Amanmustalwayslivebyhiswork，andhiswagesmustatleastbesufficienttomaintainhim。Theymustevenuponmostoccasionsbesomewhatmore;otherwiseitwouldbeimpossibleforhimtobringupafamily，andtheraceofsuchworkmencouldnotlastbeyondthefirstgeneration。Mr。Cantillonseems，uponthisaccount，tosupposethatthelowestspeciesofcommonlabourersmusteverywhereearnatleastdoubletheirownmaintenance，inorderthatonewithanothertheymaybeenabledtobringuptwochildren;thelabourofthewife，onaccountofhernecessaryattendanceonthechildren，beingsupposednomorethansufficienttoprovideforherself。Butonehalfthechildrenborn，itiscomputed，diebeforetheageofmanhood。Thepoorestlabourers，therefore，accordingtothisaccount，must，onewithanother，attempttorearatleastfourchildren，inorderthattwomayhaveanequalchanceoflivingtothatage。Butthenecessarymaintenanceoffourchildren，itissupposed，maybenearlyequaltothatofoneman。Thelabourofanable—bodiedslave，thesameauthoradds，iscomputedtobeworthdoublehismaintenance;andthatofthemeanestlabourer，hethinks，cannotbeworthlessthanthatofanablebodiedslave。Thusfaratleastseemscertain，that，inordertobringupafamily，thelabourofthehusbandandwifetogethermust，eveninthelowestspeciesofcommonlabour，beabletoearnsomethingmorethanwhatispreciselynecessaryfortheirownmaintenance;butinwhatproportion，whetherinthatabovementioned，orinanyother，I
shallnottakeuponmetodetermine。
Therearecertaincircumstances，however，whichsometimesgivethelabourersanadvantage，andenablethemtoraisetheirwagesconsiderablyabovethisrate;evidentlythelowestwhichisconsistentwithcommonhumanity。
Wheninanycountrythedemandforthosewholivebywages，labourers，journeymen，servantsofeverykind，iscontinuallyincreasing;wheneveryyearfurnishesemploymentforagreaternumberthanhadbeenemployedtheyearbefore，theworkmenhavenooccasiontocombineinordertoraisetheirwages。Thescarcityofhandsoccasionsacompetitionamongmasters，whobidagainstoneanother，inordertogetworkmen，andthusvoluntarilybreakthroughthenaturalcombinationofmastersnottoraisewages。
Thedemandforthosewholivebywages，itisevident，cannotincreasebutinproportiontotheincreaseofthefundswhicharedestinedforthepaymentofwages。Thesefundsareoftwokinds;first，revenuewhichisoverandabovewhatisnecessaryforthemaintenance;and，secondly，thestockwhichisoverandabovewhatisnecessaryfortheemploymentoftheirmasters。