty-four times as much encouragement and support to the domestic industry as the capital invested in the foreign trade. Foreign goods for domestic consumption are sometimes purchased not in exchange for domestic produce, but in exchange for goods from a second foreign country.But this second foreign product must not be directly exchanged for the domestic product, but must be indirectly exchanged for the domestic product, that is, the domestic product is used to purchase the third foreign product, which is then used to purchase the second foreign product. Goods can only be obtained directly by exchanging domestic products, or indirectly by exchanging domestic products through two or three different transactions, and there is no other way to obtain them.Therefore, the capital employed in such roundabout foreign trades in consumer goods, compared with the capital employed in the most direct foreign trades in consumer goods, except for its final recovery, since it must depend on the recovery of capital in two or three different foreign trades, the time required Except for this point, regardless of that point, it has the same effect.If the merchant were to exchange English manufactures for Virginian tobacco, and then Virginian tobacco for Riga hemp, the capital could not return to the merchant, and be used again, without two foreign trades. Buy the same quantity of British manufactures.Suppose further that it was not English manufactures that were used to purchase Virginia tobacco, but Jamaica sugar, and that the Jamaican sugar was replaced by English manufactures, it would have to wait three times for the capital of foreign trade to be recovered before the merchant could again Buy the same quantity of British manufactures with the same capital.Suppose also that two or three different merchants are engaged in the second or third foreign trade.The goods imported by the first merchant are bought by the second and exported by the second, and the goods imported by the second are bought by the third for export. The respective merchants say that the recovery of their respective capitals is indeed more rapid; The final recovery of all capital in trade is equally slow.Whether the capital invested in this roundabout trade is owned by one person or by three people, although it matters to individual merchants, it has nothing to do with the country.The indirect exchange of a definite value of English manufactures for a given quantity of hemp, whether owned by one or three persons, must always require three times as much capital as in the direct exchange of English manufactures and hemp for each other.Therefore, the capital invested in the roundabout foreign trade of consumer goods, though the same amount, tends to give less encouragement and support to the productive labor of the country than the more direct foreign trade of consumer goods. No foreign commodity, whatever it may be, with which it is purchased for domestic consumption, can alter the character of the trade, or increase or decrease the encouragement and support it affords to the productive labor of the country.If the gold of Brazil and the silver of Peru are used, the purchase of this gold and silver, like the purchase of Virginia tobacco, must of course involve the exchange of some product of the national industry, or some article purchased by the national product.Therefore, foreign trade in consumer goods, by means of gold and silver, is equally important, as regards the productive labor of the country, both in terms of advantages and disadvantages, and in terms of the slowness of repayment of the capital directly employed in maintaining that productive labour. Like any other equally roundabout foreign trade in consumer goods, there is no difference.The foreign trade of consumer goods by means of gold and silver, by comparison, seems to have an additional advantage.Gold and silver are things that can contain a large value in a small volume. Therefore, compared with other goods of the same value, the transportation fee is relatively small, but the insurance fee may not be large.In addition, gold and silver are less prone to damage during transportation.We can often, therefore, purchase an equal quantity of foreign goods with a smaller quantity of our own goods, by the medium of gold and silver, than by the medium of other foreign goods.Gold and silver, therefore, are better intermediaries than other foreign goods, since the domestic demand can be more fully supplied, and at less expense.As for whether the continuous export of gold and silver to purchase foreign goods needed by the country can impoverish the country, we will discuss this issue at a later date. The capital invested in the transportation trade is all drawn from the home country, and is not used to maintain the productive labor of the country, but is diverted to maintain the productive labor of foreign countries. Although this kind of trade operation can repay two capitals once, but the whole Not owned by the country.The plan of the Dutch merchants, who transported corn from Poland to Portugal, and Portuguese fruit and wine to Poland, indeed repaid both capitals, but none of which was used to maintain the productive labor of Holland.Of these, one is used to maintain the productive labor of Poland, and the other is used to maintain the productive labor of Portugal, and what goes to Holland is only the profit of the Dutch merchants.With this trade the annual produce of the land and labor of Holland was not without increase, but only so much.It is true, if the ships and sailors with which the trade is carried are native ships and sailors, that part of the capital employed in paying the freight is employed in promoting and employing the productive labor of the native country.In fact, almost all countries in which the shipping trade flourishes, it is done in this way.From this, perhaps, comes the term transport trade, for the people of such countries are often transporters to foreigners.However, the ships and sailors needed for transportation are not necessarily owned by the country.For example, Dutch merchants engaged in shipping trade between Poland and Portugal do not necessarily have to use Dutch ships, and it is also possible to use British ships.We can say that at some point he did.It is for this reason that the shipping trade is thought to be especially advantageous to a country like Great Britain, whose defense and security depend on the number of ships and sailors.But in the foreign trade of consumer goods, and even in the domestic trade, the same amount of capital may employ as many ships and sailors, if the necessary transportation be carried on by short sea vessels.How many ships and sailors a given amount of capital can employ, does not depend upon the nature of the trade, but depends partly upon the proportion of the volume of goods to their value, and partly upon the distances between the sea-ports of carriage.Among these two conditions, the former is particularly important.The coal trade between Newcastle and London, though the two sea-ports are so near, employs more ships and sailors than the whole trade of England.It is doubtful, therefore, whether, by means of unusual rewards, the capital of a country, which is compelled to invest an inordinate proportion in the transport trade, not according to its natural tendency, will ever increase the navigation of a country. Thus a capital employed in the home trade maintains and encourages a greater quantity of productive labor in the country, and generally increases the value of the annual produce of the country, than an equal amount of capital invested in the foreign trade of consumer goods. big.But in both respects the capital employed in the foreign trade of consumer goods affords a greater advantage than an equal capital invested in the conveyance trade.In today's day when wealth means power, the wealth and strength of a country must be commensurate with the value of its annual products, that is, with the fund from which all taxes are ultimately paid.The great goal of political economy is to increase the prosperity of the country. Therefore, for the sake of the country, it is better to reward domestic trade and transport trade than to reward foreign trade or domestic trade in consumer goods for the sake of the country.It is in the interest of the country that the greater part of capital should not be compelled, nor should it be induced, to flow into the foreign trade, or the carrying trade, of consumer goods, contrary to the natural tendency. However, if these three kinds of trade follow the trend of things and develop naturally without being restrained or pressured, then no matter which one of them is, it is not only beneficial but also necessary and inevitable. Where the produce of a particular branch of industry exceeds the domestic need, the remainder must necessarily be sent abroad, in exchange for what is needed at home.Without this exportation, some part of the productive labor of the country must necessarily stand at a standstill, and thus reduce the value of the annual produce of the country.England often produces more corn, woolen cloth, and metalwork than is required by the home market.The remainder, therefore, had to be sent abroad, in exchange for what England needed.Without this exportation, this surplus would not be able to fetch a price sufficient to replace the labor and expense of producing it.The coastal areas along the river are suitable for industrial development, that is, the surplus products of the state are easy to export, and it is easy to exchange for local needs. When more foreign goods are procured with the surplus produce of the country than the home market requires, the remainder must be shipped abroad, and exchanged for other goods which are required at home.England exports a part of her surplus produce, and buys about 96,000 barrels of tobacco annually in Virginia and Maryland.But Britain needs perhaps no more than 14,000 barrels a year.Therefore, if the remaining 82,000 barrels cannot be sent abroad to exchange for domestic needs, the import of these 82,000 barrels will immediately stop.The goods produced for the purchase of these 82,000 barrels a year were originally not needed by the country, and the roads for export are now blocked. Of course, the production will stop, and the part of the British who is employed to manufacture these goods will also be employed. There will be no work to do.The most roundabout foreign commerce in consumer goods, therefore, is sometimes as necessary a means of sustaining the productive labor of the country, and maintaining the value of the annual produce of the country, as is the most direct foreign commerce in consumer goods. If the capital accumulated in a country cannot be fully used to supply its own consumption and to maintain its own productive labor, the remainder will naturally flow into the channels of transportation and trade for consumption in other countries to maintain the productive labor of other countries.Conveying trade is the natural consequence and symptom, but not the natural cause, of great national wealth.The statesmen who especially reward this trade, seem to mistake the effects and symptoms for causes.Measured by land area and number of inhabitants, Holland is the richest country in Europe, so Holland holds the largest part of European shipping trade.England is the richest country in Europe after the Netherlands, and it also has a lot of shipping trade.England, however, does not, in most cases, carry as much foreign trade as your indirect foreign trade in consumer goods.This is the greater part of our trade, with goods from the Orient, the West Indies, and America, to the markets of Europe.The means of purchasing such goods are generally, if not English, bought with English produce, and, moreover, the goods which these trades finally bring back are largely consumed or used in England.Only the trade between the ports of the Mediterranean, carried by British steamers, and the trade with the ports of the coast of India, carried on by British merchants, is the real English shipping trade. The necessity of exchanging the surplus produce among the different parts of the country leads to domestic trade; therefore, the extent of domestic trade, and the amount of capital invested in it, must be limited by the value of the surplus produce in all parts of the country.The extent of foreign commerce in consumer goods is necessarily limited by the value of the whole surplus produce of the country, and by the value of the articles which can be bought therefrom.What is exchanged in the shipping trade is the surplus produce of all the countries of the world.Its extent, therefore, must be limited by the value of the surplus produce of all countries in the world.Compared with the above two kinds of trade, its possible scope is almost unlimited, and the capital it can attract is also the largest. The intention of private profit is the sole motive in determining the employment of capital.Should we invest in agriculture, in industry, in wholesale trade, or in retail trade?It depends on what use is the most profitable.It never occurred to him what employment would move the greatest quantity of productive labour, what employment would increase the most in the value of the annual produce of the land and labor of the society.In countries, therefore, where agriculture is most profitable, and cultivation the most auspicious, the capital of individuals will naturally be employed in those uses which are most advantageous to the community.In Europe, however, the profits which are invested in agriculture are not necessarily superior to other enterprises.It is true that many planners in all parts of Europe have for some years now magnified the profits of farming, but it is not necessary to discuss their calculations carefully, but a little observation will show that their conclusions are quite wrong.We often see a kind of self-made people. They start from a small capital, or even no capital, and they only need to operate manufacturing or business for decades, and then become a rich man.However, in the past century, there is hardly a single case in Europe where a small amount of capital has been used to manage agriculture and make a fortune.In all the great countries of Europe there are still many good lands which are uncultivated; and those which are cultivated are not sufficiently improved.Agriculture, therefore, anywhere at present can still accommodate a great deal of capital.The policies of the various countries of Europe have made it more profitable to carry on industry in the cities than in the country, so that private individuals often prefer to invest in the transport trade of distant places (such as Asia and America) rather than invest in the cultivation of the nearest land. Fertile land, on this point, I will discuss it in detail in the next article.Part Three Chapter One