Page:Manual of Political Economy.djvu/75

 26 Manual of Political Economy.

spend 3,000,000l. upon tobacco. If it can be proved that tobacco does not benefit, but injures both the body and the mind, then 3,000,000l. of the capital of the country, which in the first place is paid to labourers, and then expended by them in tobacco, is, considered as capital, rendered completely nugatory, because the 3,000,000l. in no way assists the production of wealth. If, moreover, it is true that tobacco cannot be used without detriment, then this 3,000,000l. not only does not assist, but actually is an obstacle to the production of wealth. But it will perhaps be said, Although this sum of money spent upon tobacco does the labourer no good, yet it is not without its beneficial influence; the expenditure of so much money is good for trade, and thus the labourer receives an indirect advantage. The fallacy of such a supposition will be readily understood by recalling the remarks that have just been made, which show that the labourer is benefited by the productive employment of wealth rather than by its unproductive consumption. It is, however, necessary to be extremely cautious in expressing an opinion as to whether the consumption of a particular article does the labourer good. The relations between chemistry and physiology are as yet by no means settled. The theory of food is most imperfectly understood. A chemical analysis may very possibly show that such an article as tea contains none of those ingredients which are commonly considered to nourish the human frame; and hence a rash and ignorant assertion is often made that tea is not a necessary of life, and that therefore a heavy tax upon tea is no hardship to the labourer; the tax, it is urged, is simply a salutary sumptuary law, because the consumption of tea ought rather to be discouraged than encouraged. But although tea may not nourish the body, yet it undoubtedly soothes the mind, and this is equally important; for without some such soothing influence, life would be almost intolerable, and even the body itself would be wasted by the weariness of the mind.

Enough has now been, perhaps, stated to establish the proposition that although industry is maintained by capital, yet that there is always in a country sufficient capital to support more industry, or, in other words, to