Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 10.djvu/48

24 equal to that of Mr. Bakewell and Mr. Booth in increasing the size and modifying the forms of their herds; and that their remote descendants, not having lost the art, commenced a moa farm in this island of the Pacific, having brought with them a basket of eggs from Hawaiiki or Lemuria.



John Stuart Mill's "Principles of Political Economy" wealth is defined to be "all useful or agreeable things which possess exchangeable value;" capital is defined to be "a stock previously accumulated of the products of former labour." (Preliminary Remarks, p. 6, People's Edition, 1869.)

These definitions are almost the same, as scarcely anything possesses exchangeable value except the products of former labour.

Natural productions which can be and have been appropriated, are useful and have exchangeable value; they are, therefore, by the definition, wealth; but as they are not the product of former labour they are not capital. The natural grasses on the Canterbury plains, for instance, are wealth but not capital; artificial grasses in the same field are both wealth and capital.

Monopolies are also wealth but not capital; they are useful to the owner, and are exchangeable for commodities, but are not the product of former labour.

With these two exceptions, everything defined by the one word is also defined by the other; that is, capital is an accumulated stock of the products of former labour, and wealth is the same thing with monopolies added; for the sole right to the use of land or of any other free gift of nature, is only a monopoly.

When thus stated the necessity of a radical change in the definition of one or both words becomes apparent.

I propose to define wealth to be "everything in the world which is useful or agreeable to man;" and capital to be the "ownership of that wealth."

This definition of capital would require some limitation in order to bring it more nearly into accordance with the usual meaning of the word, but for my present purpose it is not necessary to be more minute, more especially as by doing so my paper would reach to an unwieldy length. 