self with comforts, that he would and could have no amount of comforts without a division of labor, under which each man should give his attention mainly to one thing, and that thing the one best suited to his faculty. Necessity, therefore, compels an exchange of labor, and thus labor becomes a commodity, and a thing of barter, transfer, and price.
The next important item in regard to the matter is that, to effect the exchange of labor, capital becomes a necessity also. A man chooses to be a farmer. He can do nothing at farming without a plow, a hoe, a shovel, and other tools, and these are capital. If he did not have the capital to buy them, he would have to make them, and have to learn how to make them, and have to dig the iron-ore, learn to smelt and prepare it, and work it, and learn to make the anvils and hammers, and nails, and screws, and all else used in the construction of a plow. But capital standing at the door with a plow ready made, the farmer can commence business the very day he gets title to his land.
These observations are elementary, it is true, but they are necessary as an introduction. They establish two points: First, that labor must be exchanged to be of any avail; and, second, it must be assisted by capital. It will be seen that the laborer must work along the line of diversity and development. Men instinctively do this generally in the beginnings of a community. One man becomes a blacksmith, one a carpenter, one a mason, one a shoemaker, and so on, in submission to the laws governing labor—the laws of diversity and development. They know, without argument, that two shoemakers and no blacksmith would be a foolish and unprofitable arrangement, and hence employments are divided spontaneously. As society advances, the occupations multiply; that is, they divide more and more, and by doing so each person has a chance to select the one which best suits his taste and capacity. And in this way the highest power of the community is developed. The best blacksmith takes the place of the bungler, the good workman in all branches finds employment, and the inexpert retires to some other calling, or perfects himself so as not to be driven to the wall. Society demands the best, and, as it advances, secures it more and more. The best tailor, and the best lecturer, and the best lawyer, are never idle; and they are produced by the law of diversity and development.
It is equally certain that capital is produced by labor, and is the natural result of labor husbanded and taken care of. The existence of capital is due to the previous existence of labor, but its existence in large quantity is due to the joint effort of labor and capital. The existence of the plow/ which is capital, has kept the farmer from starving, and, as all other people depend upon the farmer for food, the plow has kept us all from starving. In the
