laid out in a house, if it is to be the dwelling-house of the proprietor,
ceases from that moment to serve in the function of a capital, or to afford
any revenue to its owner. A dwelling-house, as such, contributes nothing to
the revenue of its inhabitant ; and though it is, no doubt, extremely useful
to him, it is as his clothes and household furniture are useful to him,
which, however, make a part of his expense, and not of his revenue. If it is
to be let to a tenant for rent, as the house itself can produce nothing, the
tenant must always pay the rent out of some other revenue, which he derives,
either from labour, or stock, or land. Though a house, therefore, may yield
a revenue to its proprietor, and thereby serve in the function of a capital
to him, it cannot yield any to the public, nor serve in the function of a
capital to it, and the revenue of the whole body of the people can never be
in the smallest degree increased by it. Clothes and household furniture, in
the same manner, sometimes yield a revenue, and thereby serve in the
function of a capital to particular persons. In countries where masquerades
are common, it is a trade to let out masquerade dresses for a night.
Upholsterers frequently let furniture by the month or by the year.
Undertakers let the furniture of funerals by the day and by the week. Many
people let furnished houses, and get a rent, not only for the use of the
house, but for that of the furniture. The revenue, however, which is derived
from such things, must always be ultimately drawn from some other source of
revenue. Of all parts of the stock, either of an individual or of a society,
reserved for immediate consumption, what is laid out in houses is most
slowly consumed. A stock of clothes may last several years; a stock of
furniture half a century or a century; but a stock of houses, well built and
properly taken care of, may last many centuries. Though the period of their
total consumption, however, is more distant, they are still as really a
stock reserved for immediate consumption as either clothes or household
furniture.