ol pu ,uaur rre or uou,uror

sr 1r 'arrnbua

:l

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,"q,,,i ou qf,rli1 :

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;rr,o,

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raq+:aq,ftrsuadord srqi
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asot{l *
Io auo
'rar{loue :c'r: :; -:
leutBuo
t"id"*'d
"rro
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-

a,u eqrxa puo,, "1*1

uI seq qrtym ",1rnY.-T4rnssarau aql sI1I .uo

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i)a]ra i-' I,*MI
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uno8vl lo Nolsl^lc 1H-r-9r

:lHr Jo
siXlS'ii'rlurtn lldlfNlud

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AaY
isalalul-jlas :ldaruo3
's)lo^^ lrlqnd

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io urroj
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HIITAIS

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Z'T,

34
Chapter 3
The Classicnl
School

be found in no other race of animars, which seem to know

neither this nor any
other species of contracts. TWo greyhounds, ir-r running down the
same hare,

have sometimes the appearance of actrng in some sort-of concert. _Each

turns
her towards his companion, or endeavours to intercept her when his
companion tums her towards himself. This, however, is not the effect of any contract,
but of the accidental concurrence of their passions in the same obiect at
that
particular time. Nobody.ever saw a dog *uk" u fair and deliberate
exchange of
one bone for another with another dog. Nobody ever saw one animal
by itJgestures and natural cries signify to another, this is mine, that yours;
I am wiliing
to give this for that. when an animal wants to obtain something
either of a man
or of another animal, it has no other means of persuasion but tJgain
the favour
of those whose service it requires. A puppy fawns upon its dam, and
a spaniel
endeavours by a thousand attractioni to engage the ittention of its
master who
is at dinner, when it wants to be fed by him- Man sometimes
uses the same arts
with his brethren, and when he has no other means of engaging them
to act
according to his inclinations, endeavours by every servile ini fiwnlng
atten_
tion to obtain their good will. He has not time, however, to do this
upoi every
occasion. In civilized society he st-ands at all times in need
of the co_operation
and assistance of great multitudes, while his whole life is scarce
sufficient to
garn the friendship of a few persons. In almost every other race
of animals each
individual, when it is grown up to maturity, is entiiely independent,
and in its
natural state has occasion for the assistance of no othei living creature.
But man
has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, ur-ra
it is in vain for
1r1 to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail
if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and shew them that it is for
their
own advantage to do for him what he requires of them. whoever
offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to-do this. Give me that which
I want,
and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every
such offer;
and it is in this manner that we obtarn from one another th" fu,
greater part of
those good offices which we stand in need of. It is not from
the benevolence
of the butchel, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from
their regard to their own interest. we address ourselves, not to their humanity
but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but
of their
advantages. Nobody but a beggar chuses to depend chiefly upon
the benevolence of his fellow-citizens. Even a beggar does not depend
lt entirely. The
charity of well-disposed people, hd"ed, supplies him with"po"
the whole fund of
his subsistence. But though this principle uliimately provides him with
all the
necessaries of life which he has occasion foa it neither does nor
can provide him
with them as he has occasion for them. The greater part of his occasional wants
are supplied in the same manner as those oi other people,
by treaty, by barter,
Td by purchase. with the money which one man gives him he prrchaies food.
The old cloaths which another bestows upon hini he exchangls
for other old
cioaths which suit him bettel, or for rodgrng, or for food, or"for
money, with
which he can buy either food, cloaths, o, lod[rng, as he has occasion.
. tr it is by treaty, by barter, and by pr..hui", that we obtain from one another the greater part of those mutual good offices which we
stand in need of, so
it is this same trucking disposition which originally gives occasion
to the divi_
sion of labour. In a tribe of hunters or shepherJs a partlcular
person makes bows

i--

:t:

n:

.:: _' "

u:-

1..t::
ir:ir .:L.

.u-".

and arrows, for example, with more readiness

and dexterity than any other. He
frequently exchanges them for cattre or for venison
with (is companions; and
he finds at last that he can in this manner get
more cattle and venison, than if
he himself went to the field to catch them. From
a regard to his own interest,
therefore, the making of bows and arrows grows
to be his chief business, and he
becomes a sort of armourer. Another exce[ in
making tr," i.r-", and covers of
their little huts or moveabre houses. He is accustomed
to be of use in this way
to his neighbours, who reward him in the same
manner with cattre and with
venison, till at last he finds it his interest to dedicate
himself entirely to this employment, and to become a sort of house-carpenter.
In the same manner a third
becomes a smith or abrazier; a fourth a tanner
or dresser of hides or skins, the
principal part of the clothing of savages. And thus
the certainty of being abre to
exchange all that surplus pirt of the"produce
of his own labolr, which is over
and above his own consumption, for such
parts of tn" proJ*" of other men,s
Iabour as he may have occasion fo4, encourages
every man to apply himself to a
particular-occupation, and to cultivate and 6ring
to perfection'whatever tarent
or genius
!e may possess for that particularcp"ii", of business.
The difference of natural tarents in different men
is, in rearity, much less
thar we are aware of; and the very different genius
which appears to distin_
guish men of different professions, when
grown up to maturity, is not upon
slany occasions so much the cause, as the effect
of ih" dirririor, of labour. The
diJference between the most dissimilar characters,
between a philosopher and
a common street porter, for example,
seems to arise not so much from nature,
as from habit, custom, and educaiion.
when they came inio the worrd, and for
fre first six or eight years of their existence, they were,
perhaps, very much
alike, and neither their parents nor playfellows
courd p";;;;;y
remarkabre
,ifference' About that age, or soon urtur, tt
come to be employed in very dif:erent occupations. The difference of taients
"y comes
then to Le iaten notice of,
and
by degrees, till at last the vanity of the philosopher
is willing to ac_
1id5ns

xrLowledge scarce any resemblance. But

without tne

aispositit. to t*"t, barter,

and exchange, gvery.Tln.must have procured
to hims;ff every'necessary and
:onveniency of life which he wanted. Ail must
have had the same duties to p"r:'-rm, and the same work to d.o, and there could
have been no such difference
rf employment as could alone give occasion to any
great difference of talents.
it is this disposition which forms that difieience of talents,
so remark_-,
1r
arle among men of different professions, so it
is this same disposition which
:enders that difference usefur. Many tribes
of animals acknowllaged to be aI
:'r the same species, derive from natlre a
much more remarkable distinction of
:enius, than what, antecedent to custom and educatior,,
upp*r, to take place
men' By nature a philosopher is not in genius ur,d
1l-o"g
disprrition harf so
jrtferent

from a street porier, as a'mastiff i1 from"a g."yhorr,J,

ir a greyhound
rDm a spaniel, or this last from a shepherd,s aog.
ih*" aifferent tribes of an_
-=rals' however, though ail of the_same specres, are of
scarce any use to one
':rother' The strength of the mastiff is not in the least ,rpp*J either by the
=-'riJtness of the greyhound, or_by the sagacity of the spaniel, or by the
docil-:r of the_ shepherd's dog. The effects of th"ose different geniuses
and
tarents,
for
rrant of the power or disposition to
barter and exchang"]
u" brought into
a common stock, and do not in the
reast contribute to tfre "ur*ot
better accommodation

35
Adam Smith

36
Chapter 3
The Classical
School

and conveniency of the species. Each animal is still obliged to support and defend itself, sepaiately ur-,d ir-td"p".,dently, and derives no sort of advantage from
that variety of tul"r-rlr with which nature has distinguished its fellows. Among
men, on the contrary, the most dissimilar geniuses are of use to one another;
to
the different produces of their respective talents, by the general disposition
stock,
a
common
into
were,
truck, barter, and exchange, bein[ brought, as it
where every man may purchase whatever part of the produce of other men's
talents he has occasion for'

THAT THE DIVISION OF LABOUR IS LIMITED BY

THE EXTENT OF THE MARKET

i1-

"

As it is the power of exchanging that gives occasion to the division of labour, so

the extent oi tnir division must always be limited by the extent of that power/ or,
in other words, by the extent of the market. when the market is very sma1l, no
person can have any encouragement to dedicate himself entirely to one employinent, for want of the power io exchange all that surplus part of the produce of
his own labour, which is over and above his own consumption, for such parts
of the produce of other men's labour as he has occasion for'
There are some sorts of industry, even of the lowest kind, which cal be
carried on no where but in a great town. A porter, for example, can find employment and subsistence in no other place. A village is by much too narrow
u rpn"." for him; even an ordinary market town is scarce large enough to afford him constant occupation. ln the lone houses and very small villages which
are scattered about in io desert a country as the Highlands of Scotland, every
farmer must be butcher, baker and brewer for his own family. In such situations
we can scarce expect to find even a smith, a carpenter, or a mason, within less
than twenty milei of another of the same trade. The scattered families that live
at eight orien miles distance from the nearest of them, must learn to perform
themselves a great number of little pieces of work, for which, in more popu-

Ious countries, they would call in the assistance of those workmen' Country
workmen are almost every where obliged to apply themselves to all the different branches of industry that have so much affinity to one another as to be
employed about the same sort of materials. A country carpenter deals in every
sori of'work that is made of wood: a country smith in every sort of work that is
made of iron. The former is not only a carpenter, but a joiner, a cabinet maker,
and even a carver in wood, as well as a wheelwright, a ploughwright, a cart
and waggon maker. The employments of the latter are still more various. It is
impossible there should be such a trade as even that of a nailer in the remote
and inland parts of the Highlands of Scotland. Such a workman at the rate of
a thousand nails a day, and three hundred working days in the year, will make
three hundred thousand nails in the year. But in such a situation it would be
impossible to dispose of one thousand, that is, of one day's work ln the year.
As by means of water-carriage a more extensive market is opened to every sort of industry than what land-carriage alone can afford it, so it is upon the
sea-coast, and along the banks of navigable rivers, that industry of every kind

'li
-L

naturally begins to subdivide and improve itself, and it is frequently

not till a
long time after that those improru*".rt, extend themserves
to the iniand parts
of the country. A broad-wheeled waggon, attended by two
men, and drawn by
eight horses, in about six weeks timiiarries and brings back
between London
and Edinburgh near four ton weight of goods. In abJut the
same time a ship
navigated by six or eight men, and sailing between the ports
of London and
Leith,-frequently carries and brings back trio hundred ton weight
of goods. six
or eight men, therefore, by the help of water-carriage, can
carri and b"ring back
in the same time the same quantity of goods betwJen London
and Edin6urgh,
as fifty broad-wheeled waggons, atten-ded by a hundred
men, and drawniy
four hundred horses. upon two hundred tons of goods, therefore,
carried bi
the cheapest land-carriage from London to Edinburgh,
there must be charged
the maintenance of a hundred men for three weeks, and
both the maintenance,
and, what is nearly equal to the maintenance, the wear and
tear of four hun_
dred horses as well as of fifty great waggons. whereas, upon
the
same quantity
of goods carried by water, there is to "b"e charged only tire
maintenance of six
or eight men, and the wear and tear of a shif of two hundred
tons burthen,
together with the value of the superior risk, oi the difference
of the insurance
between land and water-carriage. were there no other
communication between
those two places, therefore, but uy rand-carriage,
as no goods could be trans:orted from the one to the other, except such wh"ose price iuas
very considerable
i,. proportion to their weight, they could carry on but a
small part of that com_
inerce which at present subsists between them, and
consequlntly courd give
cut a small part of that encouragement which they at pr"r"r-,t
muiually aftrd
:o each other's industry. There could be little or.,o .oio*erce
of ur,y tir,a u"_
r'|reen the distant parts of the world. what goods
could bear the expence of
land-carriage between London and Carcutta? or if
there were any so precious
as to be able to support this expense, with
what safety could they be transported
--nrough the territories
of so many barbarous nations? Those iwo cities, howerer, at.present carry on a very considerable commerce
with each other, and by
:nutually affording a market, give a good deal of encouragement
to each other,s
ndustry.
since such, therefore, are the advantages of water-carriage,
it is naturar
the first improvements of art and industiy should be
=at
made"where
this con_
'" eniency
opens the whole worrd for a market to the produce of every
sort of
:1b?"1 and that they should always be much rater in extending
themselves into
::re inland parts of the country. The inland parts
of the country can for a long
:rme have no other market for the greater pirt
of their goods, tut the countr|
lies round about them, and ieparates them frorn*the sea-coast,
""''hich
and the
great navigable rivers. The extent of their market,
therefore, must for a long
rme bein proportion to the riches and popurousness of that
country, and con'equently their improvement must alwiys be posterior to the improvement of
=at country. In our North American colonies the plantations have constantry
:''llowed either the sea-coast or the banks of the navigabre
rivers, and have
i:arce any where extended themselves to any considerable
distance from both.
The nations that,
to the best authenticated history, appear to
-according
: a'e been first civilized,
were thlse that dwelt round the coast of the Mediter::r1ean sea. That sea, by far the greatest inlet
that is known in the worrd, having

37
Adam Smith

38
Chapter 3
The Classical
School

no tides, nor consequently any waves excePt such as a.re caused by the wind
of its
only, was, by the smoothness of its s,,rface, as well as by the multitude
to
extremely.favourable
shores,
neighbouring
isl#ds, and'the proximity of its
compass,
of
the
ignorance
their
from
when,
the infant navigalion of the world;
men were afrald to quit the view of the coast, and from the imperfection -of
of the
the art of ship building, to abandon themselves to the boisterous waves
streights
the
of
out
sail
to
is,
that
Hercules,
ocean. To pass beyond"the pillars of
of Gibraltar, *ur, in the antient world, long considered as a most wonderful
and
and dangerous exploit of navigation. It was iate before even the Phenicians
times,
old
those
of
ship-builders
and
Carthagilians, the most skilful navigators
attempied it, and they were for a long time the only nations_that did attempt it'
Oi ull th" countries on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt seems to
have been the first in which either agriculture or manufactures were cultivated
and improved to any considerable degree. Upper Egypt extends itself nowhere
above a few miles from the Nile, and in Lower Egypt that great river breaks
itself into many different canals, which, with the assistance of a little art, seem
the
to have afforded a communication by water-carriage, not only between all
farmmany
to
even
and
villages,
great towns, but between all the considerable
torr", in the country; nearly in the same manner as the Rhine and the Maese
was
do in Holland at preient. The extent and easiness of this inland navigation
Egypt'
of
improvement
the
early
of
probably one of t:he principal causes
^ rrr" improvements in agriculture and manufactures seem likewise to have
and in
been of very great antiquity in the provinces of Bengal in the East lndies,
antiquity
this
of
extent
great
the
though
some of the eistern prorrin."r of China;
of the
is not authenticated by *y histories of whose authority we, in this part
rivers
great
other
several
and
Ganges
the
world, are well urrrrld. In Bengal
does
Nile
the
as
manner
same
in
the
canals
form a great number of navigable
by
form,
rivers
great
several
too,
China
of
in Egyp"t In the Eastern p.o,Jio."r
one
with
communicating
by
and
canals,
of
multitude
their"iifferent branches, a
the
another afford an inland navigation much more extensive than that either of
remarkable
is
It
together'
put
them
of
than
both
Nile or the Ganges, or perhapls
that neither the ancieniEgypiiunr, nor the Indians, nor the Chinese, encouraged
foreign commerce, but se"em all to have derived their great opulence from this
inland navigation.
lies any conA11 the"inland parts of Africa, and all that part of Asia which
Scythia, the
ancient
the
seas,
Caspian
and
Euxine
siderable way north of the
been in the
have
to
world
the
of
ages
in
all
seem
modern Tartiry and Siberia,
The Sea
at
present.
them
find
we
in
which
state
same barbaroui and uncivilized
some
though
and
navigation,
no
of
admits
which
of Tartary is the frozen ocean
great
too
are
at
they
country,
that
through
run
of the greatest rivers rn the world
through
communication
and
commerce
carry
a distance from one another to
the greater part of it. There are in Africa none of those great inlets, such as the
Baltic and Adriatic seas in Europe, the Mediterranean and Euxine seas in both
Europe and Asia, and the gulphi of Arabia, Persia, India, Bengal, and Siam, in
Asia, to carry maritime commerce into the interior parts of that great continent:
and the greai rivers of Africa are at too great a distance from one another to give
occasion to any considerable inland nivigation. The commerce besides which
any
any nation can carry on by means of a river which does not break itself into

rlnd
rf its
le to
|iasS/

nof
'the

Stt
rfltl
and
nes,

I it.
sto
rted
tere

aks

m
the
rlnese
vas

lve

tin
Ity
the
ers
DES

by
f,le

[re
ble

pd

[is
f,r-

he
he
ea
ne

at
fh
he
d-r

in

rt
re

fi
ry

great number of branches or canals,

and which runs into another territory
be_
fore it reaches the sea, can never be
very considerable; becaur" i;i; always
in the
power of the nations who possess thaiother
territory to obstruct the communi_
cation
the upp-ercountry and the sea. The navigation
l:Iy"""
of the Danube is
ol very little use to the different siates
of Bavaria, Austriiand Hungary, in
com_
parison of what it wourd be if any of
them possessed the whole of its course
till
it falls into the Black Sea.

39
Adam Smith