Essays on Political Economy | Page 8

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sack of corn, or the value of it, without having suffered the slightest
injury: but quite the contrary. And as regards myself, this value ought
to be my property, as long as I do not consume it myself. If I had used
it to clear my land, I should have received it again in the form of a fine
harvest. Instead of that, I lend it, and shall recover it in the form of
repayment.
"From the second clause, I gain another piece of information. At the
end of the year I shall be in possession of five litres of corn over the
one hundred that I have just lent. If, then, I were to continue to work by
the day, and to save part of my wages, as I have been doing, in the
course of time I should be able to lend two sacks of corn; then three;
then four; and when I should have gained a sufficient number to enable
me to live on these additions of five litres over and above each, I shall

be at liberty to take a little repose in my old age. But how is this? In
this case, shall I not be living at the expense of others? No, certainly,
for it has been proved that in lending I perform a service; I complete
the labour of my borrowers, and only deduct a trifling part of the excess
of production, due to my lendings and savings. It is a marvellous thing
that a man may thus realise a leisure which injures no one, and for
which he cannot be envied without injustice."

The House.
Mondor had a house. In building it, he had extorted nothing from any
one whatever. He owed it to his own personal labour, or, which is the
same thing, to labour justly rewarded. His first care was to make a
bargain with an architect, in virtue of which, by means of a hundred
crowns a year, the latter engaged to keep the house in constant good
repair. Mondor was already congratulating himself on the happy days
which he hoped to spend in this retreat, declared sacred by our
Constitution. But Valerius wished to make it his residence.
"How can you think of such a thing?" said Mondor to Valerius. "It is I
who have built it; it has cost me ten years of painful labour, and now
you would enjoy it!" They agreed to refer the matter to judges. They
chose no profound economists,--there were none such in the country.
But they found some just and sensible men; it all comes to the same
thing; political economy, justice, good sense, are all the same thing.
Now here is the decision made by the judges:--If Valerius wishes to
occupy Mondor's house for a year, he is bound to submit to three
conditions. The first is to quit at the end of the year, and to restore the
house in good repair, saving the inevitable decay resulting from mere
duration. The second, to refund to Mondor the 300 francs which the
latter pays annually to the architect to repair the injuries of time; for
these injuries taking place whilst the house is in the service of Valerius,
it is perfectly just that he should bear the consequences. The third, that
he should render to Mondor a service equivalent to that which he
receives. As to this equivalence of services, it must be freely discussed
between Mondor and Valerius.

The Plane.

A very long time ago there lived, in a poor village, a joiner, who was a
philosopher, as all my heroes are in their way. James worked from
morning till night with his two strong arms, but his brain was not idle
for all that. He was fond of reviewing his actions, their causes, and their
effects. He sometimes said to himself, "With my hatchet, my saw, and
my hammer, I can make only coarse furniture, and can only get the pay
for such. If I only had a plane, I should please my customers more, and
they would pay me more. It is quite just; I can only expect services
proportioned to those which I render myself. Yes! I am resolved, I will
make myself a plane."
However, just as he was setting to work, James reflected further:--"I
work for my customers 300 days in the year. If I give ten to making my
plane, supposing it lasts me a year, only 290 days will remain for me to
make my furniture. Now, in order that I be not the loser in this matter, I
must gain henceforth, with the help of the plane, as much in 290 days,
as I now do in 300. I must even gain more; for unless I do so, it would