Page:Reflections on the Formation and the Distribution of Riches by Anne Turgot.djvu/110

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AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF RICHES
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S87

Money invested in agricultural, manufacturing, & commercial undertakings is bound to bring more than the interest of money on loan.

For a like reason money employed in agriculture, in industry, or in commerce must produce a profit which is more considerable than the revenue of the same capital when invested in land, or the interest of the same money placed on loan; for as these employments, besides the capital advanced, require much care and labour, if they were not more lucrative it would be much better to procure a revenue of equal amount which might be enjoyed without needing to do anything. It is necessary, then, that besides the interest of his capital the undertaker should every year draw a profit to recompense him for his care, his labour, his talents and his risks, and to furnish him in addition with that wherewith he may replace the annual wear and tear of his advances,—which he is obliged to convert from the very first into effects which are susceptible of change, and which are, moreover, exposed to every kind of accident.

S88

Nevertheless the products of these different employments are limited by one another, &, notwithstanding their inequality, preserve a kind of equilibrium.

The different employments of capitals produce, therefore, very unequal products; but this inequality does not prevent the exercise of a reciprocal influence one upon the other,