The union Democrat. [volume] (Sonora, Calif.) 1854-1946, 1871-06-10

There IS, perhaps, no term IN general use
that conveys a more varied and indefinite
meaning than the phrase which heads the
present article. To one, il means the simp-
lest food, clothing, and shelter, requisite to
keep the vital flame burning to another. it
mears cnlimited wine, cigars, fast horses.
boxes at the opera. etc.; others will fix their
standard somewhere between these extremes:
but few. very few, form just estimation of
the real material necessities of mankind.
Now, no true comprehension Of material
wealth can be obtained without first compre-
bending the real wants of the human family /;
for material wealth is that which supplies
these wants. That which is hurtful to man.
or which, being harmless, does not in any
way benefit him, is not wealth, in any Just
sense of the term.
We think that not only those things NAV
be called necessities of life which are requir-
ed to support existence, but also those which
are required to support existence in its high
est and best condition, physically, mentally,
and morally. Thus not only food and drink
are demanded. but the best food ard drink
that which enables man to develop and
maintain the highest degree of bodily health
and vigor for the longest period possible.
Books, pictures. statuary, reasonable
amount of ornamentation in dwellings,, fur
niture, and dress, tasteful decoration of pub
lie resorts, streets, and private grounds. prop
er amusements, etc., are also necessities
which minister to the we'll being of body,
mind, aud morals. And all these are to be
good after their kind, for if any are hnrtful
in their tendency, or incapable Of ministering
to better living, they cannot be classed
among real wants; they are superfuities.
Superfuities are, in most census returns
and statistics of wealth, classed as real
wealth, and we have only to look at any such
document, and check off anu foot up such
items as, in the Judgment of any candid
mind, will be pronounced superhuous, to see
that very large proportions of the worlds
work is engaged in the production of things
that mankind might not Only dispense with,
without loss of any kind, bat many of which
might cease to be used, and all mankind be
direct or indirect gamers.
A horse is in general an useful animal, and
as such is an element of wealth; but when
be has acquired the habit of kicking, SO that
he endangers the lives of all who approach
him, he becomes source of direct loss to his
owner. The sooner he is converted into such
articles of commercial value as modern indus
try is able to extract from the carcass of a
dead horse, the better for all. 1t matters
not whether he can be sold for money yalu-
ton or not so long as he goes on destroying
by his heels more than he earns over and
above his keep, be is an Improbable servant,
and not an element of wealth. So explosive
oils, used for illumination, which endangeT
and destroy life and property, are not wealth;
they are destroyers of wealth. So alcoholic
liquors, used as beverages, and tobacco in all
its forms, though they represent large
money value in the industry and commerce
of the world, are not wealth they are des-
troyers of wealth. Shoes that pinch peoples
feet out of shape, such as are making the
rising generation a race CT crippes, are not
wealth they are destroyers Of wealth. And
so we might 90 on to show that articles
wrested from their parpose almost invariably
cease to be wealth in the true sense of the
term, and almost invariably become the de-
strovers of wealth. For the material wealth
of the human race consists in its ability to
enjoy, to the greatest extent, its highest pos
sible good and only those things which, sub
tracted, would lessen this ability, are proper
to he called wealth.
Were this rule strictly applied, how the
aggregate of the worlds wealth, as estimated
nv the statisticians, would be diminished
Were those things. which we would all be
the richer for diScarding. abandoned forever,
how much would the real wealth of the
world be swelled by industry turned into
beneficial channels 1t is fallacy to sup
pose that the manufacture of superfuites-
that is, things which in no way contribute to
the welfare or happiness of mankind, or
which diminish it--are to be credited with
the benefits of paid employment to those en-
gagged in their production. Who would
think of bene6ting the paupers of this city
by employing them to teach horses to kick?
or by paying them wages to dip up water
from, and pour it back into, the East river?
Money paid for the first labor would be
worse than thrown away. and in the last in
stance they might be fed and clothed more
cheanly when doing nothing. than when ex-
pending energy in work that benefits nobody.
These who can produce nothing of real value,
had better be supported unemployed and
any system of political economy that does
not embrace the regulation of industry so as
to con6ne it to the production of real wealth,
is radically imperfect.