IT CAPITAL— THE MOTHER OF LABOUR. 175 



wages); or whether he feeds himself and his fam- 

 ily, in no way alters their nature as revenue, or 

 affects the fact that this revenue is merely dis- 

 posable capital. 



That (even apart from etymology) cattle are 

 typical examples of capital cannot be denied 

 ("Progress and Poverty," p. 25); and if we seek 

 for that particular quality of cattle which makes 

 them " capital," neither has the author of " Pro- 

 gress and Poverty " supplied, nor is any one else 

 very likely to supply, a better account of the matter 

 than Adam Smith has done. Cattle are " capital '' 

 because they are " stock which yields revenue." 

 That is to say, they afford to their owner a supply 

 of that which he desires to possess. And, in this 

 particular case, the " revenue " is not only desira- 

 ble, but of supreme importance, inasmuch as it is 

 capable of maintaining human life. The herd 

 yields a revenue of food-stuffs as milk and meat; a 

 revenue of skins; a revenue of manure; a revenue 

 of labour; a revenue of exchangeable commodities 

 in the shape of these things, as well as in that of 

 live cattle. In each and all of these capacities 

 cattle are capital; and, conversely, things which 

 possess any or all of these capacities are capital. 



Therefore what we find at page 25 of " Pro- 

 gress and Poverty" must be regarded as a wel- 

 come lapse into clearness of apprehension: — 



A fertile field, a rich vein of ore, a falling stream 

 which supplies power, may give the possessor advantages 



