grows comparatively dearer. Secondly, if part of this debt be owing to foreigners, either they draw out of the kingdom annually a considerable quantity of specie for the interest; or else it is made an argument to grant them unreasonable privileges, in order to induce them to reside here. Thirdly, if the whole be owing to subjects only, it is then charging the active and industrious subject, who pays his share of the taxes, to maintain the indolent and idle creditor who receives them. Lastly, and principally, it weakens the internal strength of a state, by anticipating those resources which should be reserved to defend it in case of necessity. The interest we now pay for our debt would be nearly sufficient to maintain any war, that any national motives could require. And if our ancestors in King William's time had annually paid, so long as their exigencies lasted, even a less sum than we now annually raise upon their accounts, they would in time of war have borne no greater burdens than they have bequeathed to and settled upon their posterity in time of peace; and might have been eased the moment the exigence was over.-Blackstone.

The funding system is not money; neither is it, properly speaking, credit. It in effect creates upon paper the sum which it appears to borrow, and lays on a tax to keep the imaginary capital alive, by the payment of interest, and sends the annuity to market, to be sold for paper already in circulation. If any credit is given, it is to the disposition of the people to pay the tax, and not to the government which lays it on. When this disposition expires, what is supposed to be the credit of government expires with it. The instance of France, under the former government, shows that it is impossible to compel the payment of taxes by force, when a whole nation is determined to take its stand upon that ground.-Paine.

The original design of the funding system, which commenced in the reign of King William, was to give stability to the revolution, by engaging the monied interest to embark on its bottom. It immediately advanced the influence of the crown, which the whigs then exalted as much as possible, as a countervail to the interest of the pretender. -Robert Hall.

That the funding system contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction, is as certain as that of the human

body containing within itself the seeds of death. The event is as fixed as fate, unless it can be taken as a proof, that because we are not dead we are not to die.

The consequence of the funding scheme, even if no other event takes place, will be to create two violent parties in the nation; the one goaded by taxes continually increasing to pay the interest, the other reaping a benefit from the taxes, by receiving the interest.-Paine.

THIS species of industry has its origin in the nature of man, and the circumstances under which he is placed; and its rise is coeval with the formation of society. The varying powers and dispositions of different individuals dispose them to engage in preference in particular occupations; and every one finds it for his advantage to confine himself wholly or principally to some one employment, and to barter or exchange such portions of his produce as exceed his own demand, for such portions of the peculiar produce of others as he is desirous to obtain, and they are disposed to part with. The division and combination of employments is carried to some extent in the rudest societies, and it is carried to a very great extent in those that are improved. But to whatever extent it may be carried, commerce must be equally advanced. The division of employments could not exist without commerce, nor commerce without the division of employments: they mutually act and react upon each other. Every new subdivision of employments occasions a greater extension of commerce; and the latter cannot be extended without contributing to the better division and combination of the former.

In rude societies, the business of commerce, or the exchange of commodities, is carried on by those who produce them. Individuals, having more of any article than is required for their own use, endeavour to find out others in want of it, and who at the same time possess something they would like to have. But the difficulties and inconveniences inseparable from a commercial intercourse, carried on in

this way, are so obvious, as hardly to require being pointed out. Were there no merchants or dealers, a farmer, for example, who had a quantity of wheat or wool to dispose of, would be obliged to seek out those who wanted these commodities, and to sell them in such portions as might suit them; and, having done this, he would next be forced to send to, perhaps, twenty different distant places, before he succeeded in supplying himself with the various articles he might wish to buy. His attention would thus be perpetually diverted from the business of his farm; and while the difficulty of exchanging his own produce for that of others would prevent him from acquiring a taste for improved accommodations, it would tempt him to endeavour to supply most that was essential by his own labour, and that of his family; so that the division of employments would be confined within the narrowest limits. The wish to obviate such inconveniences, has given rise to a distinct mercantile class. Without employing themselves in any sort of production, merchants or dealers render the greatest assistance to the producers. They collect and distribute all sorts of commodities; they buy of the farmers and manufacturers the things they have to sell; and bringing together every variety of useful and desirable articles in shops and warehouses, individuals are able, without difficulty or loss of time, to supply themselves with whatever they want. Continuity is in consequence given to all the operations of industry. As every one knows beforehand where he may dispose to the best advantage of all that he has to sell, and obtain all that he wishes to buy, an uninterrupted motion is given to the plough and the loom.-M'Culloch. Commerce is founded on the division of labour. useful commerce, all commerce occasioning wealth or power, is founded on the reciprocal advantages which attend a division of labour engaged in producing the necessaries of life. If every man produced his own food, clothing, and lodging; that is, if there were no division of labour, there could be no commerce. Every man must, at all times, be consuming the three great necessaries of life; if a man apply his labour to the production of one of these necessaries only, he must exchange part of the produce of his labour for the other two necessaries. As the division of labour increases, the number of exchangeable articles increases, and commerce increases.

All

Before the division of labour every man produced his own food, clothing, and lodging, and the machines or tools he wanted. On the discovery of the properties of iron, it is probable that labour was first divided; the first division of men was probably into these two classes; namely, the producers of the necessaries of life, and the workers in iron, who produced the requisite machines or tools. The first commerce consisted in the interchange of iron machines for necessaries: those who lived near the workers in iron, would give corn in exchange for their iron tools; those who lived at a distance would give clothing in exchange for their iron, in order to save labour in carriage; since the weight of a certain quantity of clothing will not be greater than the tenth part of the weight of a quantity of corn of the same value. When the labour of producing corn and clothing becomes divided, commerce will consist in the interchange of corn, clothing, and machines; every producer of clothing alone, must be continually exchanging part of his produce for food and machines; and every machine-maker must be exchanging part of the effects of his labour, for part of the labour of the corn-grower and clothier. All useful commerce consists, almost wholly, in the interchange of these articles, corn, clothing, and machines. All other commerce produces no more national wealth than does the labour of domestic servants. Since the consumption of tools or machines is not considerable, when compared with the consumption of either corn or clothing, it will be sufficient to consider all useful commerce as consisting in the interchange of corn and plain clothing.

The commerce between an agricultural and a manufacturing nation, is as mutually advantageous as the commerce in corn and cloth carried on between the inhabitants of a town and the farmers in the neighbourhood. If a free trade in corn and cloth were allowed between England and France, the art of agriculture would improve in France, and the art of making cloth would improve in England; but the art of making cloth would remain nearly stationary in France, and in England the art of agriculture would make slow progress. The mutual benefit which the two countries would derive from such free trade is indisputable, on the supposition, that such free trade is not

subject to interruptions; for every Englishman and Frenchman would then procure the necessaries of life with diminished labour; and, consequently, the wealth or power of both England and France would be increased. When

there is a chance of interruption, the policy of allowing a free trade will depend on the decision of these two questions:-Whether the improvement in the agriculture of France would compensate for the check given to the art of making cloth; and whether England's rapid advancement in the art of making cloths would compensate for her slow advancement in agriculture.

No useful commerce can exist between two very distant countries for any great length of time. The improvements made in the arts in one country, by means of the division of labour, and by means of large capitals, may be so great and so rapid, that this country may supply for a time many distant countries with manufactures. But when the arts in this country have nearly reached perfection, the expense of transporting the commodities exchanged will be so great, that very high rewards will be conferred on those who succeed in transferring capital from this country to other countries; these rewards will be so high, that it will be impossible for the rich country to prevent the export of machinery and workmen to other countries. All useful distant commerce is founded on inequality in the knowledge of the useful arts; and it is impossible to prevent this knowledge from diffusing itself. When the knowledge of the arts is equally diffused, nearly all commerce between distant towns will cease, and every country or small territory will be independent of all other countries. At no distant period, England will cease to manufacture for the rest of the world, and every nation will find it most profitable to manufacture for itself.-Edmonds.

As it has never been asked how wealth can be the most abundantly and beneficially produced for society, so the question has, in like manner, never been thought of, how the wealth produced by society can be the most advantageously distributed? The simple and natural reply would be, By passing it in the shortest and most economical manner from the producing powers to the consumers. what is now the actual practice of society? It is, generally speaking, the reverse of this process. Almost every expedient has been devised for the purpose of passing pro

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