If it be said by any supporter of these doctrines, that this is too strict and constrained an interpretation of them, and that the loss which the society sustains, by the destruction of the capital of the original introducer of the manufacture, must be allowed to be made up by the gain which it receives from the profits made by those who afterwards engage in it; (30) I reply, that I perfectly agree with him in his conclusions.I too think, that the small present expenditure of the funds of the society which the project may occasion, may be more than repaid, by the large future revenue that it will bring in.The only difference between us is, that the doctrines he advocates, teach us to wait, till the miscalculations of some unfortunate projector confer on us a public benefit, whereas, I hold, that it would be more just and judicious that the necessary first cost of the scheme should be borne by the whole community; more just, as thus the burden necessary to be borne to procure a common benefit will be divided amongst all, instead of being sustained by one; more judicious, as the society will not have to wait, for the attainment of a desirable object, on so doubtful a chance as the folly of projectors.
It may also happen, that an individual, by some rare concurrence of accidents, may become initiated into all the secrets of some foreign manufacture, and, by some equally rare and happy union of good fortune and ingenuity, may succeed in introducing it into his own country with profit to himself.To wait, however, for this, or any such like lucky chance, or singularly fortunate concurrence of circumstances, while better could be done, would be Like waiting till the natural actions of the winds and tides should, by some strangely propitious concurrence of events, cast upon our shores a valuable plant or seed, that we might directly procure for the mere trouble and expense of sending for it.
There are, also, another class of motives, capable, no doubt, of leading even individuals into such undertakings, and of carrying them successfully through them.The love of country or fame, or the desire to gratify personal vanity, are powerful motives of human action, and may sometimes even be directed into such channels as this.But, as the tendency of such motives to promote the growth of national wealth is opposed to the principles of our author, and is expressly denied by him, we need not here enter into any inquiry concerning them.
There is, however, one case, in which it cannot be denied, that the efforts of individuals to promote their own interests may be sufficient to introduce a new manufacture.If, in the progress of events, the requisites for a foreign manufacture come to be produced in so great abundance, and with so much facility, in any country, that a projector there finds that he can from the first afford to manufacture the commodity, and sell it at as low a rate as the foreign merchant, a due regard to self-interest will certainly direct a portion of the national capital into that employment.
But, a case of the circumstances of a country being so peculiarly favorable to the practice of a foreign art, that, in the very first essays it makes in it, it can successfully compete with another, where that art has been long established, is assuredly very rare; and, if any such case occur, we may be satisfied that the manufacture might, with much advantage, have been previously introduced.
In a passage already quoted, it is observed, that, "when a taste for foreign manufactures becomes general, the merchants, in order to save the expense of carriage, naturally endeavor to establish some manufacture of the same kind in their own country." These expressions are somewhat too loose to coincide with our author's theory.It cannot be to save the expense of carriage, but to add to his own riches, that a merchant will endeavor to do any such thing.The consummation of such a measure, by saving a considerable expense to the community, might indeed add largely to the means of increasing their wealth in possession of all the merchants, or rather of all the members of the society; but "it is his own advantage, and not that of the society, which every member of it has in view;" and, in this system of perfect liberty and freedom from restraint, which is asserted to be the true plan of carrying the general prosperity of the community to the highest pitch, the difficulty is, to discover a method of inducing an individual to incur an unavoidable outlay, the returns from which, although very beneficial to the whole society, are no more so to him who lays out a great deal, than to others who lay out nothing.Union is said to give strength.But union cannot exist unless there be a bond to unite, and this bond must confine and restrain.The rods to make a bundle were tied together.Men are tied by law, a bond binding all to pursue the course supposed to conduce most to the general happiness.
