下载辰思小说免费APP
andthatallvalueisinproportiontothelabourfellinwiththeSocialisttheory。Ifvalueiscreatedbylabour，oughtnot’labour’topossesswhatitmakes?Therighttothewholeproduceoflabourseemedtobeanaturalconclusion。RicardomightanswerthatwhenIbuyyourlabour，itbecomesmine。Imayconsidermyselftohaveacquiredtherightsoftherealcreatorofthewealth，andtoembodyallthelabourers，whose’accumulatedlabour’
iscapital。Still，thereisadifficulty。Thebeaveranddeercasehasanawkwardethicalaspect。Tosaythattheyareexchangedatsucharateseemstomeanthattheyoughttobeexchangedattherate。Thisagainimpliestheprinciplethatamanhasarighttowhathehascaught；thatis，tothewholefruitsofhislabour。JamesMill，aswehaveseen，startshispoliticaltreatisebyassumingthisasobvious。43Hedidnotconsiderthepossibleinferences；foritiscertainlyadaringassumptionthattheprincipleiscarriedoutbytheeconomicsystem。AccordingtoRicardorentispaidtomenwhodon’tlabouratall。Thefundholderwasaweightuponallindustry，andasdeadaweightasthelandlord。Thecapitalist，Ricardo’ssocialmainspring，requiredatleastcross-examination。Herepresents’accumulatedlabour’insomefashion，butitisnotplainthattheslicewhichhetakesoutofthewholecakeisproportionedaccuratelytohispersonallabour。Therightandthefactwhichcoincidedinthedeerandbeaverperiodhavesomehowcometodiverge。
Here，then，weareatapointcommontothetwoopposingschools，Bothareabsolute’individualists’
indifferentsenses。Societyisbuiltup，andallindustrialrelationsdetermined，bythecompetitionofamultitudeofindependentatoms，eachaimingatself-preservation。Malthus’sprincipleappliesthistothegreatmassofmankind。Systematicallyworkedout，ithasledtoRicardo’sidentificationofvaluewithquantitiesoflabour。Keepingsimplytothematteroffact，itshowshowasmallminorityhavemanagedtogetadvantagesinthestruggle，andtoraisethemselvesupontheshouldersofthestrugglingmass。Malthusshowsthattheresultinginequalitypreventsthestrugglefromloweringeveryonetostarvationpoint。Buttheadvantagewasnotobvioustothestrugglingmasswhichexemplifiedthestruggleforexistence。Ifequalitymeantnottheinitialfactsbutthepermanentright，societywasbuiltuponinjustice。Applythepoliticaldoctrineofrightsofmantotheeconomicrighttowealth，andyouhavetheSocialistdoctrineofrighttothewholeproduceoflabour。Itistruethatitisexceedinglydifficulttosaywhateachmanhascreatedwhenheisreallypartofacomplexmachinery；butthatisaproblemtowhichSocialistscouldapplytheiringenuity。Therealanswerofthepoliticaleconomistswasthatalthoughtheexistingorderimpliedgreatinequalitiesofwealthitwasyetessentialtoindustrialprogress，andthereforetoanimprovementinthegeneralstandardofcomfort。
This，however，wasthelessevidentthemoretheyinsistedupontheindividualinterest。Thenetresultseemedtobethatbyaccidentorinheritance，possiblybyfraudorforce，asmallnumberofpersonshavegotamuchlargershareofwealththantheirrivals。Ricardomayexpoundthescienceaccurately；
and，ifso，wehavetoask，Whataretherightethicalconclusions?
Forthepresent，theUtilitariansseemtohaveconsideredthisquestionassuperfluous。Theywerecontenttotaketheexistingorderforgranted；andthequestionremainshowfartheirconclusionsuponthatassumptioncouldbereallysatisfactory。
IV。THECLASSICALPOLITICAL
ECONOMY。
Ricardohadworkedoutthemainoutlinesofthe’ClassicalPoliticalEconomy’：Thesystemwhichtohisdisciplesappearedtobeasclear，consistent，anddemonstrableasEuclid；andwhichwasdenouncedbytheiropponentsasmechanical，materialistic，fatalistic，anddegrading，Aftertriumphingforaseason，ithasbeenoflateyearsoftentreatedwithcontempt，andsometimesbanishedtothelimboofextinctlogomachies。Itiscondemnedas’abstract。’Ofalldelusionsonthesubject，repliesaveryableandseverecritic，44thereisnonegreaterthanthebeliefthatitwas’whollyabstractandunpractical。’
Itsmeritslayinitstreatmentofcertainspecialquestionsoftheday；
whileinthepurelyscientificquestionsitwashopelesslyconfusedandinconsistent。Undoubtedly，asIhavetriedtopointout，MalthusandRicardowerereasoninguponthecontemporarystateofthing
