places where they will be taken in exchange for, and command, such things as the possessor stands in need of, or has an inclination for; all which are the produce of the labour of man. The possession, therefore, of those things which can obtain and command the labour of man, is to be considered as wealth. Wealth, therefore, is the possession of that which gives power over, and commands the labour of, man: it is, therefore, power; and into that, and that only, ultimately resolvable.[1]
It is no argument that wealth is not power, because this power is not extended to the disposal of the lives of the poor; since that would be an extension only of the same power, and differing only in degree.
It will be allowed, that the collected number of persons who possess the aggregate quantity of all such things as compose wealth, have the command and direction of the labour of those who are not possessed of any of them. It is true, that no individual of the poor is obliged to work for any one individual of the rich; but for one or other of them he is obliged to work, under the penalty of their withholding from him the things
- ↑ It is remarkable that an old poet should say—Δύναμις πέφυκε τοῖς βροτοῖς τὰ χρήματα.
