1821. April 14.

First Lines

Means of accomplishment

But why seek to benefit A. for coercion applied to A: His regard for himself is greater than yours can be: his knowledge of what is most beneficial to himself is greater than yours can be: his experience of what has been most beneficial and most hurtful to himself is greater than yours can be.

Why seek to benefit A, by coercion applied to B., C, and D. and so forth? Coercion is evil - positive evil - suffering: absence of encrease is but negative evil. No suffering is the result of it. A. is but one: B. C. D. and the rest of them are many: by the number of them all, after allowance made for the lessening of loss by the distribution of it, is the quantity of the suffering produced by the coercion multiplied.

Encrease can not thus be sought to be given to production otherwise than at the expence of equality: by violations made of the rules of equality, for the importance of which to the greatest happiness of the greatest number see above.

For security, yes without decrease and with encrease to the greatest happiness of the greatest number the rules of equality may be violated /infringed/: for encrease to abundance, without decrease to the greatest happiness of the greatest number, they can not be infringed.

II. Negative means of increase to the abundance fund, decrease of consumption. In so far as it is by voluntary consumption that decrease is made in the amount of the abundance fund by the respective proprietors, pleasure and security, in all their various shapes, are the effects of it, and are in proportion to it: in the case of by far the greatest portion in quantity and value of the produc of labour, subsistence, plaeasure and security, in all their several shapes, have place only in so far as consumption has place. In each individual instance, from which of two causes, pleasure or security, or both, are derived by him in greatest quantity - viz. from consumption or from avoidance of consumption, in a word from preservation, is better known to the proprietor himself than it can be to any body and not at all known to you.

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