Is it not appalling to see everyday that in every state in the world a large portion of the people either dies of hunger or becomes unhealthy from bad food while another even larger portion dies or ruins itself from drinking or eating too much, although both could be saved by a fair distribution of necessities. One only has to consult common sense to see that this is an intolerably disruptive situation in a state. To remedy it, it will be good to examine the source of these two extremes and then to pull it up by its roots. The first thing that springs to mind on this subject (232) is to understand that those who die of repletion possess a superfluous quantity of the things necessary for life and that those who die of hunger do not have a quantity proportional to preserving their life and health. So we might say that by taking from some what they have in excess and by giving it to others who lack it, everything would be set, and that this mutual adjustment could considerably increase the wealth of a state as well as that of each individual. If executing this was as easy as speculating about it is all well and good, the prince and the state would also be entitled to make such a distribution for the reasons already noted, but the great difficulty is that the (233) prince very rarely knows those who take too much food and those who have too little until after the bad effects of this disproportion have come to a point where the remedy would be almost useless.
A more appropriate remedy for this disproportion would be one that would equally prevent individuals from possessing a superfluous quantity of things necessary for life—establishing at the same time a certain necessity to not be lavish with them—and on the other hand, would provide an easy way for everyone to find an amount of it that is proportional to preserving his life and health. Holland, for example, is very close to this proportion that is so marvelous and so excellent for a state. (234) Because the land of the United Provinces is not suitable for producing a sufficient quantity of food necessary for the survival of such a large number of people, scarcity and famine should naturally be felt there more often than in any other state in the world whose land produces much more than what is needed to perfectly feed all its subjects. However, Holland is, of all the states, the least subject to this disadvantage, which occurs very often in the states that are richest in produce. This situation, which one would attribute perhaps only to chance, must instead be attributed to the wise government and to the authors and guardians of the United Provinces’ wealth. They have made known on several (235) occasions that they understand perfectly the strength of proportion in matters of wealth, by having, for example, superfluous quantities of pepper thrown into the sea and by compensating Indians for pulling up superfluous clove and cinnamon trees. The same spirit reigns in England in relation to the things necessary for life. They compensate everyone who moves grains out of the Kingdom so that the remaining quantity is esteemed more and wasted less. But in Holland the things necessary for life, especially grains, are almost always in the fortunate situation of never being either misprized or scarce to the point of causing famine, for different reasons (236) than in England. Although most of the food that is necessary for the life of the inhabitants must come from abroad, and consequently, its collection is more difficult than if the country produced all of it, the wise government of the United Provinces found a way through trade to make it necessary for almost all the nations of the world to make up for this defect and to provide, with their superfluous produce, what is needed to feed the people and always have a quantity that is proportional to preserving their life. Germany, France, England, Poland, and the Barbary coast all vie with one another to contribute to these needs, such that the barrenness or scarcity that could (237) occur in one of these kingdoms is always compensated by the abundance that is found at the same time in one of the other kingdoms and does not harm at all the first degree of general opulence in this Republic. On the other hand, the food that is necessary for life is never too common in Holland, nor consequently, misprized or wasted for the same reason I have just put forward. Because its collection from foreign countries is much more difficult than when it is homegrown, and the merchandise exchanged for it comes from the most remote countries in the world, the food becomes more precious; this is why they (238) make better use of it. I am persuaded that this is one of the main reasons for the temperance and frugality that reign in Holland, which considerably increases the wealth of this state.
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