The Principles of Natural and Politic Law

by Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, Petter Korkman (Editor)

Overview

Born in 1694, Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui helped transform the modern tradition of natural law and convey it to new generations.

Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (1694–1748) was a Swiss jurist.

Petter Korkman is a Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies and is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy at the Academy of Finland.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614871835
Publisher:	Liberty Fund, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/23/2006
Series:	Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	606
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Introduction, by V. W. Bladen xxiii
Textual Introduction, by J. M. Robson lxv
PREFACES ]XXXiX
PRELIMINARY REMARKS 3
CHAPTER I. Of the Requisites of Production 25
§ 1. Requisites of production, what, 25
2. The function of labour defined, 26
3. Does nature contribute more to the efficacy of labour in some
occupations than in others? 28
4. Some natural agents limited, others practically unlimited, in
quantity, 29
CHAPTER II. Of LabolLr as an Agent of Production 31
§ 1. Labour employed either directly about the thing produced, or
in operations preparatory to its production, 31
2. Labour employed in producing subsistence for subsequent
labour, 33
3. Labour employed in producing materials, 35
4. Labour employed in producing implements, 36
5. Labour employed in the protection of labour, 37
6. Labour employed in the transport and distribution of the
produce, 38
7. Labour which relates to human beings, 40
8. Labour of invention and discovery, 41
9. Labour agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial, 43
CHAPTER III. Of Unproductive Labour 45
§ 1. Labour does not produce objects, but utilities, 45
2. These utilities are of three kinds, 46
3. Productive labour is that which produces utilities fixed and
embodied in material objects, 48
1In this Table of Contents the only variants indicated are those involving major
alterations in sections.
4. All other labour, however useful, is classed as unproductive, 50
5. Productive and Unproductive Consumption, 52
6. Labour for the supply of Productive Consumption, and labour
for the supply of Unproductive Consumption, 53
CHAPTERIV. Of Capital 55
§ 1. Capital is wealth appropriated to reproductive employment, 55
2. More capital devoted to production than actually employed in
it, 57
3. Examination of some cases illustrative of the idea of Capital, 59
CHAPTERV. Fundamental Propositions Respecting Capital 63
§ 1. Industry is limited by Capital, 63
2. Industry is limited by Capital, but does not always come up to
that limit, 65
3. Increase of capital gives increased employment to labour,
without assignable bounds, 66
4. Capital is the result of saving, 68
5. All capital is consumed, 70
6. Capital is kept up, not by preservation, but by perpetual
reproduction, 73
7. Why countries recover rapidly from a state of devastation, 74
8. Effects of defraying government expenditure by loans, 75
9. Demand for commodities is not demand for labour, 78
10. Fallacy respecting Taxation, 88
CHAPTERVI. On Circulating and Fixed Capital 91
§ 1. Fixed and Circulating Capital, what, 91
2. Increase of fixed capital, when at the expense of circulating,
might be detrimental to the labourers, 93
3. But this detriment to the labourers seldom if ever occurs, 97
CHAPTERVII. On What Depends the Degree of Productiveness
of Productive Agents 100
§ 1. Land, labour, and capital, are of different productiveness at
different times and places, 100
2. Causes of superior productiveness. Natural advantages, 101
3. Causes of superior productiveness. Greater energy of labour,
102
4. Causes of superior productiveness. Superior skill and knowledge,
106
5. Causes of superior productiveness. Superiority of intelligence
and trustworthiness in the community generally, 107
6. Causes of superior productiveness. Superior security, 112
CHAPTERVIII.Of Co-operation, or the Combination of Labour 116
§ 1. Combination of Labour a principal cause of superior productiveness,
116
2. Effects of separation of employments analyzed, 118
3. Combination of labour between town and country, 120
4. The higher degrees of the division of labour, 122
5. Analysis of the advantages of the division of labour, 124
6. Limitations of the division of labour, 129
CHAPTERIX. Of Production on a Large, and Production on a
Small Scale 131
§ 1. Advantages of the large system of production in manufactures,
131
2. Advantages and disadvantages of the joint-stock principle, 135
3. Conditions necessary for the large system of production, 140
4. Large and small farming compared, 142
CHAPTERX. Of the Law of the Increase of Labour 153
§ 1. The law of the increase of production depends on those of
three elements, Labour, Capital, and Land, 153
2. The Law of Population, 154
3. By what cheeks the increase of population is practically
limited, 156
CHAPTERXLOf the Law of the Increase of Capital 160
§ 1. Means and motives to saving, on what dependent, 160
2. Causes of diversity in the effective strength of the desire of
accumulation, 161
3. Examples of deficiency in the strength of the desire of accumulation,
164
4. Exemplification of excess in the strength of the desire of
accumulation, 170
CHAPTERXII. Of the Law of the Increase of Production from Land 173
§ 1. The limited quantity and limited productiveness of land are
the real limits to production, 173
2. The law of production from the soil is a law of diminishing
return in proportion to the increased application of labour
and capital, 173
3. Antagonist principle to the law of diminishing return; the progress
of improvements in production, 177
CHAPTERXIII. Consequences of the Foregoing Laws 186
§ 1. Remedies when the limit to production is the weakness of the
principle of accumulation, 186
2. Necessity of restraining population not confined to a state of
inequality of property, 187
3. Necessity of restraining population not superseded by free
trade in food, 190
4. Necessity of restraining population not in general superseded
by emigration, 194
BOOK II" DISTRIBUTION
CHAPTER I. Of Property 199
§ 1. Introductory remarks, 199
2. Statement of the question concerning Property, 201
3. Examination of Communism, 203
4. a Examination of St. Simonism band Fourierism b, 210
CHAPTER II. The Same Subject Continued 215
§ 1. The institution of property implies freedom of acquisition by
contract, 215
2. The institution of property implies the validity of prescription,
217
3. The institution of property implies the power of bequest, but
not the right of inheritance. Question of inheritance
examined, 218
4. Should the right of bequest be limited, and how? 223
5. Grounds of property in land are different from those of
property in moveables, 226
6., Grounds of property in land are only valid on certain conditions,
which are not always realized. The limitations
considered, 228
7. Rights of property in abuses, 232
CHAPTER III. Of the Classes Among Whom the Produce Is Distributed 235
§ 1. The produce is sometimes shared among three classes, 235
2. The produce sometimes belongs undividedly to one, 235
3. The produce is sometimes divided between two, 237
CHAPTER IV. Of Competition, and Custom 239
§ 1. Competition is not the sole regulator of the division of the
produce, 239
2. Influence of custom on rents, and on the tenure of land, 240
3. Influence of custom on prices, 242
CHAPTER V. Of Slavery 245
§ 1. Slavery considered in relation to the slaves, 245
2. Slavery in relation to production, 246
3. Emancipation considered in relation to the interest of the
slave-owners, 249
CHAPTER VI. Of Peasant Proprietors 252
§ 1. Difference between English and Continental opinions respecting
peasant properties, 252
2. Evidence respecting peasant properties in Switzerland, 254
3. Evidence respecting peasant properties in Norway, 259
4. Evidence respecting peasant properties in Germany, 262
5. Evidence respecting peasant properties in Belgium, 267
6. Evidence respecting peasant properties in the Channel Islands o,
271
7. Evidence respecting peasant properties in France, 273
CHAPTERVII. Continuation of the Same Subject 278
§ 1. Influence of peasant properties in stimulating industry, 278
2. Influence of peasant properties in training intelligence, 280
3. Influence of peasant properties in promoting forethought and
self-control, 281
4. Their effect on population, 283
5. Their effect on the subdivision of land, 292
CHAPTERVIII.Of Metayers 297
§ 1. Nature of the metayer system, and its varieties, 297
2. Its advantages and inconveniences, 299
3. Evidence concerning its effects in different countries, 301
4. Is its abolition desirable? 310
CHAPTERIX. Of Cottiers 313
§ 1. Nature and operation of cottier tenure, 313
2. In an overpeopled country its necessary consequence is nominal
rents, 316
3. Nominal rents are inconsistent with industry, frugality, or
restraint on population, 318
4. Ryot tenancy of India, 319
CHAPTERX. Means of Abolishing Cottier Tenancy 324
6§ 1. Irish cottiers should be converted into peasant proprietors,
324
2. Present state of this questione, 331
CHAPTERXI. Of Wages 337
§ 1. Wages depend on the demand and supply of labour--in other
words, on population and capital, 337
2. Examination of some popular opinions respecting wages, 338
3. Certain rare circumstances excepted, high wages imply restraints
on population, 343
4. Restraints on population are in some cases legal, 346
5. Restraints on population are in other cases the effect of particular
customs, 348
6. Due restriction of population the only safeguard of a labouring
class, 351
CHAPTERXII. Of Popular Remedies for Low Wages 355
§ 1. A legal or customary minimum of wages, with a guarantee of
employment, 355
2. Such a minimum and guarantee would require as a condition
legal measures for repression of population, 357
e-e48, 49 § 1. Mode of disposingof a cottier population, the vital question for
Ireland § 2. To convert them into hired labourers not desirable nor practicable
§ 3. Limitationof rent, by law or custom, indispensable§ 4. Fixity of Tenure considered
§ 5. Tenant Right § 6. Location of peasant proprietorson the waste lands
§ 7. Resources supplementaryto the waste lands § 8. Probable consequences of the
measures recommended] 52, 57 § 1. [as 48] § 2. Means of effecting this object
§ 3. [as § 8. in 48, 49]] 62 § 1. [as 48] § 2. Inapplicability of this advice to present
circumstances
3. Allowances in aid of wages, 360
4. The Allotment System, 362
CHAPTERXIII. The Remedies for Low Wages Further Considered 367
§ 1. Pernicious direction of public opinion on the subject of
population, 367
2. Grounds for expecting improvement, 370
3. Twofold means of elevating the habits of the labouring people:
by education, 374
4. Twofold means of elevating the habits of the labouring people:
by large measures of immediate relief, through foreign and
home colonization, 376
CHAPTERXlV. Of the Differences of Wages in Different Employments 380
§ 1. Differences of wages arising from different degrees of attrac-
' tiveness in different employments, 380
2. Differences of wages arising from natural monopolies, 385
3. Effect on wages of a class of subsidized competitors, 388
4. Effect on wages of the competition of persons with independent
means of support, 391
5. Wages of women, why lower than those of men, 394
6. Differences of wages arising from restrictive laws, and from
combinations, 396
7. Cases in which wages are fixed by custom, 398
CHAPTERXV. Of Profits 400
§ 1. Profits resolvable into three parts; interest, insurance, and
wages of superintendence, 400
2. The minimum of profits; and the variations to which it is
liable, 402
3. Differences of profits arising from the nature of the particular
employment, 403
4. General tendency of profits to an equality, 405
tS. Profits do not depend on prices, nor on purchase and sale/, 410
g6._The advances of the capitalist consist ultimately in wages of
labour, 411
h7.AThe rate of profit depends on the Cost of Labour, 413
CHAPTERXVI.Of Rent 416
§ 1. Rent is the effect of a natural monopoly, 416
2. No land can pay rent except land of such quality or situation,
as exists in less quantity than the demand, 417
3. The rent of land consists of the excess of its return above the
return to the worst land in cultivation, 419
4. The rent of land consists of the excess of its return above the
return to the worst land in cultivation or to the capital
employed in the least advantageous circumstances, 420
5. Is payment for capital sunk in the soil, rent, or profit? 423
6. Rent does not enter into the cost of production of agricultural
produce, 428
Appendix to Book I. 431
Substance of three articles in the Morning Chronicle of llth,
13th, and 16th January, 1847, in reply to MM. Mounier
and Rubiehon and to the Quarterly Review, on the Subdivision
of Landed Property in France, 434
BOOKII: EXCHANGE
CHAPTERI. Of Value 455
§ 1. Preliminary remarks, 455
2. Definitions of Value in Use, Exchange Value, and Price, 456
3. What is meant by general purchasing power, 457
4. Value a relative term. A general rise or fall of values is a
contradiction, 458
5. How the laws of Value are modified in their application to
retail transactions, 460
CHAPTERI. Of Demand and Supply, in Their Relation to Value 462
§ 1. Two conditions of Value: Utility, and Difficulty of Attainment,
462
2. Three kinds of Difficulty of Attainment, 464
3. Commodities which are absolutely limited in quantity, 465
4. The Equation of Demand and Supply is the law of their value,
466
5. Miscellaneous eases falling under this law, 468
CHAPTERII. Of Cost of Production, in Its Relation to Value 471
§1. Commodities which are susceptible of indefinite multiplication
without increase of cost. Law of their Value, Cost of Production,
471
2. Law of their Value, Cost of Production operating through
potential, but not actual, alterations of supply, 473
CHAPTERIV. Oltilnate Analysis of Cost of Production 477
§ 1. Principal element in Cost of Production---Quantity of Labour,
477
2. Wages not an dement in Cost of Production, 479
3. Wages not an element in Cost of Production except in so far
as they vary from employment to employment, 480
4. Profits an element in Cost of Production, in so far as they vary
from employment to employment, 481
5. Profits an element in Cost of Production, in so far as they are
spread over unequal lengths of time, 482
6. Occasional elements in Cost of Production: taxes, and scarcity
value of materials, 485
CHAPTERV. Of Rent, in Its Relation to Value 488
§ 1. Commodities which are susceptible of indefinite multiplication,
but not without increase of cost. Law of their Value is Cost
of Production in the most unfavourable existing circumstances,
488
2. Such commodities, when produced in circumstances more
favourable, yield a rent equal to the difference of cost, 490
3. Rent of mines and fisheries, and ground-rent of buildings, 492
4. Cases of extra profit analogous to rent, 494
CHAPTERVL Summary of the Theory of Value 497
§ 1. The theory of Value recapitulated in a series of propositions,
497
2. How the theory of Value is modified by the case of labourers
3'. Hocwultitvhaetintghefoorrysuobf siVstaelnucee,i4s99modified by the case of slave
labour, 500
CHAPTER VII. Of Money 502
§ 1. Purposes of a Circulating Medium, 502
2. Why Gold and Silver are fitted for the purposes of a Circulating
Medium, 503
3. Money is a mere contrivance for facilitating exchanges, which
does not affect the laws of Value, 505
CHAPTER VHI. Of the Value of Money, as Dependent on Demand
and Supply 508
§ 1. The value of money is an ambiguous expression, 508
2. The value of money depends, cceteris paribus, on its quantity,
509
3. The value of money depends also on the rapidity of circulation,
512
4. Explanations and limitations of this principle, 514
CHAPTER IX. Of the Value of Money, as Dependent on Cost of
Production 517
§ 1. The value of money, in a state of freedom, conforms to the
value of the bullion contained in it, 517
2. The value of bullion is determined by the cost of production,
519
3. How this law is related to the principle laid down in the
preceding chapter, 521
CHAPTERX. Of a Double Standard, and Subsidiary Coins 524
§ 1. Objections to a double standard, 524
2. How the use of the two metals as money is obtained without
making both of them legal tender, 525
CHAPTERXI. Of Credit, as a Substitute for Money 527
§ I. Credit is not a creation but a transfer of the means of production,
527
2.Inwhatmannercrediatssisptrsoduction5,28
3.Functionofcredit ineconomizing theuseofmoney,530
4.Bills ofexchange,531
5. Promissory notes,535
6.Depositsandcheques,536
CHAPTERXII. Influence of Credit on Prices 538
§ 1. The influence of bank notes, bills, and cheques, on price is
a part of the influence of Credit, 538
2. Credit is a purchasing power similar to money, 539
3. Effects of great extensions and contractions of credit. Phenomena
of a commercial crisis analyzed, 540
4. Bills are a more powerful instrument for acting on prices than
book credits, and bank notes than bills, 544
5. The distinction between bills, book credits, and bank notes is
of little practical importance, 546
6. Cheques are an instrument for acting on prices, equally
powerful with bank notes, 550
_7. Are bank notes money?_ 552
J8.JThere is no generic distinction between bank notes and other
forms of credit, 553
CHAPTERxm. Of an Inconvertible Paper Currency 556
§ 1. The value of an inconvertible paper, depending on its quantity,
is a matter of arbitrary regulation, 556
2. If regulated by the price of bullion, an inconvertible currency
might be safe, but not expedient, 558
3. Examination of the doctrine that an inconvertible currency
is safe if representing actual property, 560
ez4: Examination of the doctrine that an increase of the currency
promotes industry _, 562
m5.mDepreeiation of currency is a tax on the community, and a
fraud on creditors, 565
"6: Examination of some pleas for committing this fraud, 566
CHAPTERXIV. Of Excess of Supply 570
§ 1. Can there be an oversupply of commodities generally? 570
2. The supply of commodities in general cannot exceed the power
of purchase, 571
3. The supply of commodities in general never does exceed the
inclination to consume, 572
4. Origin and explanation of the notion of general oversupply,
574
CHAPTER XV. Of a Measure of Value 577
§ 1. In what sense a Measure of Exchange Value is possible, 577
2. A Measure of Cost of Production, 578
CHAPTER XW. Of Some Peculiar Cases of Value 582
§ 1. Values of Commodities which have a joint cost of production,
582
2. Values of the different kinds of agricultural produce, 584
CHAPTER XVH. Of International Trade 587
§ 1. Cost of production is not the regulator of international values,
587
2. Interchange of commodities between distant places is determined
by differences not in their absolute, but in their
comparative, cost of production, 589
3. The direct benefits of commerce consist in increased efficiency
of the productive powers of the world, 590
4. The direct benefits of commerce do not consist in a vent for
exports, or in the gains of merchants, 591
5. Indirect benefits of commerce, economical and moral, are still
greater than the direct, 593
CHAPTER XVIIL Of International Values 595
§ 1. The values of imported commodities depend on the terms of
international interchange, 595
2. The terms of international interchange depend on the Equation
of International Demand, 596
3. Influence of cost of carriage on international values, 600
4. The law of values which holds between two countries and two
commodities, holds of any greater number, 601
5. Effect of improvements in production on international values,
6O4
°6. The preceding theory not complete, 607
7. International values depend not solely on the quantifies
demanded, but also on the means of production available
in each country for the supply of foreign markets, 609
8. The practical result is little affected by this additional element ° ,
612
O.POn what circumstances the cost to a country of its imports
depends, 615
CHAPTER X]X. Of Money, Considered as an Imported Commodity 618
§ 1. Money imported in two modes; as a commodity, and as a
medium of exchange, 618
2. As a commodity, it obeys the same laws of value as other
imported commodities, 619
3. Its value does not depend exclusively on its cost of production
at the mines, 621
CHAPTERXX.Of the Foreign Exchanges 623
§ 1. Purposes for which money passes from country to country as
a medium of exchange, 623
2. Mode of adjusting international payments through the
exchanges, 623
3. Distinction between variations in the exchanges which are
self-adjusting, and those which can only be rectified through
prices, 627
CHAPTERXXLOf the Distribution of the Precious Metals Through
the Commercial World 630
§ 1. The substitution of money for barter makes no difference in
exports and imports, nor in the law of international values,
630
2. The preceding theorem further illustrated, 633
3. The precious metals, as money, are of the same value, and
distribute themselves according to the same law, with the
precious metals as a commodity, 636
4. International payments of a non-commercial character, 637
CHAPTERXXlI. Influence of the Currency on the Exchanges and
on Foreign Trade 639
§ 1. Variations in the exchange which originate in the currency,
639
2. Effect of a sudden increase of a metallic currency, or of the
sudden creation of bank notes or other substitutes for
money, 640
3. Effect of the increase of an inconvertible paper currency. Real
and nominal exchange, 644
CHAPTERxxm. Of the Rate of Interest 647
§ 1. The rate of interest depends on the demand and supply of
loans, 647
2. Circumstances which determine the permanent demand and
supply of loans, 648
3. Circumstances which determine the fluctuations, 650
4. The rate of interestq, how far, and in what sense connected
with the value of moneyq, 653
5. The rate of interest determines the price of land and of
securities, 658
CHAPTERXXlV.Of the Regulation of a Convertible Paper Currency 660
§ 1. Two contrary theories respecting the influence of bank issues,
66O
2. Examination of each theory, 662
3. Reasons for thinking that the Currency Act of 1844 produces
a part of the beneficial effect intended by it, 665
4. But the Currency Act produces mischiefs more than equivalent,
670
5. Should the issue of bank notes be confined to a single
establishment? 682
6. Should the holders of notes be protected in any peculiar
manner against failure of payment? 684 '_
CHAPTERXXV.Of the Competition of Different Countries in the
Same Market 686
§ 1. Causes which enable one country to undersell another, 686
2. Low wages is one of the causes which enable one country to
undersell another, 688
3. Low wages is one of those causes when peculiar to certain
branches of industry, 689
4. Low wages is not one of those causes when common to all
branches of industry, 691
5. Some anomalous cases of trading communities examined, 693
CHAPTER XXVI. Of Distribution, as Affected by Exchange 695
§ 1. Exchange and Money make no difference in the law of wages,
695
2. Exchange and Money make no difference in the law of rent,
697
3. Exchange and Money make no difference in the law of profits,
698
BOOK IV: INFLUENCE OF THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY ON
PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION
CHAPTERL General Characteristics of a Progressive State of Wealth 705
§ 1. Introductory remarks, 705
2. Tendency of the progress of society towards increased command
over the powers of nature; increased security; and
increased capacity of co-operation, 706
CHAPTER I. Influence of the Progress of Industry and Population
on Values and Prices 7 I0
§ I. Tendency to a declineof the value and cost of production
of allcommodities,710
2. Tendency to a declineof the value and costof production
of allcommodities except the productsof agricultureand
mining,which have a tendencyto rise,711
3. That tendencyfrom time to time iscounteractedby improvements
inproduction,713
4. Effect of the progress of society in moderating fluctuations
of value, 714
5. Examination of the influence of speculators, and in particular
of corn-dealers, 715
CHAPTERm. Influence of the Progress of Industry and Population,
on Rents, Profits, and Wages 719
§ 1. First case; population increasing, capital stationary, 719
CONTENTS xvii
2. Second case; capital increasing, population stationary, 722
3. Third case; population and capital increasing equally, the arts
of production stationary, 722
4. Fourth case; the arts of production progressive, capital and
population stationary, 723
5. FiRh case; all the three elements progressive, 729
CHAPTERIV. Of the Tendency of Profits to a Minimum 733
§ 1. Doctrine of Adam Smith on the competition of capital, 733
2. Doctrine of Mr. Wakefield respecting the field of employment,
735
3. What determines the minimum rate of profit, 736
4. In opulent countries, profits are habitually near to the
minimum, 738
5. Profits are prevented from reaching the minimum by commercial
revulsions, 741
6. Profits are prevented from reaching the minimum by improvements
in production, 742
7. Profits are prevented from reaching the minimum by the
importation of cheap necessaries and instruments, 743
8. Profits are prevented from reaching the minimum by the
emigration of capital, 745
CHAPTERV. Consequences of the Tendency of Profits to a Minimum 747
§ 1. Abstraction of capital is not necessarily a national loss, 747
2. In opulent countries, the extension of machinery is not
detrimental but beneficial to labourers, 749
CHAPTERVI. Of the Stationary State 752
§ 1. Stationary state of wealth and population is dreaded and
deprecated by writers, 752
2. But the stationary state is not in itself undesirable, 753
CHAPTER VII. On the Probable Futurity of the Labouring Classes 758
§ 1. The theory of dependence and protection isno longer applicable
to the condition of modern society, 758
2. The future well-being of the labouring classes is principally
dependent on their own mental cultivation, 763
3. Probable effects of improved intelligence in causing a better
adjustment of population--Would be promoted by the social
independence of women, 765
4. Tendency of society towards the disuse of the relation of
hiring and service, 766
5. Examples of the association of qabourers with capitalists r, 769
6. eExamples of the association of labourers among themselves a,
775
_7. Competition is not pernicious, but useful and indispensable*,
794
CHAPTERI. Of the Functions of Government in General 799
§ 1. Necessary and optional functions of government distinguished,
799
2. Multifarious character of the necessary functions of government, 800
3. Division of the subject, 804
CHAPTER 2. On the GeneraI Principles of Taxation 805
§ 1. Four fundamental rules of taxation, 805 io
2. Grounds of the principle of Equality of Taxation, 806
3. Should the same percentage be levied on all amounts of
income? 808
4. Should the same percentage be levied on perpetual and on
terminable incomes? 813 i
5. The increase of the rent of land from natural causes is a fit
subject of peculiar taxation, 819
6. A land tax, in some cases, is not taxation, but a rent-charge
in favour of the public, 821
7. Taxes falling on capital are not necessarily objectionable, 822 _.
CHAPTER III. Of Direct Taxes 825 _
§ 1. Direct taxes either on income or on expenditure, 825
2. Taxes on rent, 825 a
3. Taxes on profits, 826
4. Taxes on wages, 828
5. An Income Tax, 830
6. A House Tax, 833
CrtAPTERIV. Of Taxes on Commodities 838
§ 1. A Tax on all Commodities would fall on profits, 838 ,
2. Taxes on particular commodities fall on the consumer, 839
3. Peculiar effects of taxes on necessaries, 840
4. How the peculiar effects of taxes on necessaries are modified _
by the tendency of profits to a minimum, 843
5. Effects of discriminating duties, 847
6. Effects produced on international exchange by duties on
exports and on imports, 850
CHAPTERV. Of Some Other Taxes 857
§ 1. Taxes on contracts, 857 f
2. Taxes oncommunication, 860
3. Law Taxes, 862
4. Modes of taxation for local purposes, 862
CHAPTERVI. Comparison Between Direct and Indirect Taxation 864
§ I. Arguments for and against direct taxation, 864 i
2. What forms of indirect taxation are most eligible, 868
3. Practical rules for indirect taxation, 870
CHAPTERVII. Of a National Debt 873
§ 1. Is it desirable to defray extraordinary public expenses by
loans? 873
2. Not desirable to redeem a national debt by a general contribution,
876
3. In what cases it is desirable to maintain a surplus revenue for
the redemption of debt, 878
CHAPTERVIII.Of the Ordinary Functions of Government,
Considered as to Their Economical Effects 880
§ 1. Effects of imperfect security of person and property, 880
2. Effects of over-taxation, 882
3. Effects of imperfection in the system of the laws, and in the
administration of justice, 883
CHAPTERIX. The Same Subject Continued 887
§ 1. Laws of Inheritance, 887
2. Law and Custom of Primogeniture, 889
3. Entails, 892
4. Law of compulsory equal division of inheritances, 894
5. Laws of Partnership, 895
6. Partnerships with limited liability. Chartered Companies, 897
7. Partnerships in commandite, 901
8. Laws relating to Insolvency, 906
CHAPTERX. Of Intederences of Government Grounded on
Erroneous Theories 913
§ 1. Doctrine of Protection to Native Industry, 913
2. Usury Laws, 922
3. Attempts to regulate the prices of commodities, 926
4. Monopolies, 927
5. Laws against Combination of Workmen, 929
6. Restraints on opinion or on its publication, 934
CHAPTERXI. Of the Grounds and Limits of the Ixdsser-Faire or
Non-Interference Principle 936
§ 1. Governmental intervention distinguished into authoritative
and unauthoritative, 936
2. Objections to government interventionmthe compulsory
character of the intervention itself, or of the levy of funds
to support it, 937
3. Objections to government intervention--increase of the power
and influence of government, 939
4. Objections to government intervention--increase of the occupations
and responsibilities of government, 940
5. Objections to government interventionNsuperior efficiency of
private agency, owing to stronger interest in the work, 941
6. Objections to government intervention--importance of cultivating
habits of collective action in the people, 942
7. Laisser.faire the general rule, 944
8. Large exceptions to laisser4aire. Cases in which the consumer
is an incompetent judge of the commodity. Education, 947
9. Case of persons exercising power over others. Protection of
children and young persons; of the lower animals. Case of
women not analogous, 950
10. Case of contracts in perpetuity, 953
11. Cases of delegated management, 954
12. Cases in which public intervention may be necessary to give
effect to the wishes of the persons interested. Examples:
hours of labour; disposal of colonial lands, 956
13. Case of acts done for the benefit of others than the persons
concerned. Poor Laws, 960
lit. Case of acts done for the benefit of others. Colonization, 962
15. Case of acts done for the benefit of others. Miscellaneous
examples, 968
16. Government intervention may be necessary in default of
private agency, in cases where private agency would be more
suitable u, 970
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A. Book II, Chapter i, "Of Property," §§ 3-6, 2nd
edition (1849), collated with the 1st edition and the MS 975
APPENDIX B. Book II, Chapter x, "Means of Abolishing Cottier
Tenancy," §§ 1-7, 2rid edition (1849), collated with the
1st edition and the MS 988
APPENDIX C. Book II, Chapter x, "Means of Abolishing Cottier
Tenancy," § 3, 4th edition (1857), collated with the earlier
editions and the MS 1003
APPENDIX D. Book IV, Chapter vii, "On the Probable Futurity of
the Labouring Classes," §§ 5-6, 2nd edition (1849), collated
with the 1st edition 1006
APPENDIX E. Appendix to Vol. II, 4th edition (1857) 1015
APPENDIX F. Account of the MS of the Principles 1021
APPENDIX G. John Smart Mill--Harriet Taylor Mill correspondence
concerning the Principles 1026
APPENDIX H. John Stuart _lll--John E. Cairnes correspondence
and notes concerning the Principles 1038
457 [in addition] APPENDIX Latest Information on the French Industrial
Associations [see Appendix E]
APPENDIX I. Bibliographic Index of persons and works cited in the
Principles, with variants and notes 1096
INDEX 1157
FACSIMILES
Facsimile of the first folio of the text, from the MS in the Pierpont
Morgan Library lacing page 3
Facsimile of the beginning of Book I, Chapter iv, from the MS in the
Pierpont Morgan Library facing page 1025

Editorial Reviews

Ably translated into English by Thomas Nugent in 1748, this edition of The Principles of Natural and Politic Law by Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (1694-1748) is expertly edited and enhanced with an Introduction by Petter Korkman (Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies and Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy at the Academy of Finland) and part of the Liberty Fund’s outstanding ‘Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics’ series. An historical benchmark in the concept of individual rights, the writings of Burlamaqui were influential upon the work and thought of such later philosophers and political activists as Rousseau and Diderot, as well as exerting profound influence on the American Founding Fathers and their newly emerging constitutional system of governance. Indeed, Nugent’s English translation became a standard textbook at both British and American universities in the 18th and 19th centuries. Also available in a hardcover edition (0865974969, $20.00), The Principles of Natural and Politic Law is a seminal addition to scholarly and academic Philosophy and Political Science History reference collections.

The Midwest Book Review
August 2006

Much evidence stacked up on my bookshelves suggests—pace Hawes—a determination to scrutinize and respect claims for the Enlightenment: Liberty Press’s ongoing series Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics (which saw new editions this year of John Millar’s An Historical View of the English Government: From the Settlement of the Saxons in Britain to the Revolution in 1688 and The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks, Francis Hutcheson’s Logic, Metaphysics, and the Natural Sociability of Mankind, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui’s The Principles of Natural and Politic Law); the several books that revalue Enlightenment aspirations as they make philosophy the master key for unlocking cultural preoccupations.

Studies in English Literature
Summer 2007

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