As It Is, He Has More Idle Hours, Gets A
More Constant Supply Of Tobacco, And Can Intoxicate Himself With
Arrack more frequently and more thoroughly; for your Aru man
scorns to get half drunk-a tumbler full of arrack
Is but a slight
stimulus, and nothing less than half a gallon of spirit will make
him tipsy to his own satisfaction.
It is not agreeable to reflect on this state of things. At least
half of the vast multitudes of uncivilized peoples, on whom our
gigantic manufacturing system, enormous capital, and intense
competition force the produce of our looms and workshops, would
be not a whit worse off physically, and would certainly be
improved morally, if all the articles with which w e supply them
were double or treble their present prices. If at the same time
the difference of cost, or a large portion of it, could find its
way into the pockets of the manufacturing workmen, thousands
would be raised from want to comfort, from starvation to health,
and would be removed from one of the chief incentives to crime.
It is difficult for an Englishman to avoid contemplating with
pride our gigantic and ever-increasing manufactures and commerce,
and thinking everything good that renders their progress still
more rapid, either by lowering the price at which the articles
can be produced, or by discovering new markets to which they may
be sent. If, however, the question that is so frequently asked of
the votaries of the less popular sciences were put here - "Cui
bono?" - it would be found more difficult to answer than had been
imagined.
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