FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   193   194   195   196   197   198   199   200   201   202   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214   215   216   217  
218   219   220   221   222   223   >>  
ony of our ablest commercial writers. One of them gives the following summary:--"Large sums have, from time to time, been lent to various foreign states by English capitalists, whose money has been put to great hazard, and, in some cases, lost. On the other hand, many foreign loans have been contracted by our merchants, which have proved highly profitable, through the progressive sale of the stock in foreign countries at higher than the contract prices. It is evidently impossible to form any correct estimate of the profit or loss which has resulted to the country from these various operations; the general impression is, that hitherto the losses have much exceeded the gains." In that general impression we most cordially concur--indeed, we never heard any man whose opinion was worth having, say otherwise. But in the absence of home speculation it is little wonder that, for the chance of unfrequent gain, men should choose, rather than leave their capital unemployed, to run the risk of the frequent loss. It does not, however, follow, as a matter of course, that home speculation shall always prove profitable either to the invester or to the nation at large. We have said already, that the proper function of capital is to foster and encourage labour; but this may be carried too far. For example, it is just twenty years ago, when, at a time of great prosperity in trade--the regular products of this country being as nearly as possible equal to the demand--a large body of capitalists, finding no other outlet for their savings, gave an unnatural stimulus to production, by buying up and storing immense quantities of our home manufactures. This they must have done upon some abstruse but utterly false calculation of augmented demand from abroad, making no allowance for change of season, foreign fluctuation, or any other of the occult causes which influence the markets of the world. The result, as is well known, was most disastrous. Trade on a sudden grew slack. The capitalists, in alarm, threw open the whole of their accumulated stock at greatly depreciated prices. There was no further demand for manufacturing labour, because the world was glutted with the supply, and hence arose strikes, panic, bankruptcy, and a period of almost unexampled hardship to the workman, and of serious and permanent loss to the master manufacturer. Speculation, therefore, in an old branch of industry, is perilous not only to the invester but to the prospe
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   193   194   195   196   197   198   199   200   201   202   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214   215   216   217  
218   219   220   221   222   223   >>  



Top keywords:

foreign

 

capitalists

 

demand

 
prices
 

impression

 
speculation
 

country

 
general
 

profitable

 

capital


labour

 

invester

 

abstruse

 

calculation

 
augmented
 
abroad
 
twenty
 

manufactures

 

utterly

 

prosperity


making
 

unnatural

 

stimulus

 
outlet
 

savings

 

immense

 

regular

 

finding

 
storing
 
products

production
 

buying

 
quantities
 

period

 
bankruptcy
 

unexampled

 

hardship

 

strikes

 

glutted

 

supply


workman

 

industry

 

branch

 

perilous

 

prospe

 

permanent

 

master

 
manufacturer
 

Speculation

 

manufacturing