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Page 48
F. I do not deny it.
B. And what is true of me is true of my neighbour, and of the
neighbour of my neighbour, and so on, from one to another, all over the
country. Therefore, if every Frenchman has more crowns, France must be
more rich.
F. And here you fall into the common mistake of concluding that what
affects one affects all, and thus confusing the individual with the
general interest.
B. Why, what can be more conclusive? What is true of one, must be so
of all! What are all, but a collection of individuals? You might as well
tell me that every Frenchman could suddenly grow an inch taller, without
the average height of Frenchmen being increased.
F. Your reasoning is apparently sound, I grant you, and that is why
the illusion it conceals is so common. However, let us examine it a
little. Ten persons were at play. For greater ease, they had adopted the
plan of each taking ten counters, and against these they had placed a
hundred francs under a candlestick, so that each counter corresponded to
ten francs. After the game the winnings were adjusted, and the players
drew from the candlestick as many ten francs as would represent the
number of counters. Seeing this, one of them, a great arithmetician
perhaps, but an indifferent reasoner, said--"Gentlemen, experience
invariably teaches me that, at the end of the game, I find myself a
gainer in proportion to the number of my counters. Have you not observed
the same with regard to yourselves? Thus, what is true of me must be
true of each of you, and _what is true of each must be true of all_. We
should, therefore, all of us gain more, at the end of the game, if we
all had more counters. Now, nothing can be easier; we have only to
distribute twice the number." This was done; but when the game was
finished, and they came to adjust the winnings, it was found that the
thousand francs under the candlestick had not been miraculously
multiplied, according to the general expectation. They had to be divided
accordingly, and the only result obtained (chimerical enough) was
this;--every one had, it is true, his double number of counters, but
every counter, instead of corresponding to _ten_ francs, only
represented _five_. Thus it was clearly shown, that what is true of
each, is not always true of all.
B. I see; you are supposing a general increase of counters, without a
corresponding increase of the sum placed under the candlestick.
F. And you are supposing a general increase of crowns, without a
corresponding increase of things, the exchange of which is facilitated
by these crowns.
B. Do you compare the crowns to counters?
F. In any other point of view, certainly not; but in the case you
place before me, and which I have to argue against, I do. Remark one
thing. In order that there be a general increase of crowns in a country,
this country must have mines, or its commerce must be such as to give
useful things in exchange for cash. Apart from these two circumstances,
a universal increase is impossible, the crowns only changing hands; and
in this case, although it may be very true that each one, taken
individually, is richer in proportion to the number of crowns that he
has, we cannot draw the inference which you drew just now, because a
crown more in one purse implies necessarily a crown less in some other.
It is the same as with your comparison of the middle height. If each of
us grew only at the expense of others, it would be very true of each,
taken individually, that he would be a taller man if he had the chance,
but this would never be true of the whole taken collectively.
B. Be it so: but, in the two suppositions that you have made, the
increase is real, and you must allow that I am right.
F. To a certain point, gold and silver have a value. To obtain this,
men consent to give useful things which have a value also. When,
therefore, there are mines in a country, if that country obtains from
them sufficient gold to purchase a useful thing from abroad--a
locomotive, for instance--it enriches itself with all the enjoyments
which a locomotive can procure, exactly as if the machine had been made
at home. The question is, whether it spends more efforts in the former
proceeding than in the latter? For if it did not export this gold, it
would depreciate, and something worse would happen than what you see in
California, for there, at least, the precious metals are used to buy
useful things made elsewhere. Nevertheless, there is still a danger that
they may starve on heaps of gold. What would it be if the law prohibited
exportation? As to the second supposition--that of the gold which we
obtain by trade; it is an advantage, or the reverse, according as the
country stands more or less in need of it, compared to its wants of the
useful things which must be given up in order to obtain it. It is not
for the law to judge of this, but for those who are concerned in it; for
if the law should start upon this principle, that gold is preferable to
useful things, whatever may be their value, and if it should act
effectually in this sense, it would tend to make France another
California, where there would be a great deal of cash to spend, and
nothing to buy. It is the very same system which is represented by
Midas.
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