If they do not save I know not what to say.But you cannot conclude from that,that producers will be benefitted by it,for what the capitalists would have saved,would still have been spent.By spending it unproductively,the expenditure is not made greater.As to sums accumulated without being productively consumed,for instance,those hoarded up in the miser's coffer,neither Smith ,myself,nor any one undertakes to defend this,but they alarm us but little in the first place,because they are very inconsiderable in comparison to the productive capitals of a Nation,and in the second place because their consumption is no more than suspended.There are no treasures that have not some time or other been spent either productively or unproductively.
I do not know upon what principle you consider reproductive expences,such as for digging canals,agricultural buildings,constructing machines,and paying artists and artisans,as more favorable to producers than improductive expenses such as those which are only for the personal gratification of the prodigal."So long,"you say (page 363,)"as cultivators are disposed to consume the articles of luxury created by the manufacturers,and the manufacturers the articles of luxury created by the cultivators,all is well.But if either class were disposed to economise with a view of bettering their condition and of providing for the establishment of their families,the case would be quite different,"(that is to say apparently,that everything would go ill).
"The farmer instead of allowing his wife ribbons,laces,and velvets,would be content with plainer clothing for her,but his economy would take away from the manufacturer the power of purchasing so great a quantity of his produce,and he would no longer find a vent for the produce of land upon which nothing had been spared in labor and amendment.If the manufacturer on his part instead of gratifying his desires by the consumption of sugar,plumbs,and tobacco,wishes to lay up for the future,he cannot succeed,thanks to the parsimony of the farmer,and to the want of demand for the productions of manufacture.
And a little further on (page 365)"The population necessary to furnish clothing for such a society by the help of machines would be reduced to a trifling number,and would absorb but a small part of the excess of a rich and well cultivated territory.There would evidently be a general falling off in the demand,either for productions or population.And whilst it is certain that a proper passion for consumption (unproductive)would preserve a just proportion between the supply and demand,whatever may be the power of production,it:does not appear less clear that an inclination to save must inevitably lead to a production of commodities exceeding what the organisation and habits of such a society would permit them to consume."You go so far as to ask what would become of the commodities,if every kind of consumption,bread and water excepted,were suspended only for six months (18)and,it is to me in the first instance that you address this question.
