It Is Unjust That The Whole Of

The Subjects Of Every State Ought To Contribute Towards The Support Of The Government, As Nearly As Possible, In Proportion To Their Respective Abilities.

Consumption Is The Sole End And Purpose Of All Production; And The Interest Of The Producer Ought To Be Attended To Only So Far As It May Be Necessary For Promoting That Of The Consumer. The Maxim Is So Perfectly Self-evident That It Would Be Absurd To Attempt To Prove It. But In The Mercantile System The Interest Of The Consumer Is Almost Constantly Sacrificed To That Of The Producer; And It Seems To Consider Production, And Not Consumption, As The Ultimate End And Object Of All Industry And Commerce.

Individual Ambition Serves The Common Good.

In Raising The Price Of Commodities, The Rise Of Wages Operates In The Same Manner As Simple Interest Does In The Accumulation Of Debt. Our Merchants And Master Manufacturers Complain Much Of The Bad Effects Of High Wages In Raising The Price, And Thereby Lessening The Sale Of Their Goods, Both At Home And Abroad. They Say Nothing Concerning The Bad Effects Of High Profits; They Are Silent With Regard To The Pernicious Effects Of Their Own Gains. They Complain Only Of Those Of Other People.

Defense Is Superior To Opulence.