38 THE NATION AND THE LABOURER.

tain others of them, is neither lost nor gained by the nation..
To illustrate this by an example, let us suppose, in the:
government ship-yards of England, a large increase to be
suddenly and quietly made in the rate of remuneration
paid to all those engaged in the construction of the
ships belonging to the Royal navy, and that several ships.
have been completed under the advanced rate before the
increase in the pay attracts public notice; the case
would be very probably brought under the attention of
the public as a statement that each ship had cost the
nation just so much more as the increased rate of remu-.
neration had exceeded that formerly paid; but such a
statement would be evidently quite incorrect, because
the individuals who had received the increased amount.
belong to and form part of the nation ; the money would
not have been spent by the nation at all, but merely
have changed hands. The actual cost to the nation
would be measured by the quantity of work expended
upon the ships, quite independently of the monetary
valuation attached to it. It would be a certain fraction
of the entire working power and intellectual ability of
the whole nation, which had been expended, and whether
the individuals actually employed worked without any
remuneration, whether they received five shillings, five
pounds, or fifty pounds each per day, would make no
difference whatever in the cost of the ships to the nation,
30 long as the individuals belonged all of them to the
nation, and the money paid to them (or its equivalent)
was not sent away from the country. Any such transaction
 might, of course, involve unfairness and injustice
to others of the individuals composing the nation, but
that 1s not here the cuestion.