The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1873-10-15
Can all Men become RichY

1t was the remerk of One whom most in
the civilized world regard as Divine, that
the poor ye have always with you" These
words have always hitherto been verified as
fact of experience. They will undoubtedly
prove to be true so long as the world shall
stand. But what is the reason why so many
men are poor, and are ever likely to be! Is
it necessity of nature? Does it result
from any law in political economy?
In answer to these questions it may be
said, in the first place, that there does not
seem to be any law in political economy that
puts any obstacle in the way of all men be-
coming rich. 1t is certain that one man
becoming rich is no hindrance, but rather
help, to other mems becoming rich around
him; and it has long been noticed that the
best place for any man to get rich Is the
place where many other men are getting
rich, and not where other men are poor
All gains are necessary the result of the ex-
changes; and where exchanges are brisk and
many, there is the place for gains; and
therefore, the more people already getting
rich by means of exchanges, the more chance
for others to have profitable exchanges with
them, and to get rich themselves.
Land, indeed, is limited in extent, and 1t
is not naturally possible for all men to pos
sess large landed estates; and all lands, as
we showed the other day, are subject to the
law of diminishing returns, in consequence
of which it is not possible to get double the.
produce by doubling the culture upon lands;
but these limitations, which appear to be the
only ones furnished by political economy,
are practically so remote as to be out of the
count. No man at present is hindered from
getting rich, at least in this country, by
lack of lcNd, or by its law of diminishing re-
turns. there is gold enough in the world
to mediate all exchanges, even if every man
in it made as many as the busiest banker in
Wall street, especially when it is remembered
that gold is mainly needed to furnish stable
denominations of value, and that expedients
of credit really mediate the exchanges OF
the world.
The desires of men, which the efforts of
other men can meet, and by the meeting of
which value is created, are unlimited in num-
Der and degree; profitable employment and
Increase are open to the smallest gains, which
even child can make, through savings banks
and otherwise; every one, able to work and
frugal to save, can easily procure food, cloth
ing and shelter, and sole conditions Of
further work; the laws of political economy
itself make for the many as against the few,
as, for example, in the naturally increasing
general purchasing power of agricultural
products, which occupy forty-two per cent
of all the males employed in this country
according to the late census, and as in the
naturally increasing value of mere labor as
compared with manufactured goods; and,
accordingly, there do not seem to be any
natural obstacles lying across the pathway
of men, as such, to hinder their progress as
body towards the goal of comforts and
even of wealth.
The actually existing obstacles that OBJ
struct this pathway are mainly moral, reSid-
ing in the free-will of men themselves, and
partly also governmental, residing in those
twists given to legislation by the interested
and influential few, from which no govern
ment is altogether free. Most men are un-
wiling to fulfill the necessary conditions of
getting rich in unwearied industry and fru-
gality; they choose other and oftener higher
ends; they prefer ease, immediate enjoy
ment, or some career of well-dOing as dis
tinct from one of acquisition; while some
men are unable to get rich, not from. any
thing that belongs to them as inhabitants of
the world, but from some peculiaritieS that
attach to them as individuals, such as want
of health, judgment or early training.
1t is fortunate for the world that all men
do not try to get rich, though most would
doubtless succeed if they tried. There is a
far greater variety of character in the world,
vastly greater interest in the study of the
world, higher stimulus to be found in
biography, and holier purpose manifesting
itself in history, than if all men had striven
to be rich. 1t is even fortunate for the
world that the poor are always present in it,
because they draw out sympathy, develop
benevolence and incite to gratitude.
Chow shrivels in their hot distress
The primal sin of sefshness"
New York Evening Post.