[Third (People's) Edition]
Member of The Institute of France.
London:
Printed for Provost and Co.,
Henrietta Street, W. C.
My object in this treatise is to examine into the real nature of theInterest of Capital, for the purpose of proving that it is lawful, andexplaining why it should be perpetual. This may appear singular, andyet, I confess, I am more afraid of being too plain than too obscure. Iam afraid I may weary the reader by a series of mere truisms. But it isno easy matter to avoid this danger, when the facts with which we haveto deal are known to every one by personal, familiar, and dailyexperience.
But, then, you will say, "What is the use of this treatise? Why explainwhat everybody knows?"
But, although this problem appears at first sight so very simple, thereis more in it than you might suppose. I shall endeavour to prove this byan example. Mondor lends an instrument of labour to-day, which will beentirely destroyed in a week, yet the capital will not produce the lessinterest to Mondor or his heirs, through all eternity. Reader, can youhonestly say that you understand the reason of this?
It would be a waste of time to seek any satisfactory explanation fromthe writings of economists. They have not thrown much light upon thereasons of the existence of interest. For this they are not to beblamed; for at the time they wrote, its lawfulness was not called inquestion. Now, however, times are altered; the case is different. Men,who consider themselves to be in advance of their age, have organised anactive crusade against capital and interest; it is the productiveness ofcapital which they are attacking; not certain abuses in theadministration of it, but the principle itself.
A journal has been established to serve as a vehicle for this crusade.It is conducted by M. Proudhon, and has, it is said, an immensecirculation. The first number of this periodical contains the electoralmanifesto of the people. Here we read, "The productiveness of capital,which is condemned by Christiani