00000360 |
Previous | 360 of 480 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO JAY. 339
advantages, where there is a concurrence, are therefore
clearly in favor of the nation, that can reduce the price of
provisions within her own kingdom.
But it may be said, that this reduction of the price of
provisions, which seems so desirable in one view, may be
found injurious in another; and that it is at least as expedient to encourage agriculture as manufactures. I agree in
the principle, though not in the application. Going back
to my first position, that the man who labors gets a bare
subsistence, for the moment he does more, the number of
laborers in that kind (provided his employment does not
require uncommon skill) increases, and his labor is not more
profitable, than that of the other laborers of the country.
It will follow then, that so far as he consumes what he
raises, the price will be entirely out of the question. If a
bushel of grain a day is necessary for the support of his
family, he will equally raise and equally consume that
grain, whether it sells for a penny or a pound. But as there
are other articles necessary for the use of his family, that
he must purchase, this purchase can only be made by the
excess of what he raises beyond his own consumption. If
he purchases the manufactures of the country, and they
rise in proportion to the value of provisions, it must be a
matter of indifference to the husbandman, whether the price
of the latter is high or low, since the same quantity will be
necessary to purchase what his necessities demand in either
case; unless indeed his provisions are carried to foreign
markets, and the manufactures he wants imported, in which
case the price of his grain will become an object of moment,
and operate as an encouragement to agriculture. But it
would also in the same proportion operate as a check on
the manufactures, population, and navigation of the country. On the first, for reasons which have been already
explained; on the second, because manufactures require
more hands than agriculture; and on the third, because the
| Title | The correspondence and public papers of John Jay - 2 |
| Creator | Jay, John |
| Publisher | G.P. Putnam's Sons |
| Place of Publication | New York, London |
| Date | [1890-93] |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000360 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO JAY. 339 advantages, where there is a concurrence, are therefore clearly in favor of the nation, that can reduce the price of provisions within her own kingdom. But it may be said, that this reduction of the price of provisions, which seems so desirable in one view, may be found injurious in another; and that it is at least as expedient to encourage agriculture as manufactures. I agree in the principle, though not in the application. Going back to my first position, that the man who labors gets a bare subsistence, for the moment he does more, the number of laborers in that kind (provided his employment does not require uncommon skill) increases, and his labor is not more profitable, than that of the other laborers of the country. It will follow then, that so far as he consumes what he raises, the price will be entirely out of the question. If a bushel of grain a day is necessary for the support of his family, he will equally raise and equally consume that grain, whether it sells for a penny or a pound. But as there are other articles necessary for the use of his family, that he must purchase, this purchase can only be made by the excess of what he raises beyond his own consumption. If he purchases the manufactures of the country, and they rise in proportion to the value of provisions, it must be a matter of indifference to the husbandman, whether the price of the latter is high or low, since the same quantity will be necessary to purchase what his necessities demand in either case; unless indeed his provisions are carried to foreign markets, and the manufactures he wants imported, in which case the price of his grain will become an object of moment, and operate as an encouragement to agriculture. But it would also in the same proportion operate as a check on the manufactures, population, and navigation of the country. On the first, for reasons which have been already explained; on the second, because manufactures require more hands than agriculture; and on the third, because the |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| B |
|
| C |
|
| G |
|
| H |
|
| M |
|
| T |
|
| U |
|
| Y |
|
|
|
