—Why?
—Because, if the total of the comforts of France could be gained with a diminution of one-tenth on the total of its labor, no one could determine what comforts it would procure with the labor remaining at its disposal. One person would prefer to be better clothed, another better fed, another better taught, and another more amused.
—Explain the workings and effect of protection.
—It is not an easy matter. Before taking hold of a complicated instance, it must be studied in the simplest one.
—Take the simplest you choose.
—Do you recollect how Robinson Crusoe, having no saw, set to work to make a plank?
—Yes. He cut down a tree, and then with his ax hewed the trunk on both sides until he got it down to the thickness of a board.
—And that gave him an abundance of work?
—Fifteen full days.
—What did he live on during this time?