is to keep it and let it grow by interest, or even to
neglect the interest and keep the gold itself. Thus they become what we
call misers, and there are always a certain number of people, who
deprive themselves of the ordinary pleasures of life, in order that they
may have the pleasure of feeling rich. Now these kind of people do no
positive harm to their fellow-men; on the contrary they increase the
wealth of the country, and some one or other will sooner or later
benefit by it. Moreover, if they put their wealth into banks and other
good investments, they do great service in increasing the capital of the
nation, and thus enabling so many more factories, docks, railways, and
other important works to be constructed. Most people are so fond of
spending their money on passing amusements, entertainments, eating and
drinking, and fine dressing, that it is a distinct advantage to have
other people who will put their wealth into a more permanently useful
form.

Nevertheless, there could be no use in abstaining from all enjoyment in
order that we might lay up a store of wealth. Things are not wealth
unless they are useful and pleasant to us. If everybody invested his
savings in railway shares, we should have so many railways that they
could not be all used, and they would become rather a nuisance than a
benefit. Similarly, there could be no good in building docks unless
there were ships to load in them, nor ships unless there were goods or
passengers to convey. It would be equally absurd to make cotton mills if
there were already enough to manufacture as much cotton goods as people
could consume.

Thus we come to see that wealth must be fitted for use and consumption
in some way or other. What we have to do is to endeavour to spend our
means so as to get the greatest real happiness for ourselves, our
relatives, friends, and all other people whom we ought to consider.

CHAPTER III.

PRODUCTION OF WEALTH.

#16. The Requisites of Production.# The first thing in industry, as we
now see, is to decide what we want; the next thing is to get it, or make
it, or, as we shall say, #produce it#, and we ought obviously to produce
it with the least possible labour. To learn how this may be done, we
must inquire what is needful for the production of wealth. There are, as
is commonly and correctly said, #three requisites of production#; before
we can, in the present state of society, undertake to produce wealth, we
must have th