Yes, if the “proletaires” knew their true interests, they would seek, with the greatest care, what circumstances are, and what are not favourable to saving, in order to favour the former and to discourage the latter.  They would sympathise with every measure which tends to the rapid formation of capitals.  They would be enthusiastic promoters of peace, liberty, order, security, the union of classes and peoples, economy, moderation in public expenses, simplicity in the machinery of government; for it is under the sway of all these circumstances that saving does its work, brings plenty within the reach of the masses, invites those persons to become the formers of capital who were formerly under the necessity of borrowing upon hard conditions.  They would repel with energy the warlike spirit, which diverts from its true course so large a part of human labour; the monopolising spirit, which deranges the equitable distribution of riches, in the way by which liberty alone can realise it; the multitude of public services, which attack our purses only to check our liberty; and, in short, those subversive, hateful, thoughtless doctrines, which alarm capital, prevent its formation, oblige it to flee, and finally to raise its price, to the especial disadvantage of the workers, who bring it into operation.  Well, and in this respect is not the revolution of February a hard lesson?  Is it not evident that the insecurity it has thrown into the world of business on the one hand; and, on the other, the advancement of the fatal theories to which I have alluded, and which, from the clubs, have almost penetrated into the regions of the legislature, have everywhere raised the rate of interest?  Is it not evident, that from that time the “proletaires” have found greater difficulty in procuring those materials, instruments, and provisions, without which labour is impossible?  Is it not that which has caused stoppages; and do not stoppages, in their turn, lower wages?  Thus there is a deficiency of labour to the “proletaires,” from the same cause which loads the objects they consume with an increase of price, in consequence of the rise of interest.  High interest, low wages, means in other words that the same article preserves its price, but that the part of the capitalist has invaded, without profiting himself, that of the workmen.

A friend of mine, commissioned to make inquiry into Parisian industry, has assured me that the manufacturers have revealed to him a very striking fact, which proves, better than any reasoning can, how much insecurity and uncertainty injure the formation of capital.  It was remarked, that during the most distressing period, the popular expenses of mere fancy had not diminished.  The small theatres, the fighting lists, the public-houses, and tobacco depots, were as much frequented as in prosperous times.  In the inquiry, the operatives themselves explained this phenomenon thus:—­“What is the use of pinching?  Who knows what will happen to us?