The Dutch seem to have been well aware of the danger of wealth making the people consume too much.  A man in moderate circumstances loses his credit there, who roasts his meat instead of boiling it.  It is reckoned wastefulness, and, as such, is the occasion of confidence being withdrawn from him:  it has nearly as bad an effect on a man’s credit, as if he were seen coming from a gaming-house.

It will, perhaps, be said, that the parsimony of the Dutch is ridiculous, but we ought not to attribute this merely to parsimony, but to a feeling similar to what we have very properly in England when we see bread wasted.  It arises from a feeling of the general want, not of the particular loss, which is totally a different thing.  If a man give away imprudently, that loss is to himself, not to the community.  As there cannot be givers without receivers it is a change of hands, but there ends the matter.  A habit of wasting is another [end of page #144] thing, it is a general loss, and, therefore, hurts the community at large as well as the individual.

When this augmented consumption takes place, to any great extent, it is the infallible cause of depopulation.  How nearly depopulation and decline are connected with each other is very easily and well understood; indeed, it is impossible not to see their intimate connection. {118}

While the exports of a country amount to a great sum, a few millions can be spared for the importation of provisions, without any great difficulty; but the evil may increase imperceptibly, till it becomes impossible to remedy it.  The distress that must be occasioned, in such a case, is beyond the power of calculation; for though, in times of plenty, animal food is preferred, whenever there comes any thing like want, that can only be supplied by corn, and there is no wealth sufficient, in any country, to procure that for a number of years, to any great extent. {119}

It is calculated, by the author of the notes on Dr. Smith’s Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations, that, if the supply of corn were to fall short, one-fourth part, in England, for a number of years running, there would be no means of finding either corn to buy, ships to transport it, or money to pay for it, without totally deranging the commerce of the country.

In every country there are a number of persons who can afford to

—–­ {118} Till within these twelve or fourteen years, England always was able to export some grain; but now the demand for importation is great and regular.  It has had a vast influence on the balance of trade, which, though it has been great some years, has not, upon the whole, been equal to what it was previous to the American war, when the whole amount of foreign commerce was not one-half of what it has been for these last ten years.

{119} If it could be done, it would bring on poverty; but, as the excess of crops over the consumption is not, in any nation, equal to one-tenth of its whole revenue; and, as the expense of eatables amount to nearly one-half, the wealth of a nation would soon be destroyed, if it were possible to produce from other nations a supply.  The calculation would be nearly as under for England, putting the population at nine millions.