MILL'S ESSAYS ON SOME UNSETTLED QUESTIONS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.

THIS able work, with some others of a quality adapted to keeping, was put aside during the pressure of the Parliamentary season.- We take the first opportunity to recur to it.

Of the five essays in the volume, the fifth, "on the Definition of Political Economy, and on the Method of Investigation Proper to it," has been previously printed. The other four were written in. 1829 and 1830, but retained in manuscript because of the tem- porary indifference of the public to the discussion of abstract- questions in political economy. They are now published in con- sequence of the controversies excited by The Budget of Colonel TORRENS; and the first paper relates to the question at issue between that subtile economist and his opponents ; Mr. Mux agreeing in principle with the Colonel.

One main object of the work is to "see that no scattered par-

ticles of important truth are buried and lost in the ruins of ex- ploded error." "Every prejudice," continues Mr. MILL' "which has long and extensively prevailed among the educated and in- telligent, must certainly be borne out by some strong appearance of evidence ; and when it is found that the evidence does not prove the conclusion, it is of the highest importance to see what it does prove. If this be thought not worth inquiring into, an error con- formable to appearances is often merely exchanged for an error con- trary to appearances; while even if the result be truth, it is pa- radoxical truth, and will therefore have difficulty in obtaining cre- dence whilst the false appearances remain."

A principal topic of the first article is the notion, which origi-

nated in feudal times, that duties levied on commodities imported were a "tax upon the foreigner." Mr. MILL not only considers' that this result may really be brought about under certain cir- cumstances—be even holds it to be possible that a tax on a foreign commodity, or an export•cluty on a home manufacture,, may not merely be paid by the foreign nation, but may cause a- gain beyond the tax to the one and an equivalent loss to the other country, by the manner in which it may operate upon prices' through an action upon the respective currencies. The main causes- by which this singular result is brought about are the state of the supply and demand and the exchanges, or rather the economical condition which primarily acts upon the exchanges and permanently influences both currency and prices. The arguments and illustra. tions are of too abstruse a character to be followed out here; and would not be relished, and scarcely be apprehended save by the economist, who will doubtless seek them in the volume. However, the scientific conclusion to which the author comes is, that the peculiar conditions necessary to produce the effect predicated are so complex that we can scarcely ever ascertain them, or know, even after the event, that is by the imposition of the tax, whether we have been gainers or losers. The practical result therefore is, that no tax should ever be imposed with any such refined objects : but custom-duties on foreign produce should be used as diplomatic

weapons, and only relaxed in return for some "corresponding de- gree of freedom of trade with this country, by the nation from which the commodities are exported" ; except as regards duties for protection, or on the necessaries of life or the materials of ma- nufactures—which are always injurious to the country imposing them, or taxes for revenue—in which the amount yielded is the first consideration.

The second essay, "on the Influence of Consumption on Pro- duction," incidentally discusses the question of the influence of absentees upon the wealth of a country ; and decides to a con- siderable extent against Mr. MICuLtoeu. Part of it rests upon principles evolved in the preceding essay, and part upon an ex- amination of the effects of custom upon an individual trader. As

we conceive that all which the absentee landlord personally swallows, and all the foreign commodities, such as wines, which his household

would absorb at home, may as well be consumed abroad, but that all his other consumption is an absolute loss to the country which he leaves and a gain to that in which he resides, we are disposed to agree with Mr. MILL in his conclusion ; because the case is too complex for any one to settle the precise extent of the injury in- flicted by absenteeism. This paper, however, does not strike us as being the happiest example of scientific disquisition. It seems to combine a singular mixture of the largeness of scientific principle and the abstruseness of scientific discussion with the narrowness

of practical individual transactions : nor do we fully recognize the truth of some of its propositions. Perhaps, too, the discus- sion is deficient. In a thorough consideration of the subject of absenteeism, we suspect that the question of productive and unproductive expenditure is a main element. If an unproductive expenditure is a benefit, it seems clearly to follow that absenteeism is an evil.

The "Words Productive and Unproductive" form the subject of the third essay, in order to their more accurate definition. After noticing the views of other writers upon the mooted question of what is productive labour and what is unproductive, Mr. MILL puts forth his own ; which is more refined and less marked in the distinctions than most of the others. The illustrations and limitations occupy more space than we can afford ; but the follow- ing passage contains the pith of his theory, and will fully indicate its character.

"The end to which all labour and all expenditure are directed is twofold. Sometimes it is enjoyment immediately; the fulfilment of those desires, the gratification of which is wished for on its own account. Whenever labour or expense is not incurred immediately for the sake of enjoyment, and is yet not absolutely wasted, it must be incurred for the purpose of enjoyment indirectly or mediately, by either repairing and perpetuating or adding to the permanent sources of enjoyment. "Sources of enjoyment may be accumulated and stored up; enjoyment itself cannot. The wealth of a country consists of the sum total of the permanent sources of enjoyment, whether material or immaterial, contained in it: and labour or expenditure which tends to augment or to keep up these permanent sources, should, we conceive, be termed productive. "Labour which is employed for the purpose of directly affording enjoyment, such as the labour of a performer on a musical instrument, we term unpro- ductive labour. Whatever is consumed by such a performer we consider as un- productively consumed : the accumulated total of the sources of enjoyment which the nation possesses is diminished by the amount of what he has con-

sumed: whereas, if it had been given to him in exchange for his services in producing food or clothing, the total of the permanent sources of enjoyment in the country might have been not diminished but increased.

"The performer on the musical instrument, then, is, so far as respects that act, not a productive but an unproductive labourer. But what shall we say of the workman who made the musical instrument ? He most persons would say, is &productive labourer ; and with reason, because the musical instrument is a permanent source of enjoyment, which does not begin and end with the enjoy- rug, and therefore admits of being accumulated.

But the shill of the musician is a permanent source of enjoyment, as well as the instrument which he plays upon; and although skill is not a material ob-

ject, bat a quality of an object, viz, of the hands and mind of the performer,

nevertheless skill possesses exchangeable value—is acquired by labour and capi- tal, and is capable of being stored and accumulated. Skill, therefore, must be

considered as wealth ; and the labour and funds employed in acquiring skill in anything tending to the advantage or pleasure of mankind, must be considered

to be productively employed and expended. • •

"The skill of a tailor, and the implements he employs, contribute in the same way to the convenience of him who wears the coat,—namely, a remote

way : it is the coat itself which contributes immediately. The skill of Madame Pasta, and the building and decorations which aid the effect of her perform- ance, contribute in the same way to the enjoyment of the audience, namely, an immediate way, without any intermediate instrumentality. The building and decorations are consumed unproductively, and Madame Pasta labours and con- sumes unproductively ; for the building is used and worn out, and Madame Pasta performs immediately for the spectators' enjoyment, and without leaving as a consequence of the performance any permanent result possessing exchange- able value : consequently the epithet unproductive must be equally applied to the gradual wearing out of the bricks and mortar, the nightly consumption of the more perishable 'properties' of the theatre, the labour of Madame Pasta in acting, and of the orchestra in playing. But notwithstanding this, the archi- tect who built the theatre was a productive labourer; so were the producers of the perishable articles; so were those who constructed the musical instruments, and so, we must be permitted to add, were those who instructed the musicians, and all persons who, by the instructions which they may have given to Madame Pasta, contributed to the formation of her talent."

Surely "twere considering too curiously to consider thus"—intro- ducing finesse rather than refinementinto philosophy—distinguishing aftertbefashion of the old schoolmen' and that too without a purpose, for, after all the saying, nothing of the doing will be changed. In despite of all the arguments and no small portion of casuistry that have been printed upon the subject, we are still inclined to adhere to the broad, clear, and sensible definition of ADAM SMITH—that that alone is productive labour which 'fixes and realizes itself in some particular subject or vendible commodity, which lasts for some time at least after that labour is past." If we are to admit with Mr. MILL, that a soldier by affording protection, or a public

functionary by upholding order, is in part, or with some other

economists that he is wholly a productive labourer, because he indirectly contributes to production, that is to production by

other people, we may change the nature of any thing by its relation to some other thing. Good roads greatly contribute to locomotion; but roads are not locomotion. Credit, nay, it is said railroads by

simplifying business, reduce the amount of money which would otherwise be necessary to carry on the transactions of a country ; but credit and railroads are not money. Those, however, who wish to see the examination of the words " productive and unprodue. tire" pursued through all their ramifications and refinements of representing labour and expenditure, will do well to consult Mr. Mimes essay. The fourth paper treats of " Profits and Interest." One of its objects is to show that the rate of interest is not so true a measure of

the rate of profit as is generally supposed,—that interest, for example, may rise, and to a high rate, without any material change in the rate of profit ; and Mr Mu.L seems to think that such was the case during

the late war. His principle we believe to be sound : it turns upon the

question of demand raising price. The instance we doubt, because the home outlay of the greater part of the public loans on matters connected with the war, and the monopoly (which Mr. MILL himself refers to in another place) of the foreign markets possessed by the British, produced great activity of industry, and a great demand. RICARDO'S theory of wages and profits is also handled, to exhibit

case of exception, where profits might rise without any change in the wages or increased productiveness of industry : but as the hypothesis assumed is so unlikely as to seem impossible, the

principle seems a barren principle. It is this—if a commodity could be produced without any outlay for implements or materials, all this previous expense might be added to profits, yet wages remain the same. The example given is corn. Strictly speaking, however, this might be held a greater productiveness of industry. The fifth essay, "on the Definition and Method of Political Economy," is devoted to a defence, or rather to an exposition, of the propriety of proceeding by hypothesis. Upon this point we must

confess an inclination to differ with Mr. MILL and the greater part of the modern school. It may be necessary in abstract sciences ; but we doubt whether political economy ever can be an abstract science,

any more than medicine, politics, war, or any other pursuit which deals with animal or intelligent life or its relations. It is true that the point and line of geometry are hypotheses, since no geometer can produce a line or point that shall fut.. fil the geometrical definition. But this assumption misrepresents nothing. The nature of the two pursuits is moreover essentially different. Geometry and its cognate sciences deal only with exten. sion, &c. : in astronomy the nature which it contemplates is too

remote—in geography too large, or what is practically the same, on too reduced a scale— to regard any thing save lines and the inter- vening spaces. A similar remark applies to the art of surveying ; and in arithmetic numbers alone are considered, not the quality of the units that form the aggregate,—as, for example, the character, courage, and discipline of soldiers, are not considered by the

arithmetician in working a sum where the number of soldiers

happens to form part of the question. These sciences or arts are abstract, because their nature is so : but we consider it a useless or

it may be a mischievous effort to endeavour to make that pure

which is in its nature mixed, unless the teacher distinctly tell the pupil what he is about—unless he tell him, "This is mere hypothe- sis: what I am assuming never actually exists purely, or if it does it exists so obscurely that you cannot discover that state of existence : I am putting it to you in this hypothetical form that you may

more thoroughly exhaust the subject in every phase possible or im- possible, to possess you more clearly with the science, to sharpen your perception, and to lessen your presumption." This, indeed, is done by Mr. MILL; and he sees the reality of the thing as. thoroughly, perhaps, as it is possible to be seen,—as when he ex- poses the nonsense about "the impossibility of a general glut": but he is not sufficiently distinct in impressing it ; and we think, as we have said already, that he would use hypothesis far too much ' and actuality too little in the exposition of principles.

The literary merit of this book consists in its lucid arrangement and its perfect clearness ; for though non-economical readers may

sometimes be unable to follow the author, that arises from the abstruseness of the subjects, or from their own deficiency, not his The scientific value of the essays follows from this very abstruseness : they are engaged in discussing essential truths, which once es- tablished can be clearly enough presented, but whose establishment is a work of exceeding toil and complexity ; just as pure gold is

plainly visible, though it cannot be detected by the vulgar, in the ore or the process of refining. But perhaps the most striking quality of the work is the love of truth, for its own sake, displayed by the author. This truth may not, as we think, be always attained; but it is always pursued without fear or favour, and, what is perhaps harder, without deference to great authority or leaning towards preconceived opinion.