not mention it in distinct terms. In those localities where operatives
and others can reckon on constant remunerative employment, it may
prove a real service in many ways for them to buy a house instead of
renting one; indeed, we should highly recommend them to become the
proprietors of the dwellings which they occupy. But in places where
workmen possess no such assurance or reasonable prospect of
employment, we would as earnestly dissuade them from taking a step of
this kind. The capital of a working-man--that on which he must place
his dependence--is his labour; and this labour he ought to be in a
position to dispose of to the best advantage. On this account, he
requires, as a general rule, to hold himself in readiness to go
wherever his labour is in demand. Of all men, he has the most cause to
be a citizen of the world. He may find it his interest to remove to
localities hundreds of miles off; and therefore the fewer obstructions
to his movements, the better. Heritable property is a fixture. A man
cannot take it with him, and the sale of it, even when time is
permitted to seek out a purchaser, is attended with expense and
difficulty. No doubt the transfer of such property might and ought to
be vastly lowered in cost; but not until this is done, will it be time
for the more movable part of the working-classes to consider the
propriety of saddling themselves with the ownership of lands and
houses. Such, at least, is our opinion, after much consideration of
the subject. So many melancholy instances have we seen of working-men
being ruined by the want of power or will to leave small heritable
possessions in country towns, where employment deserted them, that we
entertain a strong feeling against this class of persons investing
their earnings in fixed property.

Upon the whole, the best thing the humbler classes can do with small
savings, is to let them accumulate as movable capital. They should