lf of this century inclined to the
inclusion of certain consumptive goods in the possession of labourers
under capital. Ricardo, for example, thus expresses himself:--"In
every society the capital which is employed in production is
necessarily of limited durability. The food and clothing consumed by
the labourer, the buildings in which he works, the implements with
which his labour is assisted, are all of a perishable value. There is,
however, a vast difference in the time for which all these different
capitals will endure. A steam engine will last longer than a ship, a
ship than the clothing of the labourer, and the clothing of the
labourer than the food which he consumes." (_Principles of Political
Economy_, 1817, p. 22.) The last sentence is conclusive in its
inclusion under capital of goods in the possession of labourers.
McCulloch again regrets Smith's exclusion of "revenue" from capital,
insisting that "it is enough to entitle an article to be considered
capital that it can directly contribute to the support of man or
assist him in appropriating or producing commodities," and he would
even go so far as to include "a horse yoked to a gentleman's coach,"
on the ground that it was "possessed of the capacity to assist in
production." (_Principles of Political Economy_, Part I., chap. ii. Sec.
3.)

Malthus does not, so far as I can ascertain, face the question. James
Mill alone, among the earlier nineteenth century economists,
definitely excludes labourers' consumptive goods from capital.
(_Principles of Political Economy_, chap. i. Sec. 2.) J.S. Mill is not
equally clear in his judgment. In Bk. I., chap. iv. Sec. 1, food
"destined" for the consumption of productive labourers apparently
ceases to be capital when it is already "appropriated to the
consumption of productive labourers." This position, however, is not
consistent with his later position regarding the unlimited character
of saving, which can only be justified by regarding real wages when
paid as continuing to be capital. Fawcett is vague, but he is disposed
not only to include under capital food which is in the possession of
consumers, but to exclude food which is in the possession of dealers.
"If a man has so much wheat, it is wealth which may at any moment be
employed as capital; but this wheat is not made capital by being
hoarded; it becomes capital when it feeds the labourers, and it cannot
feed the labourers unless it is consumed." (_Manual of Politica