第26章

Inourformerassumption，accordingtowhich6workinghoursaredailynecessaryinordertoreproducethelabour—poweritselfortoreplacethevalueofthecapitaladvancedinitspurchase，avariablecapitalof1，500s。，thatemploys500labourersatarateofsurplusvalueof100%witha12hours’

workingday，producesdailyasurplusvalueof1，500s。orof6x500workinghours。

Acapitalof300s。thatemploys100labourersadaywitharateofsurplusvalueof200%orwithaworkingdayof18hours，producesonlyamassofsurplusvalueof600s。or12x100workinghours;anditstotalvalue—product，theequivalentofthevariablecapitaladvancedplusthesurplus—value，can，dayin，dayout，neverreachthesumof1，200s。or24x100workinghours。Theabsolutelimitoftheaverageworkingday？thisbeingbynaturealwayslessthan24hours？setsanabsolutelimittothecompensationofareductionofvariablecapitalbyahigherrateofsurplusvalue，orofthedecreaseofthenumberoflabourersexploitedbyahigherdegreeofexploitationoflabour—power。Thispalpablelawisofimportancefortheclearingupofmanyphenomena，arisingfromatendency（tobeworkedoutlateron）ofcapitaltoreduceasmuchaspossiblethenumberoflabourersemployedbyit，oritsvariableconstituenttransformedintolabour—power，incontradictiontoitsothertendencytoproducethegreatestpossiblemassofsurplusvalue。

Ontheotherhand，ifthemassoflabour—poweremployed，ortheamountofvariablecapital，increases，butnotinproportiontothefallintherateofsurplusvalue，themassofthesurplusvalueproduced，falls。

Athirdlawresultsfromthedetermination，ofthemassofthesurplus—valueproduced，bythetwofactors:rateofsurplusvalueandamountofvariablecapitaladvanced。Therateofsurplusvalue，orthedegreeofexploitationoflabour—power，andthevalueoflabour—power，ortheamountofnecessaryworkingtimebeinggiven，itisselfevidentthatthegreaterthevariablecapital，thegreaterwouldbethemassofthevalueproducedandofthesurplusvalue。Ifthelimitoftheworking—dayisgiven，andalsothelimitofitsnecessaryconstituent，themassofvalueandsurplusvaluethatanindividualcapitalistproduces，isclearlyexclusivelydependentonthemassoflabourthathesetsinmotion。Butthis，undertheconditionssupposedabove，dependsonthemassoflabour—power，orthenumberoflabourerswhomheexploits，andthisnumberinitsturnisdeterminedbytheamountofthevariablecapitaladvanced。Withagivenrateofsurplusvalue，andagivenvalueoflabour—power，therefore，themassesofsurplusvalueproducedvarydirectlyastheamountsofthevariablecapitalsadvanced。Nowweknowthatthecapitalistdivideshiscapitalintotwoparts。Oneparthelaysoutinmeansofproduction。Thisistheconstantpartofhiscapital。Theotherparthelaysoutinlivinglabour—power。

Thispartformshisvariablecapital。Onthebasisofthesamemodeofsocialproduction，thedivisionofcapitalintoconstantandvariablediffersindifferentbranchesofproduction，andwithinthesamebranchofproduction，too，thisrelationchangeswithchangesinthetechnicalconditionsandinthesocialcombinationsoftheprocessesofproduction。Butinwhateverproportionagivencapitalbreaksupintoaconstantandavariablepart，whetherthelatteristotheformeras1:2or1:10or1:x，thelawjustlaiddownisnotaffectedbythis。For，accordingtoourpreviousanalysis，thevalueoftheconstantcapitalreappearsinthevalueoftheproduct，butdoesnotenterintothenewlyproducedvalue，thenewlycreatedvalueproduct。

Toemploy1，000spinners，morerawmaterial，spindles，&c。，are，ofcourse，required，thantoemploy100。Thevalueoftheseadditionalmeansofproductionhowevermayrise，fall，remainunaltered，belargeorsmall;

ithasnoinfluenceontheprocessofcreationofsurplusvaluebymeansofthelabour—powersthatputtheminmotion。Thelawdemonstratedabovenow，therefore，takesthisform:themassesofvalueandofsurplusvalueproducedbydifferentcapitals？thevalueoflabour—powerbeinggivenanditsdegreeofexploitationbeingequal？varydirectlyastheamountsofthevariableconstituentsofthesecapitals，i。e。，astheirconstituentstransformedintolivinglabour—power。

Thislawclearlycontradictsallexperiencebasedonappearance。

Everyoneknowsthatacottonspinner，who，reckoningthepercentageonthewholeofhisappliedcapital，employsmuchconstantandlittlevariablecapital，doesnot，onaccountofthis，pocketlessprofitorsurplusvaluethanabaker，whorelativelysetsinmotionmuchvariableandlittleconstantcapital。Forthesolutionofthisapparentcontradiction，manyintermediatetermsareasyetwanted，asfromthestandpointofelementaryalgebramanyintermediatetermsarewantedtounderstandthat0/0mayrepresentanactualmagnitude。Classicaleconomy，althoughnotformulatingthelaw，holdsinstinctivelytoit，becauseitisanecessaryconsequenceofthegenerallawofvalue。

Ittriestorescuethelawfromcollisionwithcontradictoryphenomenabyaviolentabstraction。Itwillbeseenlater[2]howtheschoolofRicardohascometogriefoverthisstumblingblock。Vulgareconomywhich，indeed，"hasreallylearntnothing，"hereaseverywherestickstoappearancesinoppositiontothelawwhichregulatesandexplainsthem。InoppositiontoSpinoza，itbelievesthat"ignoranceisasufficientreason。"

Thelabourwhichissetinmotionbythetotalcapitalofasociety，dayin，dayout，mayberegardedasasinglecollectiveworkingday。If，e。g。，thenumberoflabourersisamillion，andtheaverageworking—dayofalaboureris10hours，thesocialworkingdayconsistsoftenmillionhours。Withagivenlengthofthisworkingday，whetheritslimitsarefixedphysicallyorsocially，themassofsurplusvaluecanonlybeincreasedbyincreasingthenumberoflabourers，i。e。，ofthelabouringpopulation。

Thegrowthofpopulationhereformsthemathematicallimittotheproductionofsurplusvaluebythetotalsocialcapital。Onthecontrary，withagivenamountofpopulation，thislimitisformedbythepossiblelengtheningoftheworkingday。[3]Itwill，however，beseeninthefollowingchapterthatthislawonlyholdsfortheformofsurplusvaluedealtwithuptothepresent。

Fromthetreatmentoftheproductionofsurplusvalue，sofar，itfollowsthatnoteverysumofmoney，orofvalue，isatpleasuretransformableintocapital。Toeffectthistransformation，infact，acertainminimumofmoneyorofexchangevaluemustbepresupposedinthehandsoftheindividualpossessorofmoneyorcommodities。Theminimumofvariablecapitalisthecostpriceofasinglelabour—power，employedthewholeyearthrough，dayin，dayout，fortheproductionofsurplusvalue。Ifthislabourerwereinpossessionofhisownmeansofproduction，andweresatisfiedtoliveasalabourer，heneednotworkbeyondthetimenecessaryforthereproductionofhismeansofsubsistence，say8hoursaday。Hewould，besides，onlyrequirethemeansofproductionsufficientfor8workinghours。Thecapitalist，ontheotherhand，whomakeshimdo，besidesthese8hours，say4hours’

surplus—labour，requiresanadditionalsumofmoneyforfurnishingtheadditionalmeansofproduction。Onoursupposition，however，hewouldhavetoemploytwolabourersinordertolive，onthesurplusvalueappropriateddaily，aswellas，andnobetterthanalabourer，i。e。，tobeabletosatisfyhisnecessarywants。Inthiscasethemeremaintenanceoflifewouldbetheendofhisproduction，nottheincreaseofwealth;butthislatterisimpliedincapitalistproduction。Thathemayliveonlytwiceaswellasanordinarylabourer，andbesidesturnhalfofthesurplusvalueproducedintocapital，hewouldhavetoraise，withthenumberoflabourers，theminimumofthecapitaladvanced8times。

Ofcoursehecan，likehislabourer，taketoworkhimself，participatedirectlyintheprocessofproduction，butheisthenonlyahybridbetweencapitalistandlabourer，a"smallmaster。"Acertainstageofcapitalistproductionnecessitatesthatthecapitalistbeabletodevotethewholeofthetimeduringwhichhefunctionsasacapitalist，i。e。，aspersonifiedcapital，totheappropriationandthereforecontrolofthelabourofothers，andtothesellingoftheproductsofthislabour。[4]Theguildsofthemiddleagesthereforetriedtopreventbyforcethetransformationofthemasterofatradeintoacapitalist，bylimitingthenumberoflabourersthatcouldbeemployedbyonemasterwithinaverysmallmaximum。Thepossessorofmoneyorcommoditiesactuallyturnsintoacapitalistinsuchcasesonlywheretheminimumsumadvancedforproductiongreatlyexceedsthemaximumofthemiddleages。Here，asinnaturalscience，isshownthecorrectnessofthelawdiscoveredbyHegel（inhis"Logic"），thatmerelyquantitativedifferencesbeyondacertainpointpassintoqualitativechanges。[5]

Theminimumofthesumofvaluethattheindividualpossessorofmoneyorcommoditiesmustcommand，inordertometamorphosehimselfintoacapitalist，changeswiththedifferentstagesofdevelopmentofcapitalistproduction，andisatgivenstagesdifferentindifferentspheresofproduction，accordingtotheirspecialandtechnicalconditions。

Certainspheresofproductiondemand，evenattheveryoutsetofcapitalistproduction，aminimumofcapitalthatisnotasyetfoundinthehandsofsingleindividuals。Thisgivesrisepartlytostatesubsidiestoprivatepersons，asinFranceinthetimeofClobber，andasinmanyGermanstatesuptoourownepoch，partlytotheformationofsocietieswithlegalmonopolyfortheexploitationofcertainbranchesofindustryandcommerce，theforerunnersofourmodernjointstockcompanies。[6]

Withintheprocessofproduction，aswehaveseen，capitalacquiredthecommandoverlabour，i。e。，overfunctioninglabour—powerorthelabourerhimself。Personifiedcapital，thecapitalisttakescarethatthelabourerdoeshisworkregularlyandwiththeproperdegreeofintensity。

Capitalfurtherdevelopedintoacoerciverelation，whichcompelstheworkingclasstodomoreworkthanthenarrowroundofitsownlifewantsprescribes。Asaproduceroftheactivityofothers，asapumper—outofsurpluslabourandexploiteroflabour—power，itsurpassesinenergy，disregardofbounds，recklessnessandefficiency，allearliersystemsofproductionbasedondirectlycompulsorylabour。

Atfirst，capitalsubordinateslabouronthebasisofthetechnicalconditionsinwhichithistoricallyfindsit。Itdoesnot，therefore，changeimmediatelythemodeofproduction。Theproductionofsurplusvalue？intheformhithertoconsideredbyus？bymeansofsimpleextensionoftheworkingday，proved，ther