S89 



DIVISION OF EMPLOYMENTS. 



DIVISION OF EMPLOYMENTS. 



men combine together for securing the various objects of life, by means 

 of their joint labour ; and this combination of labour leads to division 

 of employments. Labour is naturally exerted in these two forms in 

 the very earliest stages of society. The first pair whom God's ordi- 

 nances and their own instinct united, must have combined for the 

 support of themselves and their common family, and diversity of sex 

 fione must have produced distinct employments. Among savages the 

 man engages in the chace, for which he has a natural predilection, and 

 for which his strength adapts him, while his mate real's their children 

 and executes those functions which are suited to her sex, but which 

 are as conducive to the comfort of both as if both performed them. In 

 this manner a division of employments naturally arises, and each family 

 affords an example of its origin and character. 



This combination for a common object, succeeded by a division of 

 employments, pervades every process of human industry, and increases 

 in variety and complexity with the growth of civilisation. One of the 

 earliest forms of industry is that of fishing, and none, perhaps, exem- 

 plifies more aptly the mode in which labour is necessarily applied to 

 the purposes of life. A man desirous of building a fishing-boat may 

 cut down a tree, without any assistance from others, and may even 

 hew it into shape ; but if it be larger than a mere canoe he cannot, by 

 his own strength, remove it from the spot on which the tree had fallen, 

 and launch it upon the sea. To effect this, others must combine their 

 strength with his. To manage a boat the labour of more than one 

 man is ordinarily required, and the larger the boat the greater must 

 be the number who combine to navigate it. If they paddle or row it, 

 their labour is simply combined for one purpose and in one manner, 

 except that one, instead of rowing, may probably steer the boat. As 

 the art of navigation improves and its objects become multiplied, in 

 addition to a more extensive combination of men in pursuit of the 

 same objects, a diversity of employments ensues. In a deep-sea 

 fishery, some attend to the nets, others to the sails ; and on their 

 return to land, some arrange the nets to dry and repair them, while 

 others are engaged in disposing of the fish. 



From these illustrations it is evident that the cause of a division of 

 employments is to be sought in the nature and circumstances of man. 

 It is not the result of extraordinary foresight, but is suggested by the 

 most common exigencies of life ; its convenience is obvious, but the 

 feeling which prompts men to adopt it is spontaneous and as it were 

 intuitive. It is a social necessity, and the very foundation of any social 

 system whatever, yet it is practised almost unconsciously by the greater 

 part of mankind. Its existence, however, lies so open to observation 

 that it is scarcely to be ranked s a discovery of political economy ; but 

 that science, having noted the facts of a combination of labour and a 

 division of employments, explains their uses and results ; and in pur- 

 suing these inquiries it develops some of the most important principles 

 connected with the production and distribution of wealth. To these 

 inquiries we must now devote our attention. 



As labour is the lot of man, it is desirable that his labour should be 

 as productive as possible, in order that the sum of his enjoyments 

 should exceed that of his endurance. This result is attained by several 

 men combining their labour for one object, and pursuing different em- 

 ployments for their reciprocal benefit, instead of each man labouring 

 independently for himself and employing himself in the same manner 

 as all other men. A division of employments, therefore, is not only a 

 natural incident of labour, but is an important auxiliary of human 

 enjoyment. The means by which it adds to the efficacy of labour are 

 described by Adam Smith to be -1st, an " increase of dexterity in 

 every particular workman ; " 2ndly, " the saving of the time which is 

 commonly lost in passing from one species of work to another; " and, 

 Srdly, " the invention of a great number of machines which facilitate 

 and abridge labour, and enable one man to do the work of many : " to 

 which may be added, 4thly, the separation which it causes between 

 labour and the direction of labour ; Sthly, the power which it gives of 

 using machinery effectually, when invented ; Cthly, the opportunities 

 of exchange which it affords, and the means of availing ourselves of the 

 enjoyments arising from the natural capabilities of the soil, climate, 

 situation, or mineral productions of different parts of the world, and of 

 the peculiar aptitude of their inhabitants for various kinds of industry. 



1. The superior dexterity of workmen engaged exclusively in one 

 occupation is universally known. " Use is second nature," and when a 

 man has been long accustomed to a particular employment, not only 

 has he acquired great dexterity, but his mind appears to be endowed 

 with faculties specially adapted to his business. The jockey seems to 

 have been born for the saddle ; the sailor for the ship : both are active, 

 intelligent, dexterous ; but fancy their occupations exchanged or com- 

 bined ! the sailor in the saddle, the jockey at the helm ; or both alter- 

 nately riding the favourite horse at Newmarket and furling the top- 

 gallants of a three-decker at Spithead ! The constant exercise of the 

 faculties in any art or business gives them an aptitude for it, which to 

 others is a matter of astonishment. The eye and the hand perform 

 their offices with such precision and rapidity, that their work seems 

 spontaneous, as it were, and independent of the will of the workman. 

 Without deliberation, almost without care, the business is done ; and 

 done better than others could do it with the greatest pains. All pro- 

 cesses of art and manufacture, and the daily experience of all men, 

 confirm this statement a* an unquestionable fact. (Babbage, ' Economy 

 of Machinery and Manufactures. ) The advantages of peculiar skill are 



that men can work better and faster, that the products of their labour 

 are more valuable and more abundant, and that their contributions to 

 the general stock of the world's enjoyments are multiplied. By fol- 

 lowing out these advantages through all their relations, they will be 

 found to be the primary source of wealth ; and, in a moral point of 

 view, the main cause of social progress and of the development of the 

 highest faculties of man. 



2. " The saving of time which is commonly lost in passing from one 

 species of work to another " enables a man who is constantly engaged 

 in one process to perform more work than he would have been able to 

 get through in the course of a day, if he had been required to change 

 his employment. For this reason, as well as on account of his skill, a 

 division of employments makes his labour more productive. 



3. The invention of tools and machinery is the most effective aux- 

 iliary of labour, and it is necessarily promoted by a division of employ- 

 ments. Those who are constantly attending to one business or descrip- 

 tion of labour must become best acquainted with its requirements 

 their observation and experience are concentrated upon it their 

 interest urges them to facilitate their own exertions. How many 

 inventions are due to workmen employed in manual labour the history 

 of the steam-engine and of the cotton manufacture will furnish ex- 

 amples ; but it is not in the case of workmen alone that division of 

 employments facilitates invention. Their employers also have their 

 whole minds bent upon improving their business ; and amidst the 

 multiplication of trades arise engineers and machinists, whose sole 

 business it is to construct, improve, and invent machinery, aided by all 

 the lights of theoretical science. And* this leads us to the fourth ad- 

 vantage of a division of employments. 



4. If all men were doing the same thing, and working for themselves 

 unaided by others, their condition would never be improved ; but by 

 following particular occupations, those who exert most skill and in- 

 dustry produce more than they require for their own subsistence, and 

 reserve a fund for the employment of others. [CAPITAL.] And thus 

 there grows up from the midst of the people a class of employers who 

 direct the labour of others. Until labour is so directed and maintained 

 by the previous accumulation of capital, it is comparatively ineffectual ; 

 and while a division of employments is a powerful ageut in producing 

 capital, the latter, in its turn, facilitates a further subdivision. Without 

 it, indeed, a system of division can only be carried out imperfectly and 

 to a very small extent. The growth of capital also gives to many men 

 the glorious privilege of leisure, exempts them from the necessity of 

 labour, and leaves them free to study, to reflect, to observe, to reason 

 and investigate. From this class arise men of science and of letters 

 philosophers, statesmen, historians, poets. And even with these the 

 apportionment of a peculiar province gives power to their minds, and 

 expands their knowledge. Their natural talents are developed, and 

 their aptitude for particular pursuita becomes as conspicuous in intel- 

 lectual industry as that of other men in manual operations. 



5. Adam Smith speaks of thn importance of a division of employ- 

 ments as leading to the invention of machinery, but passes over its 

 utility in using machinery effectually, when invented. Every part of 

 a large machine requires workmen whose sole business it is to work in 

 unison with its peculiar movement. So distinct are these various 

 processes so diverse their character that in all large manufactures 

 there is an extensive vocabulary of names by which operatives working 

 in the very same factory are distinguished. Without such a sub- 

 division of peculiar employments the most ingenious machinery would 

 be useless : and thus while machinery multiplies distinct operations of 

 labour, these are, in their turn, essential to its efficacy. 



6. Adam Smith assigns the origin of a division of employments- to 

 the " trucking disposition " of mankind to their " propensity to truck, 

 barter, and exchange one thing for another " (b. i. c. ii.). This love of 

 barter however is only a secondary cause : men have no natural taste 

 for it ; but use it as a means of obtaining the various objects which 

 they desire. If they could obtain them without the trouble of barter, 

 thuy would tinquestionably not follow barter as an amusement, any 

 more than they would work if they could get what they wanted 

 without labour. So far, then, from the trucking disposition of men 

 being the cause of a division of employments, it would appear that 

 a division of employments is rather the proximate cause of commerce. 

 For if all men worked in the same manner and produced the same 

 things, there would be nothing to exchange : but as soon as men learn 

 to devote themselves to the production of one commodity, the whole 

 of which they cannot consume, they must exchange the produce of 

 their labour with others, who have been producing objects which they 

 desire to possess. This is an intelligible origin of barter and commerce 

 consistent with the natural propensities of mankind, and not re- 

 quiring for its support the strained hypothesis that men have an innate 

 disposition to truck. But a division of employments, like barter, is 

 itself but a secondary cause ; and both alike must ultimately be re- 

 ferred to the one original cause of all forms of 'industry the desire 

 of mankind to possess various enjoyments which are only to be gained 

 by labour. 



This would appear to be the natural course of social progress. First, 

 a man applies himself to a particular business because he has facilities 

 for following it. One man lives by the sea and is a fisherman ; 

 another lives near the forest and hunts game. Each could obtain more 

 of this particular food than he requires for his own use, and may 



