The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1847-12-29
From the New York Evening Posi-.
IRON THE FRENCH OF BAsTIAT.
ARITNnANcE -. SCARCITY.

abundance or scarcity
What il will be said, can this be question! Has
il ever been asserted is possible TO maintain, ihal
scarcity is the foundation of the welfare OF men -
Yes this has been asserted; yes this has been man
ianed is maintained every day and fear mol u
say that he theory Of seurchyls much the most pop
uar Of the two. II is the theme Of conversations,
of newspapers of books of legislatures, and, extraor
binary as it, may appear il is certain that politich
economy will have accomplished its task when i,
shall have rendered. common and unanswerable thif
simple position 'arhc wealth Of men consists in The
abundance of things
Do we not hear il said every day; 1--WE shall be
inundated with foreign products Z" Therefore abun,
dance is feared.
Has il not been said 1--WE over produce ~ Album
dance was, therefore, dreaded.
Have not workmen destroyed machinery 7 they
then feared excess ofproduction or abundance,
1t has been said LET bread be dear and agricuu
rists viii become rich ~ But as bread can only be-
come dear whent is scarce, scarcity must have been
desired. a
Has not even the fecundity of The beet root been
made an argument against its culture for the
facture Of sugar? Was mot said, 1.-THE cultivation
Of .bees cannot become extensive because n few
acres in each department will raise sufficient for the
y consumption OF all France % 1t thus appears that
wealth rests serility, ON scarcity; poverty fer
tlity, on abundance.
Do not most of me daily n,nars nubIish evs,, d,,
articles 10 convince government that it is good poll
cy 10 raise the price OF all articles by Of iaritis
But as Tariffs only raise the prices by diminishing
the quantity offered in the market the daily papers
desire TO put into practice The theory Of scarcity and
was right in saying that this theory by far the
most popular of the Two
How is 1t that in the eyes of laborers writer's
,,a,rra. h,,l.... H., ',, - H. go, ~
scarcity desfred 4 nronnae ~ nd bncr Il, Tho sonrce
of this ilusion
Itis scan I'm, ma, .n,tchas binss,f /, ntonor
,;nn ~ ~ osn,, ha nh,,in e., Nc ,hor. ,hl l. >,
sav the hiober h., se,s he nroduc ~ his i,hot The
sc.rcer The ar,;clo he oa,cas hooo,,as ,be hi,be,
Tho nrica he ob,,ins az I, w. ,hor.foro conclude
thar ns regards him n, least scarcity enriches him
APPLYING this reasoning successfully to all kind OF
labor produces the theory of scarcity. From thisi
was soon put into practice, and 10 favor all laborers
an artificial DEAFNESS and scarcity are produced in
aii lhihSs by promotion, by resTlcnoh by the de-
. suucuon Oh machinery ana other similar means
~ Is me same with abundance, 1t ls observed maj
when an article becomes abundant il sells at low
prices; therefore the Producer gains less II all pro-
oucers are IN ms position, they are all poor mere
ioie u ~ upuhdance tnai runs society ana as all
eohNctiohs eau 10 aets IN most countries ,ie Jaws
nan are seei' si"gsnng against uie aouna'''ee u
M.
lpi, "nei 1ppleu se'ieiahs, Mou'u nhhe
hppiieu 10 par .euif CLASS
~ =. ''a, u'a'oi, VI nat''lac'uie, II peco'hes eA-
'.'ie.y p'ausioe. i'is ID eas'iy explained ~ Is
SS'osi, 'ot ,~se ou' nieoi'Pe'e. wow, what run
= - - ha'u''iy always present 10
VIC i''' ~ - iiieop'e'ehess Is negative qua
''s ~ Pr "i''sh g very hkeiy nay, even
No. 1,a5,,sae i .a,
and co,sn,n.r Ths, r.aa,,,,,,.- IN, - 80. 49,
,ns;lors hi,, ,n,, 40 ,,.,,,,',is 49, S1'' e'r'
III ha,.a L.. - IL eo'is9'''e,
-, =. ls.i', 'u'ion' Nonu u
M, - - -,
bsconss. ,he more ahmndan, ,hiaa .ne i''Hel ne
bo,nor h.. ,,rrohasos ,a,,,' I,o.araa NV
r;ahas h;,, ~ H. en-
s,,,,,ar ,,,,,,, a.. ~, ~ Il, -, -, ~ ~
- - y D'''
:. 70 'he inipeiee's nhueistooa laws OF exchanges
Wihch produce 'iiese Illusions. III we consult ouI
se'soia nie'es's we as'[hfHy Understand that y Is
twolou. AS sellers our interest," Is dcarness and con-
se4ue"us seuieitsi ~ purchasers eheaphess, OF
mi'iVn y wy a'iii' u,ihs' aonhdanee. we cannot
"e'eo'' iR's w e'',e " 'ilese interests Wi'houi
nA,ins ,'ls' "heh Oh 'he TWO coinciues
anu - ueiiueu WIN INC Behefa ana permanent IN
ei Is' - '''e n"'''',, '"ee,
II man was soiitary 'eihs-ii ne iaoofed exciu-
100 =
io 'isoiy - s1acy coua hh'et nave introduced IT.
een "ouiu oe 700 eisaiiy e'iuehl mat upuiiuaee
Woula DC penencral 70 MN, y. ~ come wnene. u
sH' No'ei ii1ii .'ie 'esut " '.A9 y
=. !, ~, ~ IA
ne nau - ~ 0 i''''''s - ,'e sob
" ~ -. l., ~ - 80, ~
s'.o IL = ~ y wy YIN '''oaa
"AN -
ooh'hry iian WOMB never hlagiie' LOT 'he sake OF
encouraging OF increasing ms own iaDor 10 destroy
'l'e instruments hal ui'iii'i'see aoo 10 heu'alize
'i'e ief,y Vi ,he sou, 70 give puch 10 the sea me
''i'i'Bs winch II hau pioas'i nm ne would easily
nhae.sliu i',a' iapoi - iio' ai ef1, out aineahs
tia' Wouu pe upstru " te' t''e ooec lor lear
ui'snins t',e .uns =, n''pnia IT, ne "oulu UNI
aefs'aiu ''iu' a - ans ''s i'oof 70 ptoSiuc iof
"ts wants. r's ,,.'1p WV matter whe'iei
" si'',' winch sio'u
s1s' mn ny 'i'9 'ao1' anu se' 'eave me
~ ''''' - ' u'spo9d anu
n nord no wond n,dars,anI ,ha, lat,
t. =, in,,roy.,n,,;;f rs v ''''''