Principles of Political Economy Part 27

The per capita consumption of wool in England, about a generation ago, amounted to about 4 lbs. a year; in Prussia to 1.67; of cloth, to 5.76 and 2.17 ells; of leather, to 3.03 and 2.22 lbs. respectively.[229-10]

Of silk goods, England consumes half as much as the rest of all Europe, and an Englishman from 5 to 6 times as much as a Frenchman, although England does not produce a single pound of raw silk.[229-11]

[Footnote 229-1: Thus, for instance, the modern enjoyments of coffee, tea, newspapers, tobacco etc., promote domesticity with which antiquity was so little acquainted.

_Zaccharia_, Vierzig Bucher, VI, 60.]

[Footnote 229-2: The food of the French people has improved also in point of quant.i.ty. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, of cereals there were 472 liters per capita, at present there are 541 liters; and in addition, now, 240 liters of potatoes and vegetables more than then.

Compare _Moreau de Joannes_, Statistique de l'Agriculture de la France, 1848, and the same writer's Statistique cereale de la France, in the Journal des Economistes, 1842, Janv. On the recent decrease or increase in the consumption of meat, see the very different estimates of _M. Chevalier_, Cours., I, 113 seq., and Journal des Economistes, Mars, 1856, 438 ff.]

[Footnote 229-3: _Ch. Smith_, Tracts on the Corn Trade, 1758, 182. _Eden_, State of the Poor, I, 563, seq. In _McCulloch_, Statist, I, 316, 466 ff., 548. Moreover, _Rogers_ says that English workmen in the middle ages, for the most part, consumed wheat bread. (Statist. Journal, 1864, 73.) About the middle of the 13th century, only from 11 to 12 _malters_ of wheat were produced on the estates of the bishop of Osnabruck; about 470 of oats, 300 of rye, and 120 of barley. (_J. Moser_, Osnabruck, Gesch., Werke, VII, 2. 166.) Even beer was brewed from oats in the earlier part of the middle ages. (_Guerard_, Polyptiques, I, 710 ff.) The ancients, also, in their lower stages of civilization, lived on barley bread by way of preference, and went over to wheat only at a later period; compare _Plin._, H. N. XVIII, 14.

_Heracl._, Pont, fr. 2. _Athen._, IV., 137, 141. _Plutarch_, Alcib., 23. As to how, in Rome, the transition from _far_ to the much more costly _tritic.u.m_, was connected with the extension of the hide of land from 2 to 7 _jugera_, see _M.

Voigt_ in the Rhein. Museum f. Philol., 1868.]

[Footnote 229-4: To this, in Saxony, must be added about from 6 to 7 pounds of veal and mutton. The recent increase in the consumption of meat in Saxony is very encouraging: 1840, about 30 lbs. of beef and pork per capita; 1851-57, 40 lbs. (Sachs. Statist. Ztschr., 1867, 143 seq.) On the other hand, _Schmoller_ estimated the consumption of meat in general in Prussia, in 1802, at 33.8; in 1816, at 22.5; in 1840, at 34.6; in 1867, at 34.9 lbs. (_Fuhling_, N. Landw.

Zeitg., XIX; Jahrg. Heft., 9 seq.) Paris consumed, in 1850, 145 pounds of butcher's meat per capita; in 1869, 194 pounds. In the year of the revolution, 1848, the consumption declined 45 per cent.; the consumption of wine in barrels, 16 per cent.; in bottles, 44 per cent.; of sea-fish, 25 per cent.; of oysters, 24 per cent.; of beer, 20 per cent.; of eggs, 19 per cent.; of b.u.t.ter, 13 per cent.; of fowl, 6 per cent. (_Cl. Juglar_, in the Journal des Economistes, March, 1870.)]

[Footnote 229-5: _Porter_, Progress of the Nation, V, 5, 591 ff.; _Hildesheim_, Normaldiet, 52 ff. Well-known English popular song: "Oh, the roast beef of old England" etc. Even at the end of the 17th century one-half of the nation partook of fresh meat scarcely once or twice a week; most of that consumed was salted. (_Macaulay_, History of England, ch. 3.) But even _Boisguillebert_, Traite des Grains, II, 7, characterizes the English as great beer-drinkers and meat-eaters, from the highest cla.s.s to the lowest, while the French consumed almost nothing but bread. Similarly _J. J.

Becher_, Physiologie, 1678, 202, 248, on the great consumption of meat and sugar in England.]

[Footnote 229-6: _Anderson_, Origin of Commerce, a. 1743; _Porter_, Progress, V, 4, 350 ff.; Meidinger, 154 ff.; Memorandum respecting British Commerce, etc., before and since the Adoption of Free Trade, 1866. On men-of-war each man gets 35-45 lbs. a year; in the poorhouse, old men 22. (_Porter._)]

[Footnote 229-7: In Henry IV.'s time, in France, sugar was sold by the apothecaries by the ounce!]

[Footnote 229-8: _Deiterici_, Statist. Uebersicht des Verkehrs, etc. im Zollvereine, 4; Fortsetzung, 168 ff., 208, 265, 599. Thus, in Great Britain, the population between 1816 and 1828 grew, from 13 million to nearly 16 million. On the other hand, consumption, when the average from 1816 to 1819 is compared with that from 1824 to 1828, increased in a much greater proportion: soap, from 67 to 100 million pounds; coffee, from 7,850,000 to 12,540,000 pounds; starch, from 3-1/5 to 6-1/3 million pounds. (Quart.

Rev., Nov., 1829, 518.) The consumption of tea per capita in 1801 was 1.5 lbs., in 1871, 3.93 lbs. (Statist. Journ., 1872, 243.) In the matter of illumination, a very beneficent luxury has been obtained, inasmuch as, spite of the fact that gas-light is so generally used in recent times, i. e., since 1804, the consumption of oil has very much increased, on account of the lamps now so much in favor; and that of candles also has increased, relatively speaking, more rapidly than the population. The illumination produced is much richer now than formerly, a fact which, besides its sanitary advantages, has had a good influence in diminishing street robberies. (_Julius_, Gefangnisskunde, XXII.) During the middle ages, candles were very dear; according to _Rogers_ (I, 415) 1-1/3 to 2 shillings per pound.]

[Footnote 229-9: Present state of England, 1683, III, 529; compare _Storch_, Handbuch, II, 337 seq.]

[Footnote 229-10: _Dieterici_, Statist. Uebersicht, 321 ff., 363, 399.]

[Footnote 229-11: _Bernouilli_, Technologie, II, 223. It is a striking symptom of the wealth or ostentation of the later period of the Empire that, according to _Ammian. Marcell_, (XXIII, 258-ed. Paris, 1636) silk goods were a want even among the lower cla.s.ses, notwithstanding the fact that they had to be imported from China.]

SECTION CCx.x.x.

EQUALIZING TENDENCY OF LATER LUXURY.

The whole social character of this luxury has something equalizing[230-1] in it; but it supposes particularly that there is not too marked a difference in the resources of the people.

A proper gradation of national wants is best guarantied by a good distribution of the national resources.[230-2] The more unequal the latter is, the more is there spent on vain wants instead of on real ones; and the more numerous are the instances of rapid and even immoral consumption. Where there are only a few over-rich men, more foreign products and products of capital are wont to be called for than home products and productions of labor; and luxury especially despises all those commodities manufactured in large inst.i.tutions.[230-3] Every change in the consumption-customs of a people, in this respect, should be most carefully observed; thus, for instance, whether brandy is exchanged for beer, tobacco for meat, cotton for cloth, or the reverse.[230-4]

One of the characteristics of this period is the endeavor to possess the best quality of whatever is possessed at all, and to be satisfied with less of it rather than purchase more of an inferior quality. This is, essentially, to practice frugality, inasmuch as certain production-services remain the same whether the commodity is of the best or the worst quality, and that commodities of the best quality are more superior to the worst in intrinsic goodness than they are in price. But this course supposes a certain well-being already existing.

In this period, also, the luxury of the state is wont to take the direction of those enjoyments which are accessible to all.[230-5]

[Footnote 230-1: Formerly the dress of citizens was a weak imitation of the court costume: at present the reverse is the case, and the court costume is only a heightening of the citizen costume. Compare _Riehl_, Burgerl. Gesellschaft, 191.]

[Footnote 230-2: _Helvetius_, De l'Homme, 1771. sec. VI, ch.

5.]

[Footnote 230-3: _J. B. Say_, Traite, II, 4; _Sismondi_, N.

P., IV, ch. 4. As early a writer as _Lauderdale_, Inquiry, 358 ff., thought the social leveling of modern times would promote English industry. In the East Indies, on the other hand, only the most expensive watches, rifles, candelabras etc. were sold, because the nabobs were the only persons who created any demand for European commodities (312 ff.). _Adam Smith_, Wealth of Nat., II, ch. 3, draws a very correct distinction between the luxury of durable goods and that of those which perish rapidly; the former is less calculated to impoverish an individual or a whole nation; and hence it is much more closely allied to frugality. Similarly even _Isocrates_, ad Niccol., 19; _Livy_, XXIV, 7; _Plin._, H.

N., XIII, 4; _Mariana_, 1598, De Rege et Regis Inst.i.tutione, III, 10; _Sir W. Temple_, Works, I, 140 seq., who found this better kind of luxury in Holland: _Berkeley_, Querist, No.

296 ff.]

[Footnote 230-4: _Schmoller_, loc. cit., considers it no favorable symptom, that in Prussia, between 1802 and 1867, the per capita consumption of milk decreased and that of wool increased. According to _L. Levi_, the consumption of brandy in England decreased from 1854 and 1870, from 1.13 to 1.01 gallons per capita; but, on the other hand, the consumption of malt increased from 1.45 to 1.84 bushels, and the consumption of wine from 0.23 to 0.45 gallons. The number of licenses to retail spirituous liquors was, in 1830, 6.30 per thousand of the population; in 1860-69, only 5.57. (Statist. Journal, 1872, 32 ff.)]

[Footnote 230-5: Compare _Cicero_, pro Murena, 36. The Athenians under Pericles, in times of peace, spent more than one-third of their state-income on plastic and architectural works of art. The annual state-income amounted to 1,000 talents (_Xenoph._, Exp. Cyri, VII, 1, 27), while the propylea alone cost, within 5 years, 2,012 talents.

(_Bockh_, Staatsh., I, 283.) On the other hand, _Demosthenes_ complains of the shabbiness of public buildings, and the magnificence of private ones in his time.

(adv. Aristocr., 689, Syntax., 174 seq.)

_Demetrius Phalereus_ blames even Pericles, on account of his extravagance on the propylea, although Lycurgus had been, not long before, addicted to luxury after the manner of Pericles. (_Cicero_, De Off., II, 17.)]

SECTION CCx.x.xI.

THE ADVANTAGES OF LUXURY.

The favorable results which many writers ascribe to luxury in general are true evidently only of this period. And thus luxury, inasmuch as it is a spur to emulation, promotes production in general; just as the awarding of prizes in a school, although they can be carried away only by a few, excites the activity of all its attendants. A nation which begins to consume sugar will, as a rule, unless it surrenders some previous enjoyment, increase its production.[231-1] In countries where there is little or no legal security, in which, therefore, people must keep shy of making public the good condition they are in, this praise-worthy side of luxury is for the most part wanting.[231-2]

All rational luxury const.i.tutes a species of reserve fund for a future day of need. This is especially true of these luxuries which take the form of capital in use (_Nutzkapitalien_.) Where it is customary for every peasant girl to wear a gold head-dress,[231-3] and every apprentice a medal, a penny for a rainy day is always laid by among the lower cla.s.ses. The luxury which is rapidly consumed has a tendency in the same direction. Where the majority of the population live on potatoes, as in Ireland, where, therefore, they are reduced to the smallest allowance of the means of subsistence, there is no refuge in case of a bad harvest. A people on the other hand, who live on wheat bread may go over to rye bread, and a people who live on rye bread to potatoes. The corn that in good years is consumed in the making of brandy may, in bad years, be baked into bread.[231-4] And the oats consumed by horses kept as luxuries may serve as food for man.

Pleasure-gardens (_l.u.s.tgarten_) may be considered as a kind of last resort for a whole people in case of want of land.[231-5] [231-6]

[Footnote 231-1: Compare _Benjamin Franklin's_ charming story, Works I, 134 ff.; ed. Robinson. _Colbert_ recommended luxury chiefly on account of its service to production.]

[Footnote 231-2: Turkish magnates who keep several magnificent equipages ride to the sultan's in a very bad one. Risa Pascha, when at the height of his power, had his house near a villa of the sultan painted in the plainest and most unsightly manner possible. The walls of a park in Constantinople painted half in red and half in blue, to give it the appearance of being two _gardens_. (Alg. Zeitung, 16 Juli, 1849.) In Saxony, between 1847 and 1850, the number of luxury horses diminished from 6.11 to 5.64 per cent. of the total number of horses in the kingdom. (_Engel_, Jahrbuch, I, 305.) In the same country there were coined in 1848 over 64,000 silver marks, derived from other sources than the mines. (_Engel_, Statis. Zeitschr. I, 85.) In England, on the other hand, the number of four-wheeled carriages increased more than 60 per cent. between 1821 and 1841, while the population increased only 30 per cent. (_Porter_, Progress, V, 3, 540.)]

[Footnote 231-3: Such a head-dress may very easily be worth 300 guldens in Friesland. Gold crosses worn by the peasant women about Paris. (_Turgot_, Lettre sur la Liberte du Commerce des Grains.)]

[Footnote 231-4: So far it is of some significance, that nearly all not uncivilized nations use their princ.i.p.al article of food to prepare drinks that are luxuries. Thus, the Indians use rice, the Mexicans mais, the Africans the ignam-root. It is said that in ancient Egypt, beer-brewing was introduced by Osiris. (_Diodor._, I, 34.) Compare _Jeremy Bentham_, Traite de Legislation, I, 160. _Malthus_, Principle of Population, I, ch. 12; IV, ch. 11.]

[Footnote 231-5: While in thinly populated North America, s.p.a.ce permits the beautiful luxury in cemeteries of ornamenting surroundings of each grave separately (_Gr.

Gortz_, Reise, 24), the Chinese garden-style seeks to effect a saving in every respect. In keeping with this is the fact that animal food has there been almost abolished. Compare, besides, _Verri_, Meditazioni, XXVI, 3.]

[Footnote 231-6: _Garve_ thinks that luxury, when it takes the direction of a great many trifles, little conveniences, etc., has the effect of distracting the people. Here there are few men of towering ambition or of inextinguishable revenge, but at the same time, few entirely unselfish and incorruptible patriots. (_Versuche_, I, 232.)]

SECTION CCx.x.xII.

LUXURY IN DECLINING NATIONS.

In declining nations, luxury a.s.sumes an imprudent and immoral character.

Enormous sums are expended for insignificant enjoyments. It may even be said that costly consumption is carried on there for its own sake. The beautiful and the true enjoyment of life makes place for the monstrous and the effeminate.

Rome, in the earlier part of the empire, affords us an example of such luxury on the most extensive scale.[232-1] Nero paid three hundred talents for a murrhine vase. The two acres (_Morgen_) of land which sufficed to the ancient citizens for a farm (_Acker_) were not now enough to make a fish-pond for imperial slaves. The sums carried by the exiles with them, to cover their traveling expenses and to live on for a time, were now greater than the fortunes of the most distinguished citizens had been in former times.[232-2] There was such a struggle among the people to surpa.s.s one another in procuring the freshest sea-fish that, at last, they would taste only such as they had seen alive on the table. We have the most exalted descriptions of the beautiful changes of color undergone by the dying fish; and a special infusion was invented to enable the epicure better to enjoy the spectacle.[232-3] Of the transparent garments of his time, Seneca says that they neither protected the body nor covered the nakedness of nature. People kept herds of sheep dyed in purple, although their natural white must have been much more agreeable to any one with an eye for the tasteful.[232-4] Not only on the roofs of houses were fish-ponds to be seen, but gardens even hanging on towers, and which must have been as small, ugly and inconvenient as they were costly.[232-5] Especially characteristic of the time was the custom of dissolving pearls in wine, not to make it more palatable, but more expensive.[232-6] The emperor Caligula, from simple caprice, caused mountains to be built up and cut away: _nihil tam efficere concupiscebat, quam, quod posse effici negaretur_.[232-7] This is the real maxim of the third period of luxury!

People changed their dress at table, inconvenient as it was to do so, occasionally as often as eleven times. Perfumes were mixed with the wine that was drunk, much as it spoiled its taste, only that the drinkers might emit sweet odors from every pore. There were many so used to being waited on by slaves that they required to be reminded by them at what times they should eat and when they should sleep. It is related of one who affected superiority over others in this respect, that he was carried from his bath and placed on a cushion, when he asked his attendant: "Am I sitting down now?"[232-8] It is no wonder, indeed, that an Apicius should reach out for the poisoned cup when his fortune had dwindled to only _centies sestertium_, _i. e._, to more than half a million thalers.[232-9]

In this last period, the coa.r.s.e debauchery of the earlier periods is added to the refined. Swarms of servants, retinues of gladiators who might be even politically dangerous,[232-10] monster banquets, at which Caesar, for instance, entertained the whole Roman people, colossal palaces such as Nero's _aurea domus_, which const.i.tuted a real city; annoying ostentation in dress[232-11] again becomes the order of the day. The more despotic a state becomes, the more is the craving for momentary enjoyment wont to grow; and for the same reason that great plagues diminish frugality and morality.[232-12]

[Footnote 232-1: _Meierotto_, Sitten und Lebensart des Romer, II, 1776; _Boettiger_, Sabina, II, 1803; _Friedlander_, Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte Roms, Bd. III, 1868; which latter work has been written with the aid of all that modern science can afford.]