ABSTRACT
Capital is useful, by advancing to the workman the value of his labour, before the produce of his labour is sold to the consumer. It also assists the labourer materially, by supplying him with instruments, tools, and machinery. Some make his labour twice, some four times, and some ten times as efficient. If the owner of one machine could obtain more for its use than the owner of another of equal value and durability, people would purchase, and artificers would then make the former rather than the latter, until the profits of each were reduced to their level. The application of capital to the support of the labourer, until his work has arrived at maturity and is fit for consumption, is prior to the former, which consists in the introduction of machinery. The additional capital is so mixed up with the former quantity, that no separation can be made, except in imagination.
