[169]Parts of this chapter were presented as a paper at a meeting of the History of Economic Thought Society of Australasia, July 1989, in Canberra.
[170]Charles Comte, Traité de législation, ou exposition des lois générales suivant lesquelles les peuples prospèrent, dépérissent ou restent stationnaire, 4 vols (Paris: A. Sautelet, 1827).
[171]Charles Dunoyer, De la liberté du travail, ou simple exposé des conditions dans lesquelles les force humaines s'exercent avec le plus de puissance (Paris: Guillaumin, 1845).
[172]The earliest complete formulation of Dunoyer's theory of history appears in Charles Dunoyer, L'Industrie et la morale considérées dans leurs rapports avec la liberté (Paris: A. Sautelet, 1825). Dunoyer's theory of history and industrialism will be discussed in more detail below.
[173]Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, ed. R.H. Campbell and A.S. Skinner (The Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith reprinted Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, 1981), vol. I, pp. 98-99.
[174]Comte, Traité de législation, p. 415.
[175]The information he has on the relative rates of free and slave labour is that the annual cost of upkeep of a black slave in the most humanely run plantations is 300 francs. When this figure is added to the interest on the purchase price (the figures Say use are a purchase price of 2,000 francs and an interest rate of 10%, thus giving an interest cost of 200 francs per annum) a total figure of 500 francs per annum is reached. On the other hand the cost of a free labourer in the Antilles is, according to Say (the source of this price information is not given), between 5 and 7 francs per day, although this can even be higher. Say takes the middle figure of 6 to work his calculation and the number of working days in the year to be 300. The total cost for a free labourer is 1,800 francs per annum, some 1,300 francs higher than the cost of a slave. Jean-Baptiste Say, Traité d'économie politique (Paris: Deterville, 1819, 4th edition), Livre 1, chapitre 19, pp. 298-302.
[176]"But what do these profits prove anyway? That if the labour of a slave is not expensive, the industry of the master is prohibitively expensive. The consumer gains nothing by this. The products are not produced in the best market. One of the producers enriches himself at the expense of another, that is all. Or rather, that is not all. The result of it is a vicious system of production which is opposed to the best development of industry. A slave is a corrupted (dépravé) being and his master is not less so. Neither the one or the other can become completely industrious and they corrupt the free man who does not have slaves. Labour cannot be an honourable activity where it is regarded as a dishonour (to work). This violent and unnatural supremacy which is the foundation of slavery can only be maintained by means of an air of indolence and laziness. The inactivity of the spirit is the consequence of (inactivity) of the body. One has dispensed with intelligence when one has a whip in hand." Say, Traité 4th edition, pp. 301-2.
[177]Say, Traité, 4th edition, p. 302.
[178]Adam Hodgson, A Letter to M. Jean-Baptiste Say on the Comparative Expense of Slave and Free Labour (Liverpool: James Smith and London: Hatchard and Son, 1823, second edition). The pamphlet was written as a letter addressed to William Roscoe, President, and to other members of the Liverpool branch of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery.
[183]Other accounts written by slave owners themselves or observers come to similar conclusions. Another commentator Hodgson uses is Dr Beattie, who notes that in the West Indies the same amount of work can be done by half the number of paid free labourers than slaves. In the French colonies an observer (Coulomb) states that slaves can only do one third to one half of the work done by what he admits are reluctant French soldiers and not freely paid wage labourers. These very rough proportions of half to a third are shared by other commentators Hodgson cites in his letter.
[187]Say states that Hodgson's letter had been passed on to him by the Baron de Staël, one of the leading figures in the Society for Christian Morality, the major abolitionist group in France.
[188]Letter from J.B. Say to the Author, Paris, 25th March, 1823 in Hodgson, pp. 59-60.
[190]Henri Storch, Cours d'économie politique, ou exposition des principes qui déterminent la prospérité des nations. Ouvrage qui a servi à l'instruction de LL. AA. II. les grand -ducs Nicolas et Michel, by Henri Storch with explicatory and critical notes by Jean-Baptiste Say (Paris: J-P. Aillaud, 1823).
[191]Jean-Baptiste Say, Cours complet d'économie politique pratique; ouvrage destiné à mettre sous les yeux des hommes d'état, des propriétaires fonciers et les capitalistes, des savans, des agriculteurs, des manufacturieurs, des négocians, et en général de tous les citoyens, l'économie des sociétés, (Paris: Rapilly, 1828).
[193]Henri-Frédéric Storch (1766-1835), a Russian economist noted for his work on the economics of unfree labour, particularly that of serfdom, was born on 15 February 1766 in Riga and died on 13 November 1835 in Saint Petersburg. Storch studied at the universities of Jena and Heidelberg before returning to Russia where he taught belles-lettres from 1787 in Saint Petersburg and exercised various positions in education and government administration. In 1790 he worked for the office of Count Berborodko, the minister for foreign affairs. In 1796 he was elected a corresponding member of the Saint Petersburg Academy of sciences after the publication of the first volume of Tableau historique et statistique de l'empire de Russie. In 1799 he was appointed tutor to the daughters of Tsar Paul I and shortly afterwards Storch was made a councillor of the court and an hereditary noble. He became a state councillor in 1804 and head of the Academy's statistical section. He was also appointed to teach political economy by Alexander I to the grand dukes Nicholas and Michael. In 1828 he was promoted to the rank of private councillor and appointed vice-president of the Academy of Sciences, offices which he held until his death. His major theoretical work was the Cours d'économie politique which was based upon the lectures he gave to the grand dukes. Blanqui described Storch's economic theories as eclectic but considered his empirical work of great value. In terms of school affiliation he followed closely the writings of Say and Smith. The main issues which occupied him include the distinction between free and unfree labour, the contribution which unfree serf labour made to the national wealth of the Russian empire, the importance of moral (or rather "human") capital to national wealth, comparative banking, and the greater wealth producing capacity of industry and commerce compared to agriculture. Perhaps his greatest contributions to economics were his analysis of serf labour in Eastern Europe and his theory of "non material production", the latter influencing Dunoyer who used it in his De la liberté du travail. The debate between Storch and Say on the issue of immaterial production was conducted in Say's footnotes to the second edition of the Cours and in Storch's response Considérations sur la nature du revenu national (1824). His major writings include: Gemälde von St. Petersburg (Riga, 1793); Statistische Übersicht der Statthalterschaften des russischen Reiches (St. Petersburg, 1795); Tableau historique et statistique de l'empire de Russie à la fin du dix-huitième siècle (Riga and Leipzig, 1797-1803. French translation 1801, 2 vols); Cours d'économie politique, ou exposition des principes qui déterminent la prospérité des nations 6 vols (St. Petersbourg: A. Pluchart et comp., 1815) based upon the course he gave to the grand dukes Nicholas and Michael; unauthorised second edition of Cours d'économie politique 4 vols. (Paris, 1823) edited by Jean-Baptiste Say with extensive notes and critical commentaries; Considération sur la nature du revenu national (Paris, 1824) 5th volume of the Cours and a repudiation of Say's unauthorised edition; Zur Kritik des Begriffs Nationaleinkommens (St. Petersburg, 1827); Esquisses, scènes et observations recueillies pendant son voyage en France (Heidelberg, 1790); Principes généraux de belles-lettres (Saint-Petersberg); numerous articles in the Mémoires of the Saint Petersburg academy of sciences. Source: article by J.L. in Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Économie Politique vol 2, pp. 925-26.
[194]Henri Frédéric Storch, Cours d'économie politique, ou exposition des principes qui déterminent la prospérité des nations. Ouvrage qui a servi à l'instruction de LL. AA. II. les grands-ducs Nicolas et Michel, ed. J.-B. Say (Paris: J.-P. Aillaud, 1823), 4 vols. Storch's sometimes angry response to Say's editorial comments was published as a fifth volume, Considérations sur la nature du revenu national (1824).
[195]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, Chapter 9 "Influence de l'esclavage sur la civilisation," Say's footnote on pp. 439-90.
[196]Henri Storch, Tableau historique et statistique de l'empire de Russie à la fin du dix-huitième siècle, 8 volumes (1797-1803), 8 vols.(Riga and Leipzig)two volumes of which were translated into French in 1801.
[197]Storch, Cours, tome 3, pp. 504-5.
[198]Most of his remarks on the sociological effects of slavery can be found in a chapter called "Influence de l'esclavage sur la civilisation" in Cours, vol. 3, chapter 9, pp. 439-66. Storch deals with population on pages 439-50 and with the middle class on pages 450-7.
[199]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 444.
[200]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 448.
[201]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 448.
[202]Jean-Baptiste Say quoted by Storch but no reference is given, Cours, vol. 3, p. 451.
[203]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 454 on the "manie nobilitaire" for political privileges rather than for the fruits of "industry." Compare Storch's view with Dunoyer's discussion of the stage of economic development known as "privilege" below.
[204]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 452-3.
[205]Storch quotes Robertson's History of Charles V on the danger of the feudalisation of the state, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 454-5.
[206]"Influence de l'esclavage sur la civilisation" in Cours, vol. 3, chapter 9, pp. 457-66.
[207]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 457.
[208]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 458-9.
[209]Ancient authors such as Aristotle recommended that slave owners try to forestall disturbances by breaking down communication between their slaves. This could be achieved by purchasing slaves from a variety of sources in order to make sure that the slaves had as little as possible in common between themselves. Nevertheless slave owners often talked of being murdered by their slaves and Storch quotes Catherine II from her Instruction pour le code des lois on the need to understand the underlying social and economic causes of serf revolts since it was impossible to prevent them through legislation alone. Storch, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 462-3, footnote a).
[210]Storch, Cours, tome 3, chapter 8 "Continuation: De l'esclave à corvées," p. 141.
[211]Storch, Note XIX, "Sur la condition des serfs et des esclaves en Russie," Cours, vol. 4, pp. 248-58.
[212]He termed it "fonds de consommation." Storch, Cours, tome 3, p. 141.
[213]Storch, Cours, tome 3, pp. 141-2.
[214]Storch, Cours, tome 3, p. 142.
[215]Storch, Cours, tome 3, pp. 143-4.
[216]Storch, Cours, tome 3, p.144.
[217]Storch, Cours, tome 3, pp. 147-8, footnote.
[218]Storch cites an example from antiquity in order to demonstrate that complaints about the negligence and untrustworthiness of slaves is as ancient as slavery itself. Columella's complaints apparently sounded much like the grumblings of modern slave owners whom Storch personally had heard: "I have heard a thousands times the same complaints from the mouths of landowners in Livonia as one hears repeated in the Antilles, in Hungary, and in the interior of Russia." Storch, Cours, tome 3, p. 146, footnote.
[219]Storch, Cours, tome 3, pp. 150, 156.
[220]Storch, Cours, tome 3, pp. 153-4.
[221]Say's note in Storch, Cours, tome 3, pp. 154-5.
[222]His dispute with Say led him to publish a supplementary volume to the second French edition of the Cours, entitled Considérations sur la nature du revenu national (1824), which dealt with this thorny issue.
[223]By "national income" Storch did not mean the wealth of a few enormously wealthy individuals or the well-being of a particular class within the national economy. He was concerned with the problem of trying to assign a value to every component of the economy from landowners and slave owners down to serfs, slaves and hand workers.
[224]Storch, Cours, tome 3, pp. 155-6.
[225]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 185.
[226]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, book 8, chapter 10, "Des esclaves censitaires et des serfs," pp. 163-69.
[227]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 164.
[228]Storch, Cours, Vol. 3, p. 166.
[229]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 166-7.
[230]Apart from his own research and experience Storch relied upon the work of a M. Jacob who won a prize from the Economic Society of Saint Petersburg (no date given) on the following question: "By an exact calculation of time, quality and price of labour, determine which one of the two methods of cultivating the land is the most profitable for the landowner - that which is undertaken by slaves or that which employs free labourers?" Storch believed this work proved definitively that forced labour of various kinds was less productive than free labour. Another source was the work of Young who was invited in 1807 by the Moscow government (at the request of the Tsar) to write a report on Russian agriculture for the minister of the interior. See the footnote on pp. 174-5 of Cours, vol. 3.
[231] He discusses the case of Count Bernstorf who freed his peasants and witnessed an improvement in agricultural output. Storch cites Landliches Denkmal dem Grafen von Bernstorf von seinen Bauern errichtet (Kopenhagen, 1734), Cours, vol. 3, p. 173. William Coxe discusses Count Zamoiski in Poland who did the same and saw a tripling of output. Travels through Poland, Russia, etc by William Coxe, cited by Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 173. The example of the royal domain in Denmark, when in 1765 in Holstein the royal lands were sold off, some to freed peasants. Storch cites Thearup, Statistik der Dan. Monarch, in Cours, vol. 3, p. 174.
[232]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 176.
[233]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 178-9.
[234]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 178-9.
[235]Storch based his view on the work of Robertson, in particular his History of Charles the Fifth and quoted him at some length. Robertson's views on the incentives of free labour and the rise of a middle class were very close to Storch's views on the problem of slave labour in the colonies and serfdom in Russia. See the lengthy quote from Robertson in Storch, Cours, vol 3, pp. 179-80.
[236]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 182-3.
[237]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p 184.
[238]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, book 2, chapter 10, "Comment l'esclavage s'abolit insensiblement dans l'Europe occidentale," pp. 466-80.
[239]"... this great revolution, the most important which has occurred in the course of all the centuries, that which gives a particular character to the civilisation of Europe and from which is dated the surprising progress which this part of the world has made in everything which ennobles the existence of mankind and in everything which makes it agreeable." Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 478. This quote brings to mind François Guizot's concept of "civilisation" by which is meant the belief that Europe has uniquely developed an understanding of individual and economic freedom which has raised it above all other societies, past or present. See Pierre Rosanvallon, Le moment Guizot (Paris: Gallimard, 1985) and Guizot's Histoire de la civilisation en Europe (Paris: Hachette, 1985), ed. Pierre Rosanvallon for a discussion of this extreme Eurocentric view.
[240]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 479.
[241]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, pp. 479-80. Storch repeated his prediction in the detailed appendix "Sur les progrès de la liberté individuelle en Europe et dans les colonies européennes depuis le milieu du dix-huitième siècle, Note XXIV, Cours, vol. 4, pp. 288-96. After discussing the legal reforms in Denmark, Austria, Prussia, Germany, Sweden, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, Russia, the United States of America, the Danish, English, Spanish and French colonies he concluded the Note with "Thus the empire of humanity and of justice is spread from year to year. When one reflects that the progress of personal liberty which we have just enumerated only dates from 50 years ago in total, isn't it permitted to hope that a period of double this time will be sufficient to see slavery and serfdom disappear not only in Europe but in all the countries of the world where its legislation and civilisation are felt." p. 296.
[242]Storch, Cours, vol. 3, p. 480.
[243]Jean-Baptiste Say, Traité d'économie politique, ou simple exposition de la manière dont se forment, se distribuent et se consomment les richesses; Cinquième Edition, augmenté d'un volume, et à laquelle se trouvent joints un Épitome des principes fondamentaux de l'économie politique, et un index raisonné des matières (Paris: Rapilly, 1826), p. 359.
[244]Say, Traité 5th edition, p. 360.
[245]Say, Traité, 5th edition, pp. 360-1.
[246]Say, Traité, 5th edition, p, 362.
[247]Say, Traité, 5th ed., p. 363.
[248]Say, Traité, 5th ed., pp. 363-4.
[249]Comte, Traité de législation, p. 415. See discussion of this below.