No man can bring any thing from nothing; and if _production_ is used as a synonym for _creation_, then indeed our labor must all be useless.
The agriculturist does not pretend that he has _created_ the corn; but he has given it its _value_.

He has by his own labor, and by that of his servants, his laborers, and his reapers, transformed into corn substances which were entirely dissimilar from it.

What more is effected by the miller who converts it into flour, or by the baker who makes it into bread?
In order that a man may be dressed in cloth, numerous operations are first necessary.

Before the intervention of any human labor, the real _primary materials_ of this article are air, water, heat, gas, light, and the various salts which enter into its composition.

These are indeed _untouched by human labor_, for they have no _value_, and I have never dreamed of their needing protection.