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49 of the society. It could never touch the old, except through the medium of those who might be dependent on them. Were all to act independently of each other, and to draw, each on his own resources only, in the competition between the purchasers of food the young would have no chance. Their competition would soon cease by the failure of their means. The old could alone purchase a sufficiency, and what the young would want, besides their earnings, to complete the amount of their necessary sustenance, they could obtain only through the favour of the old. Hence, they would generally be in a state of dependence on the old, and from this dependence many advantages would arise.

The manner in which this dependence would be produced may be thus traced. Let us begin from the present and actual state of the labouring classes, in what regards the proportions of the money wages of the different ages. Then, were the money wages of all to be alike increased, the price of food would be increased in the same proportion. For example, were the wages to be doubled, the prices of food would be also doubled.