7. The husbandman is the only one whose industry produces
more than the wages of his labour. He, therefore, is the only
source of all Wealth.
The situation of the husbandman is materially different. The
soil, independent of any other man, or of any agreement, pays him
immediately the price of his toil. Nature does not bargain with
him, or compel him to content himself with what is absolutely
necessary. What she grants is neither limited to his wants, nor
to a conditional valuation of the price of his day's work. It is
a physical consequence of the fertility of the soil, and of
justice, rather than of the difficulty of the means, which he has
employed to render the soil fruitful. As soon as the labour of
the husbandman produces more than sufficient for his necessities,
he can, with the excess which nature affords him of pure freewill
beyond the wages of his toil, purchase the labour of other
members of society, The latter, in selling to him, only procures
a livelihood; but the husbandman, besides his subsistence,
collects an independent wealth at his disposal, which he has not
purchased, but which he can sell. He is, therefore, the only
source of all those riches which, by their circulation, animates
the labours of society: because he is the only one whose labour
produces more than the wages of his toil.
