Foreign Commerce. 63 
which, in the first instance prevails, respecting 
the direction which general consumption may 
take. It is the business of the financier to 
discover, as soon as possible, to what particular 
quarter the consumption is directed, and from 
whence the revenue may be advantageously 
raised. It is vain to object, that the destruc- 
tion of foreign commerce leaves no super- 
fluous income, and only deprives of their in- 
come those persons who were engaged in it. 
We must bear in mind, that what we call in- 
come, is applicable to national defence only 
in so far as it gives the possessor a hold on the 
Jabour of the community. As long as the 
labourers exist, and the produce of the ground 
can be commanded by persons living in the 
country, their labour will be called forth, 
and the same scope will remain for all that 
taxation which is subservient to military ob- 
jects. The wealth of the country, according 
to the definition formerly given of it, must be 
diminished ; and the prices of many articles of 
consumption may fall. A diminution of the 
amount of the taxes consequently takes place : 
but this must be attended with a reduction in 
the price of those articles by which the public 
service is supported. The expenditure and 
the revenue still bear the same mutual pro- 
portion. 
