88

THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  UNEMPLOYED

no  unemployment  in  the  whole  community,  but  might  be
attributable  to  the  superior  ability  of  English  capital  and
labour  to  find  employment.  But  if  in  any  considerable
part  of  the  industrial  community  of  nations  such  general
“  unemployment  ”  or  excess  of  producing-power  does  exist,
it  is  proof  of  the  over-saving  of  the  community,  whether
it  is  also  found  in  other  nations  of  the  community  or  not.
§24.  The  Motives  of  Under-Consumption.
A  Natural  Law  of  Consumption.
But  thus  far  I  have  only  explained  the  mechanism  of
over-capitalisation,  the  central  fact  of  the  unemployed
question.  What  are  the  motive  forces  which  act  upon
individuals  impelling  them  to  a  line  of  action  which,  from
the  wider  standpoint  of  the  community,  is  uneconomical?
Why  does  the  free  play  of  individual  interests  fail  to
secure  the  interest  of  the  whole  community?
The  answer  to  this  vital  question  is  found  in  the  region
of  Distribution.  The  reason  why  attempts  are  made  by
individuals  to  establish  more  forms  of  capital  than  are
socially  required,  is  that  they  possess  certain  elements  of
income  which  are  not  earned  by  effort,  and  which  are  therefore
not  required  to  satisfy  any  present  legitimate  wants.  In  spite
of  all  attempts  to  make  an  artificial  severance  between  a
“  producing  ”  and  a  “  consuming  ”  class,  the  natural  relation
between  production  and  consumption,  between  effort  and
satisfaction,  exercises  a  strong  influence  in  the  social  economy.
It  is  possible  for  individuals  and  for  classes  who  draw  large
incomes  alieni  vultus  sudore,  or  without  any  considerable  contribution ­
  of  effort,  to  be  large  and  profuse  consumers.  But,  after
all,  the  law  which  relates  effort  to  satisfaction  is  a  “  natural  ”
law,  which,  finding  its  simplest  expression  in  the  physical