294 MODERN ECONOMICS 



poor man's friend : from no one else can he raise 

 money. 



Wealth is produced by the action of our provi- 

 dent impulses those of foresight, industry and 

 a desire for possessions and comfort. But these 

 impulses are, as a rule, not sufficiently strong of 

 themselves to induce us to labour persistently. 

 They need to be reinforced by habits, and by 

 other impulses which can only be satisfied by the 

 products of industry that is to say, by wealth. 

 The desire for food or for luxuries, ambition and 

 the longing for social esteem, the love of children, 

 the passion for change which may be satisfied by 

 travel, by amusement, or by drink, our artistic 

 tastes, may all contribute to enhance the force- 

 fulness of our industrial impulses. The possession 

 of industrial or provident impulses is essential ; 

 they are the roots of our industrial activities : 

 failing them man w r ould remain as poverty-stricken 

 as the brutes. Where they are weak, wealth is not 

 produced. Indian labourers prefer their habits 

 and their leisure to a rise in wages ; and the large 

 amounts of coin and bullion which are annually 

 received by India in payment for raw produce, 

 are in great measure buried under ground. But 

 when the industrial impulses are at their strongest, 

 they still appear to need reinforcement before 

 they will urge mankind to continuous exertion. 



Our economic development has then progressed 

 through the strengthening of our provident or 

 industrial inclinations, firstly, by the acquisition 

 of industrious habits, and secondly, by focussing 

 upon industry the stimuli that can be derived 

 from other propensities. Money is the lens by 

 which our various desires are concentrated. We 

 are told that money serves the community as a 

 standard and measure of value, and as a medium 

 of exchange. In truth it is something more. It 



