Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/843

 ETHICS OF WEALTH 829

comes to his efforts. So, in like manner, the material pros- perity of any nation depends upon the product or return of the labor rather than upon the amount of work done or effort put forth. The one is not always directly proportional to the other. A large amount of labor might, and often does, produce a small return. The problem of individual or national prosperity from the economic standpoint is to employ the productive agen- cies land, labor, and capital in such a way as to secure the maximum of return ; and the return from the productive agen- cies employed in the construction of the Atlantic liner is in marked contrast to that received from those agencies employed in establishing and maintaining the deer park. Adam Smith's famous statement on this point is just as true now as when writ- ten a century ago. "A man grows rich," said he, "by employ- ing a multitude of manufacturers ; he grows poor by maintaining a multitude of menial servants." Professor MacCunn expresses practically the same idea when he says: " Let every shipyard in the kingdom resound to the clang of hammers on a fleet of yachts, and let every man with ^300 a year hire a body ser- vant ; there is no industrial or commercial prosperity in that. Unless counteracted by other kinds of commerce and other kinds of industry, such expenditure would lead direct to ruin." 1

WEALTH EXPENDED IN LAVISH ENTERTAINMENTS.

A society function held in the city of New York said to have cost a half million of dollars caused much discussion concerning the ethical and social aspects of luxury. The Chicago Times- Herald si February 7, 1897, contained a large number of inter- views upon the subject from society ladies of the city and from well-known ministers of the gospel. As a rule, the vast expen- diture was defended by the society women and denounced by the clergymen. The main grounds for defense were two : It was held, in the first place, that the entertainers had a "perfect right" to spend their money as they saw fit. Again, the extrav- agance was defended, and in one case especially commended, on the ground that it put money into circulation. Both of these

1 Ethics of Citizenship, p. 201.