THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.

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But this produce cannot be made till such times as the pro-duce of his own labour has not only been completed butsold. A stock of goods of different kinds, therefore, mustbe stored up somewhere sufficient to maintain him, and tosupply him with the materials and tools of his work, till suchtime, at least, as both these events can be brought about.A weaver cannot apply himself entirely to his peculiar busi-ness, unless there is before-hand stored up somewhere, eitherin his own possession or in that of some other person, a stocksufficient to maintain him, and to supply him with the mate-rials and tools of his work, till he has not only completedbut sold his web. This accumulation must, evidently, beprevious to his applying his industry for so long a time tosuch a peculiar business.

As the accumulation of stock must, in the nature of things,be previous to the division of labour, so labour can be moreand more subdivided in proportion only as stock is previ-ously more and more accumulated. The quantity of mate-rials which the same number of people can work up, in-creases in a great proportion as labour comes to be more andmore subdivided; and as the operations of each workmanare gradually reduced to a greater degree of simplicity, avariety of new machines come to be invented for facilitatingand abridging those operations. As the division of labouradvances, therefore, in order to give constant employment toan equal number of workmen, an equal stock of provisions,and a greater stock of materials and tools than what wouldhave been necessary in a ruder state of things, must be accu-mulated before-hand. But the number of workmen in everybranch of business generally increases with the division oflabour in that branch, or rather it is the increase of theirnumber which enables them to class and subdivide them-selves in this manner.

As the accumulation of stock is previously necessary forcarrying on this great improvement in the productive powersof labour, so that accumulation naturally leads to this im-provement. The person who employs his stock in maintain-ing labour, necessarily wishes to employ it in such a manneras to produce as great a quantity of work as possible. Heendeavours, therefore, both to make among his workmen themost proper distribution of employment, and to furnish themwith the best machines which he can either invent or affordto purchase. Ilis abilities in both these respects are gene-