624 PROCEEDINGB OF gEOTION P. 



primary motive for which they were established. While I 

 remember with sufficient vividness that in no science have so 

 many hasty generalisations, so many unwarrantable conclu- 

 sions, been made as in political economy, yet I feel it safe to 

 assert that a careful examination of tiie figures of the 

 Austrahan Colonies will show that in no one case has the 

 imposition of protective duties resulted in a decline of imports. 

 And this is equivalent to the statement that our systems of 

 protection have been in practice nothing but failures. 



4.— IS CAPITAL THE RESULT OF ABSTINENCE? 



By A. J. OGILVY. 



The proposition that Capital is the result of abstinence is 

 generally considered by economists so self-evident as to 

 j-equire no proof. They therefore simply state it, give an 

 illustration or two of what they mean, and pass on. 



I venture to submit that this proposition has been taken 

 for granted far too easily, — that Capital has not originated 

 solely or chiefly through abstinence, and, in fact, that 

 abstinence has had very little to do with the matter. 



Let us make sure, first, that we understand the real 

 meaning of the proposition, and are not disputing about 

 mere words. 



1, As to the term "Capital." There have been many 

 definitions of it given by economists, and no two are agreed 

 as to the proper definition, while the man of business under- 

 stands by it something quite different from any of them, viz., 

 money, or the command of it. 



But we need not concern ourselves about these differences, 

 for they will not affect the issue I propose to raise. 



A factory with its looms and engines is wealth devoted to 

 production, and is therefore capital in the technical sense, 

 if anything is ; while a private mansion, with its picture 

 galleries and costly furniture, is wealth devoted to enjoyment, 

 and therefore technically not capital. 



But the proposition before us, if it is true of the one is 

 equally true of the other. If self-denying abstinence was 

 required to produce or to maintain the factory, it must have 

 been equally necessary to produce or to maintain the mansion. 

 The proposition applies to all accumulated forms of wealth 

 alike, or it apphes to none. 



