Great Britain, by H.D. Macleod

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 edition. Excerpt: ...man has in his own labor, as it is the original foundation of all other property, so it is the most sacred and most inviolable. The patrimony of a poor man lies in the strength and dexterity of his hands." I. B. Say dwelt with emphatic force on the doctrine that personal qualities are wealth. Among many other passages, he sayszf "He who has acquired a talent at the price of an annual sacrifice enjoys an accumulated capital; and this wealth, though immaterial, is nevertheless so little fictitious that he daily exchanges the exercise of his art for gold and silver." " Since it has been proved that immaterial property, such as talents and acquired personal abilities, forms an integral part of social wealth, you see that utility, under whatever form it presents itself, is the source of the value of things; and what may surprise you is that this utility can be created, can have value, and become the subject of an exchange, without being incorporated with any material object. A manufacturer of glass places value in sand; a manufacturer of cloth places it in wool; but a physician sells us a utility without being incorporated in any manner. This utility is truly the fruit of his studies, his labor, and his capital. We buy it in buying his opinion. It is a real product, but immaterial." Say calls all species of labor and services immaterial wealth, because they are vendible products, but not embodied in any matter. This is an excellent name, and we shall adopt it to distinguish this order of economic quantities from material things and abstract rights. We must, however, guard against an erroneous expression of Say's. He says that the manufacturers of glass and cloth place value in sand and wool. This, however, is...