Thomas Malthus：An Essay on the Principle of Population, Excerpt 146

It should be observed that the principal argument of this Essay only goes to prove the necessity of a class of proprietors, and a class of labourers, but by no means infers that the present great inequality of property is either necessary or useful to society. On the contrary, it must certainly be considered as an evil, and every institution that promotes it is essentially bad and impolitic. But whether a government could with advantage to society actively interfere to repress inequality of fortunes may be a matter of doubt. Perhaps the generous system of perfect liberty adopted by Dr Adam Smith and the French economists would be ill exchanged for any system of restraint.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
Locator：Excerpt 146 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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