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Manual of Political Economy.
trader; for remedies will be suggested for alleviating the poverty of the poor; and the causes upon which depend the prosperity of trade will be explained.
The distribution of wealth implies propertyDistribution of wealth implies the idea of property. If there were no property, or, in other words, if no individual possessed anything which he could claim as his own, there could of course be no distribution of wealth. Every one would then obtain, either by chance or by force, the food and other necessaries which minister to the wants of life. It is impossible for property to exist until society is organised, for the fundamental idea involved in property is this; that those who own the property possess in it a right, which will be enforced by law; but the existence of law implies that a people composing a state or a nation will exercise a combined power to make individuals regulate their conduct according to certain rules termed laws. Such combined action constitutes the power of government, and the government ceases to exist if it is not able to exercise its power and enforce obedience to its laws. and is affected by the different laws about property.A great portion of the laws of every nation concern property; such laws vary greatly in different countries and at different times, and property has rights in one age of a nation's existence which it has not in another. Before the passing of the Act of Emancipation, a negro, if purchased by an English colonist, became as much his property as an article of domestic furniture. In feudal times, a baron could enforce various personal services from those who occupied his land; they were bound to furnish him, if he waged war, with a certain number of men, horses, and coats of armour. There is, again, the greatest difference in the control which can be exercised over the disposal of property; for, in England, land can be entailed, and devised by will, to an unborn child. In France, the owner of land has no power to prevent his children from sharing it equally upon his death. Then again, property is held in different ways; a great number of individuals forming a company or society may be the joint owners of property. Property may be held on lease. In Europe, the land is chiefly the property of private individuals; whereas, in India, the bulk of the land is owned by the government. It would be impossible to describe the