This is a question of the highest interest at a time when no doubt seems to be entertained that in the field of industry, as in the field of battle, the stronger crushes the weaker.
To arrive at this conclusion, we must have discovered between the labour which is applied2 to commodities and the violence exercised upon men, a melancholy3 and discouraging analogy; for why should these two kinds of operations be thought identical in their effects, if they are essentially4 different in their own nature?
And if it be true that in industry, as in war, predominance is the necessary result of superiority, what have we to do with progress or with social economy, seeing that we inhabit a world where everything has been so arranged by Providence5 that one and the same effect—namely, oppression—proceeds necessarily from two opposite principles?
With reference to England's new policy of commercial freedom, many persons make this objection, which has, I am convinced, taken possession of the most candid6 minds among us: "Is England doing anything else than pursuing the same end by different means. Does she not always aspire7 at universal supremacy8? Assured of her superiority in capital and labour, does she not invite free competition in order to stifle9 Continental10 industry, and so put herself in a situation to reign11 as a sovereign, having conquered the privilege of feeding and clothing the population she has ruined?"
It would not be difficult to demonstrate that these alarms are chimerical12; that our alleged13 inferiority is much exaggerated; that our great branches of industry not only maintain their ground, but are actually developed under the action of external competition, and that the infallible effect of such competition is to bring about an increase of general consumption, capable of absorbing both home and foreign products.
At present, I desire to make a direct answer to the objection, leaving it all the advantage of the ground chosen by the objectors. Keeping out of view for the present the special case of England and France, I shall inquire in a general way whether, when, by its superiority in one branch of industry, a nation comes to outrival and put down a similar branch of industry existing among another people, the former has advanced one step towards domination, or the latter towards dependence14; in' other words, whether both nations do not gain by the operation, and whether it is not the nation which is outrivalled that gains the most.
If we saw in a product nothing more than an opportunity of bestowing15 labour, the alarms of the protectionists would undoubtedly16 be well-founded. Were we to consider iron, for example, only in its relations with ironmasters, we might be led to fear that the competition of a country where it is the gratuitous17 gift of nature would extinguish the furnaces of another country where both ore and fuel are scarce.
But is this a complete view of the subject? Has iron relations only with those who make it? Has it no relations with those who use it? Is its sole and ultimate destination to be produced? And if it is useful, not on account of the labour to which it gives employment, but on account of the qualities it possesses, of the numerous purposes to which its durability18 and malleability19 adapt it, does it not follow that the foreigner cannot reduce its price, even so far as to render its production at home unprofitable, without doing us more good in this last respect, than harm in the other?
Pray consider how many things there are which foreigners, by reason of the natural advantages by which they are surrounded, prevent our producing directly, and with reference to which we are placed in reality in the hypothetical position we have been examining with reference to iron. We produce at home neither tea, coffee, gold, nor silver. Is our industry en masse diminished in consequence? No; only in order to create the counter-value of these imported commodities, in order to acquire them by means of exchange, we detach from our national labour a portion less great than would be required to produce these things ourselves. More labour thus remains20 to be devoted21 to the procuring22 of other enjoyments23. We are so much the richer and so much the stronger. All that external competition can do, even in cases where it puts an end absolutely to a determinate branch of industry, is to economize24 labour, and increase our productive power. Is this, in the case of the foreigner, the road to domination!
If we should find in France a gold mine, it does not follow that it would be for our interest to work it. Nay25, it is certain that the enterprise would be neglected if each ounce of gold absorbed more of our labour than an ounce of gold purchased abroad with cloth. In this case we should do better to find our mines in our workshops. And what is true of gold is true of iron.
The illusion proceeds from our failure to see one thing, which is, that foreign superiority never puts a stop to national industry, except under a determinate form, and under that form only renders it superfluous26 by placing at our disposal the result of the very labour thus superseded27. If men lived in diving-bells under water, and had to provide themselves with air by means of a pump, this would be a great source of employment. To throw obstacles in the way of such employment, as long as men were left in this condition would be to inflict28 upon them a frightful29 injury. But if the labour ceases because the necessity for its exertion30 no longer exists, because men are placed in a medium where air is introduced into their lungs without effort, then the loss of that labour is not to be regretted, except in the eyes of men who obstinately31 persist in seeing in labour nothing but labour in the abstract.
It is exactly this kind of labour which machinery32, commercial freedom, progress of every kind, gradually supersedes33; not useful labour, but labour become superfluous, without object, and without result. On the contrary, protection sets that sort of useless labour to work; it places us again under water, to bring the air-pump into play; it forces us to apply for gold to the inaccessible34 national mine, rather than to the national workshops. All the effect is expressed by the words, depredation35 of forces.
It will be understood that I am speaking here of general effects, not of the temporary inconvenience which is always caused by the transition from a bad system to a good one. A momentary36 derangement37 accompanies necessarily all progress. This may be a reason for making the transition gently and gradually. It is no reason for putting a stop systematically38 to all progress, still less for misunderstanding it.
Industry is often represented as a struggle. That is not a true representation of it, or only true when we confine ourselves to the consideration of each branch of industry in its effects upon similar branches, regarding them both in thought apart from the interests of the rest of mankind. But there is always something else to be considered, namely, the effects upon consumption, and upon general prosperity.
It is an error to apply to trade, as is but too often done, phrases which are applicable to war.
In war the stronger overcomes the weaker.
Let the English be as powerful and skilful40 as they are represented, let them be possessed41 of as large an amount of capital, and have as great a command of the two great agents of production, iron and fuel, as they are supposed to have; all this simply means cheapness. And who gains by the cheapness of products? The man who buys them.
It is not in their power to annihilate42 any part whatever of our national labour. All they can do is to render it superfluous in the production of what is acquired by exchange, to furnish us with air without the aid of the pump, to enlarge in this way our disposable forces, and so render their alleged domination as much more impossible as their superiority becomes more incontestable.
Thus, by a rigorous and consoling demonstration43, we arrive at this conclusion, that labour and violence, which are so opposite in their nature, are not less so in their effects.
All we are called upon to do is to distinguish between labour annihilated44, and labour economized45.
To have less iron because we work less, and to have less iron although we work less, are things not only different, but opposed to each other. The protectionists confound them; we do not. That is all.
We may be very certain of one thing, that if the English employ a large amount of activity, labour, capital, intelligence, and natural forces, it is not done for show. It is done in order to procure46 a multitude of enjoyments in exchange for their products. They most certainly expect to receive at least as much as they give. What they produce at home is destined47 to pay for what they purchase abroad. If they inundate48 us with their products, it is because they expect to be inundated49 with ours in return. That being so, the best means of having much for ourselves is to be free to choose between these two modes of acquisition, immediate50 production, and mediate51 production. British Machiavelism cannot force us to make a wrong choice.
Let us give up, then, the puerility52 of applying to industrial competition phrases applicable to war,—a way of speaking which is only specious53 when applied to competition between two rival trades. The moment we come to take into account the effect produced on the general prosperity, the analogy disappears.
In a battle, every one who is killed diminishes by so much the strength of the army. In industry, a workshop is shut up only when what it produced is obtained by the public from another source and in greater abundance. Figure a state of things where for one man killed on the spot two should rise up full of life and vigour54. Were such a state of things possible, war would no longer merit its name.
This, however, is the distinctive55 character of what is so absurdly called industrial war.
Let the Belgians and the English lower the price of their iron ever so much; let them, if they will, send it to us for nothing; this might extinguish some of our blast-furnaces; but immediately, and as a necessary consequence of this very cheapness, there would rise up a thousand other branches of industry more profitable than the one which had been superseded.
We arrive, then, at the conclusion that domination by labour is impossible, and a contradiction in terms, seeing that all superiority which manifests itself among a people means cheapness, and tends only to impart force to all other nations. Let us banish56, then, from political economy all terms borrowed from the military vocabulary: to fight with equal weapons, to conquer, to crush, to stifle, to be beaten, invasion, tribute, etc. What do such phrases mean? Squeeze them, and you obtain nothing... Yes, you do obtain something; for from such words proceed absurd errors, and fatal and pestilent prejudices. Such phrases tend to arrest the fusion57 of nations, are inimical to their peaceful, universal, and indissoluble alliance, and retard58 the progress of the human race.
THE END.
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1
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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4
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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chimerical
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| adj.荒诞不经的，梦幻的 | |
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13
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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15
bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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durability
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| n.经久性，耐用性 | |
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malleability
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| n.可锻性，可塑性，延展性 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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economize
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| v.节约，节省 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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33
supersedes
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| 取代，接替( supersede的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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depredation
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| n.掠夺，蹂躏 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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derangement
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| n.精神错乱 | |
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systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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40
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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41
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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42
annihilate
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| v.使无效；毁灭；取消 | |
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43
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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44
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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45
economized
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| v.节省，减少开支( economize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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47
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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48
inundate
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| vt.淹没，泛滥，压倒 | |
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49
inundated
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| v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付 | |
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50
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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51
mediate
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| vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成 | |
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52
puerility
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| n.幼稚，愚蠢；幼稚、愚蠢的行为、想法等 | |
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53
specious
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| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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54
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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55
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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56
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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57
fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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58
retard
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| n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速 | |
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