Nations that have no capital, have no
commerce. They have no accumulations to dispose of; hence they have no
ships, no sailors, no docks, no harbours, no canals, and no railways.
Thrifty industry lies at the root of the civilization of the world.
Look at Spain. There, the richest soil is the least productive. Along
the banks of the Guadalquiver, where once twelve thousand villages
existed, there are now not eight hundred; and they are full of beggars.
A Spanish proverb says, "El cielo y suelo es bueno, el entresuelo
malo"--The sky is good, the earth is good; that only is bad which lies
between the sky and the earth. Continuous effort, or patient labour, is
for the Spaniard an insupportable thing. Half through indolence, half
through pride, he cannot bend to work. A Spaniard will blush to work; he
will not blush to beg![2]
[Footnote 2: EUGENE POITOU--_Spain and its People._ pp. 184--188.]
It is in this way that society mainly consists of two classes--the
savers and the wasters, the provident and the improvident, the thrifty
and the thriftless, the Haves and the Have-nots. The men who economize
by means of labour become the owners of capital which sets other labour
in motion. Capital accumulates in their hands, and they employ other
labourers to work for them. Thus trade and commerce begin.
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