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consumption, and of which the characteristic is, that it affordsno revenue or profit. It consists in the stock of food, clothes,household furniture, &c. which have been purchased by theirproper consumers, but which are not yet entirely consumed.The whole stock of mere dwelling-houses too subsisting atany one time in the country, make a part of this first portion.The stock that is laid out in a house, if it is to be the dwelling-house of the proprietor, ceases from that moment to serve inthe function of a capital, or to afford any revenue to its owner.A dwelling-house, as such, contributes nothing to the revenueof its inhabitants; and though itis, no doubt, extremely usefulto him, it is as his clothes and household furniture are usefulto him, which, however, make a part of his expense, and notof his revenue. If it is to be let to a tenant for rent, as thehouse itself can produce nothing, the tenant must always paythe rent out of some other revenue which he derives eitherfrom labour, or stock, or land. Though a house, therefore,may yield a revenue to its proprietor, and thereby servethe function of a capital to him, it cannot yield any to thepublic, nor serve in the function of a capital to it, and therevenue of the whole body of the people can never be in thesmallest degree increased by it. Clothes, and household fur-niture, in the same manner, sometimes yield a revenue, andthereby serve in the function of a capital to particular per-sons. In countries where masquerades are common, it is atrade to let out masquerade dresses for a night. Upholsterersfrequently let furniture by the month or by the year. Un-dertakers let the furniture of funerals by the day and by theweek. Many people let furnished houses, and get a rent,not only for the use of the house, but for that of the furniture.The revenue, however, which is derived from such things,must always be ultimately drawn from some other source ofrevenue. Of all parts of the stock, either of an individual,or of a society, reserved for immediate consumption, what islaid out in houses is most slowly consumed. A stock ofclothes may last several years: a stock of furniture half a cen-tury or a century; but a stock of houses, well built and pro-perly taken care of, may last many centuries. Though theperiod of their total consumption, however, is more distant,they are still as really a stock reserved for immediate con-sumption as either clothes or household furniture.
The second of the three portions into which the generalstock of the society divides itself, is the fixed capital, of which