THE WEALTH OF THE COMMONWEALTH 167 



perous livelihood, on the other hand, can often be secured to a multi- 

 tude without permanent impoverishment of the land." 



The former statement we may consider a very fair definition of 

 development of a country. The latter is one of those general state- 

 ments which are hard to disprove, being both vague and qualified. 

 But it suggests that there may be such a thing as improper develop- 

 ment. Much talk and writing seem based on the theory that develop- 

 ment is always and only good — is a good in itself. This we may fairly 

 question. 



It is fit then to consider what is the path of wisdom, what is that 

 true development of natural resources which scattereth and yet in- 

 creaseth, and what is that development which may better be called 

 devastation, whose scattering is not that of the seed corn which returns 

 many fold, but that of the whirlwind and tornado. How best to con- 

 serve natural resources and secure adequate compensation for that con- 

 sumption which is necessary are questions which interest scientists 

 studying either the face of nature or the course of history, patriots 

 desiring the welfare of their country, and parents desiring to pass on 

 unimpaired the patrimony that has come down to them. 



In the first place, note that the development of national resources 

 does not in all cases imply consumption. It is true that one can not 

 eat one's cake and have it too, but it is also true that one can use a 

 house, see a picture, and gaze at a statue, and they be none the worse 

 for it. Italy and Greece are vastly wealthier to-day than they would 

 have been had the marbles of their statues remained in the quarries of 

 Pentelicos, Paros or Carrara. 



The marble still in the quarry has not the value that it has piled 

 up in the Parthenon, and every Milton who dies mute, inglorious, but 

 who might have sung immortal verse is a loss and waste, most of 

 course to the higher and spiritual interests of the nation, but also to 

 the commercial interests as well. I do not know how much cash loss 

 of trade it would be to Stratford-on-Avon had Shakespeare lived and 

 died there without knowing letters, but I do know that the American 

 pilgrims to Europe are expected to leave 130,000,000 dollars, and a 

 very large part of this comes from those who go to visit the footsteps 

 of great men gone before us. 



Thus a development of natural resources which means merely turn- 

 ing the material into more valuable, artistic shape, or surrounding it 

 with inspiring associations — such a development is pure gain and no 

 loss, so long at least as we do not bury living prophets under the tombs 

 of their forerunners or shackle the present with reverence for the past. 

 This accumulation of wealth may be either by the importation of art 

 from abroad or by turning our own material into art forms. Par- 

 ticularly is this true of architecture and of furniture which are worthy 

 to descend as heirlooms from father to son. Dollar chairs are no 



