第91章

Their greater numbers would alone make up for the smaller power of each, but besides the weight which this consideration is entitled to, the amount of labor that may, with advantage, be accumulated by the mere working man, in instruments of this sort, is, in reality, very considerable.His dwelling and its contents, may fitly be considered as a store that he possesses, for the supply of the future wants of himself and family, or, what is the same thing, for the abridgment of their future labor, and according as there is much or little of this provision wrought up in them, will the one be supplied or the other saved.First, the house itself, as the place in which he and they live, and pursue many of their various occupations, will not yield the advantages it ought, if the apartments be not so roomy, and well lighted, as neither from the closeness of the atmosphere to induce debility or disease, nor, from their confinedness and obscurity, to cramp and retard the inmates in their several labors.Then, according to the compactness and finish that is given to the walls and other parts will the inclemency of the weather be more or less excluded, and a greater or less quantity of fuel, be in future requisite.The cupboards, where things may be readily put past, and as readily found, and where they are preserved from destroying causes and accidents, the cooking utensils, the bedding, and the numerous other articles of the sort, that enter into the domestic economy of a frugal and industrious family, are to be considered, in like manner, as so many means by which future labor, or future expense may be prevented or diminished.The extent of the saving which the provident working man in this way effects, is sometimes very great.In a rude, or imperfectly finished fabric, fuel must be wasted; in one where there are not proper conveniences for preserving and cooking food, food must be wasted; and where there are not fit places for depositing articles of wearing apparel, they must soon get dirty, and receive much unnecessary damage.In a well finished, and convenient habitation, too, the inmates lose no time, either from torpor in winter's cold, or languor in summer's heat; they have space and comfort to pursue their various labors, and unless the periods given to repose, and to their meals, may employ the whole time they spend at home, in some useful or agreeable occupation.The animal frame, also, it is to be observed, when exposed to the extremes of heat and cold, and to damp, seems to require a greater supply of nourishment, than when properly sheltered and protected.This is seen in the inferior animals, and agreeing with them in other parts of his corporeal constitution, man does not here differ from them, and when comfortably lodged, is preserved in health and vigor, on a diet which he would else find too scanty.The amount of provision for future needs, that may, in a Similar manner, be embodied by a laborer or mechanic having a family, in bedding, and other furniture, and in kitchen utensils, is very considerable.(60)It is to be here observed, that the prevalence of a really economical spirit among the working class, implies no diminution of the purchases made by them.On the contrary, it being the desire of the laborer, under such a supposition, to turn every six-pense he can earn, to some useful employment, either to the acquisition of necessaries, or other commodities, he must have as many demands on the capitalist as before.The change produced, would be, in the articles purchased.The proportion of those providing for the wants of futurity would increase, that of those ministering to the gratifications of the present, diminish.

Thus, such a spirit pervading the working classes in Great Britain, at the present period, would probably lead them to abandon all delicacies of fare, and would occasion a diminished consumption of alcoholic liquors, tea, coffee, silks, expensive calicoes, and the more showy articles of apparel.It would, on the other hand, increase the demand for the higher priced, and more substantial cloths, cottons, blankets, kitchen utensils, and articles of that sort, and for all matters used in the construction of dwelling-houses.

Neither, it is to be observed, would the prevalence of a contrary spirit among those orders, and a proneness to seize on the enjoyments of the present, occasion any immediate diminution of their demands on the capitalist.It would merely lead to his providing for them a greater amount of instruments of sudden exhaustion, contributing to the gratification of the instant, and a smaller amount of those of gradual exhaustion, providing for the wants of futurity, and to his giving a construction to the latter, that might make them correspond during the period of their exhaustion, to the lower degree of the accumulative principle of the individuals in whose service they were to be exhausted; such a circumstance, would, therefore, occasion the production of a larger portion of delicacies, of articles of nourishment, more grateful to the senses, but not more nutritious or more wholesome than cheaper fare, of fewer substantial articles of dress and furniture, and more of those that are flimsy and showy.

The whole stock of instruments owned by the laboring population, would thus contain a smaller amount of the means of lessening future labor, or expense, as their effective desire of accumulation diminished in strength.