But A Tax On Luxuries Would No

Adam Smith, And Other Able Writers To Whom I Have Alluded, Not Having Viewed Correctly The Principles Of Rent, Have, It Appears To Me, Overlooked Many Important Truths, Which Can Only Be Discovered After The Subject Of Rent Is Thoroughly Understood.

The Exchangeable Value Of All Commodities Rises As The Difficulties Of Their Production Increase.

Gold And Silver, Like Other Commodities, Have An Intrinsic Value, Which Is Not Arbitrary, But Is Dependent On Their Scarcity, The Quantity Of Labour Bestowed In Procuring Them, And The Value Of The Capital Employed In The Mines Which Produce Them.

It Is Not By The Absolute Quantity Of Produce Obtained By Either Class, That We Can Correctly Judge Of The Rate Of Profit, Rent, And Wages, But By The Quantity Of Labour Required To Obtain That Produce.

As The Revenue Of The Farmer Is Realized In Raw Produce, Or In The Value Of Raw Produce, He Is Interested, As Well As The Landlord, In Its High Exchangeable Value, But A Low Price Of Produce May Be Compensated To Him By A Great Additional Quantity.