It is surprising to hear people who do not explore in greater depth the true interests of a state say that it is better to have few rich subjects than to have many who are poor and that a state must avoid having a greater number of people than its land can feed. Both propositions are equally (191) false: the first is only founded on this common prejudice that wealth is solely in the possession of a certain quantity of goods and not at all in the value that they receive solely from the quantity and the number of those who want to use them. Consequently, this so-called rich subject becomes even more so by an increase of many subjects that one calls destitute and who are only in that condition through the fault of others who want to have everything and never want to carry out the general edict of the Creator to contribute proportionally to the needs of others.
Second, one’s fear of the people multiplying beyond what the state’s land can produce for its subsistence (192) is very fanciful, and if it happens, I argue that it is the fault of the government rather than the excessive number of people. There is a very remarkable example to illustrate the truth of this in history. According to the Scriptures, Judea’s army had one million six hundred and seventy thousand men[^1], and since the people who are fit to carry arms are less than a fifth[^2] of a country’s population, this country contained and fed around nine million souls. However, its area never exceeded seventy leagues long by twenty-five wide, that is, ten or twelve times smaller than Germany, and its fertility has (193) only ever been the result of the number and the work of its inhabitants because today the soil there is very bad, almost stony. Holland provides us an even more striking example. It contains without question more people than its small territory can feed, and nevertheless, through its wise government, everyone there is well nourished and well dressed; and there are fewer poor and destitute people than in any state in the world, even those that are infinitely richer and more abundant in all of what’s needed for life’s necessities than all the United Provinces[^3] together. Several large towns in Germany that are situated on naturally barren and sterile ground (194) also show us how much the number of people and the strength of cultivation can increase the fecundity and correct the natural flaws of the land. Berlin, Nuremburg, Hamburg, and many others are clear examples of this.
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