capital is given gratis to man by Nature." Most of the precious metals possess a value in excess of the cost of production; the difference represents a portion of capital which does not come from labor, and the value of which is regulated simply by the law of demand and supply. Capital, then, is not always the product of labor, nor does labor, even when accumulated, always produce capital. There is such a thing as destructive labor, as, for instance, under the rule of the Commune in Paris. There is also such a thing as unproductive labor, as when thousands of working-men are employed for weeks together in preparations for fêtes, illuminations, and the like. An author may spend years in writing a work which no man will read or buy. He surely does not produce capital. Finally, if capital were in reality only labor accumulated, would not the complaint of the socialists be justified when they clamor against society for its iniquity in making the workers non-capitalists, while the capitalists are not workers?
It is better to regard capital as the condition of labor, and not its product. As for the origin of capital, to fix it precisely, we need only apply the general formula already given, according to which capital represents the excess of production over consumption. It means savings, therefore, or, if you wish, accumulated savings. One begins to acquire capital, not by labor, but rather by saving the products, whether of labor or of Nature. Hence it follows that a just distribution of capital must be based, not on the amount of labor, but on the amount of saving; and this is about the state of things existing in the present social order, allowance being made for some imperfections. The spendthrift wastes his capital; and he alone produces it, or increases it, who can save. Many persons, who are not at all socialists, discourage saving, and judge it better to expend capital than to consume it. It is true that expenditure in some measure benefits our contemporaries; yet only at the expense of society in the future; whereas, saving contributes to the future growth of civilization, though doing some little injury to the present generation. Now, shall we sacrifice the present for the future, or shall we compromise the future in order to alleviate the misery and suffering of the present? Let us put an hypothesis which, though impracticable, still may be supposed. Suppose France were to resolve to use up all her wealth in one day. During that one day all Frenchmen might have all sorts of enjoyment. But the morrow!
We must remember that the race is in process of development, and is never at any moment what it will be. The present is nothing. To insure progress, the first requisite is that capital should increase. Here is a quantity of grain which might subsist a family for one day: save it, turn it to account, and it will produce food for millions. Such is the benefit of saving, and this is the secret of material civilization, which is itself the result of foresight and of past privations. The nations which are at the head of material civilization are those whose institutions have most favored saving, by their respect for private
