the wealth ok nations.

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increase of capital. Industry, indeed, provides the subjectwhich parsimony accumulates. But whatever industry mightacquire, if parsimony did not save and store up, the capitalwould never be the greater.

Parsimony, by increasing the fund which is destined forthe maintenance of productive hands, tends to increase thenumber of those hands whose labour adds to the value of thesubject upon which it is bestowed. It tends therefore to in-crease the exchangeable value of the annual produce of theland and labour of the country. It puts into motion an ad-ditional quantity of industry, which gives an additional valueto the annual produce.

What is annually saved is as regularly consumed as whatis annually spent, and nearly in the same time too ; but it isconsumed by a different set of people. That portion of hisrevenue which a rich man annually spends, is in most casesconsumed by idle guests, and menial servants, who leave no-thing behind them in return for their consumption. Thatportion which he annually saves, as for the sake of the profitit is immediately employed as a capital, is consumed in thesame manner and nearly in the same time too, but by a differentset of people, by labourers, manufacturers, and artificers, whoreproduce with a profit the value of their annual consump-tion. Ilis revenue, we shall suppose, is paid him in money.Had he spent the whole, the food, clothing, and lodging, whichthe whole could have purchased, would have been distributedamong the former set of people. By saving a part of it, asthat part is for the sake of the profit immediately employedas a capital either by himself or by some other person, thefood, clothing, and lodging, which may be purchased with itare necessarily reserved for the latter. The consumption is thesame, but the consumers are different.

By what a frugal man annually saves, he not only affordsmaintenance to an additional number of productive hands,for that or the ensuing year, but, like the founder of a publicworkhouse, he establishes as it were a perpetual fund for themaintenance of an equal number in all times to come. Theperpetual allotment and destination of this fund, indeed, isnot always guarded by any positive law, by any trust-right ordeed of mortmain. It is always guarded, however, by a verypowerful principle, the plain and evident interest of every in-dividual to whom any share of it shall ever belong. No partof it can ever afterward be employed to maintain any but