第28章

onthecontrary，heisaleaderofindustrybecauseheisacapitalist。

Theleadershipofindustryisanattributeofcapital，justasinfeudaltimesthefunctionsofgeneralandjudge，wereattributesoflandedproperty。[18]

Thelaboureristheownerofhislabour—poweruntilhehasdonebargainingforitssalewiththecapitalist;andhecansellnomorethanwhathehasi。e。，hisindividual，isolatedlabour—power。Thisstateofthingsisinnowayalteredbythefactthatthecapitalist，insteadofbuyingthelabour—powerofoneman，buysthatof100，andentersintoseparatecontractswith100unconnectedmeninsteadofwithone。Heisatlibertytosetthe100mentowork，withoutlettingthemco—operate。Hepaysthemthevalueof100independentlabour—powers，buthedoesnotpayforthecombinedlabour—powerofthehundred。Beingindependentofeachother，thelabourersareisolatedpersons，whoenterintorelationswiththecapitalist，butnotwithoneanother。Thisco—operationbeginsonlywiththelabour—process，buttheyhavethenceasedtobelongtothemselves。Onenteringthatprocess，theybecomeincorporatedwithcapital。Asco—operators，asmembersofaworkingorganism，theyarebutspecialmodesofexistenceofcapital。Hence，theproductivepowerdevelopedbythelabourerwhenworkinginco—operation，istheproductivepowerofcapital。Thispowerisdevelopedgratuitously，whenevertheworkmenareplacedundergivenconditions，anditiscapitalthatplacesthemundersuchconditions。Becausethispowercostscapitalnothing，andbecause，ontheotherhand，thelabourerhimselfdoesnotdevelopitbeforehislabourbelongstocapital，itappearsasapowerwithwhichcapitalisendowedbyNatureaproductivepowerthatisimmanentincapital。

Thecolossaleffectsofsimpleco—operationaretobeseeninthegiganticstructuresoftheancientAsiatics，Egyptians，Etruscans，&c。"IthashappenedintimespastthattheseOrientalStates，aftersupplyingtheexpensesoftheircivilandmilitaryestablishments，havefoundthemselvesinpossessionofasurpluswhichtheycouldapplytoworksofmagnificenceorutilityandintheconstructionofthesetheircommandoverthehandsandarmsofalmosttheentirenon—agriculturalpopulationhasproducedstupendousmonumentswhichstillindicatetheirpower。TheteemingvalleyoftheNile……producedfoodforaswarmingnon—agriculturalpopulation，andthisfood，belongingtothemonarchandthepriesthood，affordedthemeansoferectingthemightymonumentswhichfilledtheland……Inmovingthecolossalstatuesandvastmassesofwhichthetransportcreateswonder，humanlabouralmostalone，wasprodigallyused……Thenumberofthelabourersandtheconcentrationoftheireffortssufficed。

Weseemightycoralreefsrisingfromthedepthsoftheoceanintoislandsandfirmland，yeteachindividualdepositorispuny，weak，andcontemptible。Thenon—agriculturallabourersofanAsiaticmonarchyhavelittlebuttheirindividualbodilyexertionstobringtothetask，buttheirnumberistheirstrength，andthepowerofdirectingthesemassesgaverisetothepalacesandtemples，thepyramids，andthearmiesofgiganticstatuesofwhichtheremainsastonishandperplexus。Itisthatconfinementoftherevenueswhichfeedthem，tooneorafewhands，whichmakessuchundertakingspossible。"[19]ThispowerofAsiaticandEgyptiankings，Etruscantheocrats，&c。，hasinmodernsocietybeentransferredtothecapitalist，whetherhebeanisolated，orasinjoint—stockcompanies，acollectivecapitalist。

Co—operation，suchaswefinditatthedawnofhumandevelopment，amongraceswholivebythechase，[20]or，say，intheagricultureofIndiancommunities，isbased，ontheonehand，onownershipincommonofthemeansofproduction，andontheotherhand，onthefact，thatinthosecases，eachindividualhasnomoretornhimselfofffromthenavel—stringofhistribeorcommunity，thaneachbeehasfreeditselffromconnexionwiththehive。Suchco—operationisdistinguishedfromcapitalisticco—operationbybothoftheabovecharacteristics。

Thesporadicapplicationofco—operationonalargescaleinancienttimes，inthemiddleages，andinmoderncolonies，reposesonrelationsofdominionandservitude，principallyonslavery。Thecapitalisticform，onthecontrary，pre—supposesfromfirsttolast，thefreewage—labourer，whosellshislabour—powertocapital。Historically，however，thisformisdevelopedinoppositiontopeasantagricultureandtothecarryingonofindependenthandicraftswhetheringuildsornot。[21]Fromthestandpointofthese，capitalisticco—operationdoesnotmanifestitselfasaparticularhistoricalformofco—operation，butco—operationitselfappearstobeahistoricalformpeculiarto，andspecificallydistinguishing，thecapitalistprocessofproduction。

Justasthesocialproductivepoweroflabourthatisdevelopedbyco—operation，appearstobetheproductivepowerofcapital，soco—operationitself，contrastedwiththeprocessofproductioncarriedonbyisolatedindependentlabourers，orevenbysmallemployers，appearstobeaspecificformofthecapitalistprocessofproduction。Itisthefirstchangeexperiencedbytheactuallabour—process，whensubjectedtocapital。Thischangetakesplacespontaneously。Thesimultaneousemploymentofalargenumberofwage—labourers，inoneandthesameprocess，whichisanecessaryconditionofthischange，alsoformsthestarting—pointofcapitalistproduction。Thispointcoincideswiththebirthofcapitalitself。Ifthen，ontheonehand，thecapitalistmodeofproductionpresentsitselftoushistorically，asanecessaryconditiontothetransformationofthelabour—processintoasocialprocess，so，ontheotherhand，thissocialformofthelabour—processpresentsitself，asamethodemployedbycapitalforthemoreprofitableexploitationoflabour，byincreasingthatlabour’sproductiveness。

Intheelementaryform，underwhichwehavehithertoviewedit，co—operationisanecessaryconcomitantofallproductiononalargescale，butitdoesnot，initself，representafixedformcharacteristicofaparticularepochinthedevelopmentofthecapitalistmodeofproduction。Atthemostitappearstodoso，andthatonlyapproximately，inthehandicraft—likebeginningsofmanufacture，[22]andinthatkindofagricultureonalargescale，whichcorrespondstotheepochofmanufacture，andisdistinguishedfrompeasantagriculture，mainlybythenumberofthelabourerssimultaneouslyemployed，andbythemassofthemeansofproductionconcentratedfortheiruse。Simpleco—operationisalwaystheprevailingform，inthosebranchesofproductioninwhichcapitaloperatesonalargescale，anddivisionoflabourandmachineryplaybutasubordinatepart。

Co—operationeverconstitutesthefundamentalformofthecapitalistmodeofproduction，neverthelesstheelementaryformofco—operationcontinuestosubsistasaparticularformofcapitalistproductionsidebysidewiththemoredevelopedformsofthatmodeofproduction。

Footnotes[1]"Unquestionably，thereisagooddealofdifferencebetweenthevalueofoneman’slabourandthatofanotherfromstrength，dexterity，andhonestapplication。ButIamquitesure，frommybestobservation，thatanygivenfivemenwill，intheirtotal，affordaproportionoflabourequaltoanyotherfivewithintheperiodsoflifeIhavestated;thatis，thatamongsuchfivementherewillbeonepossessingallthequalificationsofagoodworkman，onebad，andtheotherthreemiddling，andapproximatingtothefirst，andthelast。Sothatinsosmallaplatoonasthatofevenfive，youwillfindthefullcomplementofallthatfivemencanearn。"

（E。Burke，1。c。，pp。15，16。）CompareQuételetontheaverageindividual。

[2]ProfessorRoscherclaimstohavediscoveredthatoneneedlewomanemployedbyMrs。Roscherduringtwodays，doesmoreworkthantwoneedlewomenemployedtogetherduringoneday。Thelearnedprofessorshouldnotstudythecapitalistprocessofproductioninthenursery，norundercircumstanceswheretheprincipalpersonage，thecapitalist，iswanting。

[3]"Concoursdeforces。"（DestuttdeTracy，l。c。，p。80。）

[4]Therearenumerousoperationsofsosimpleakindasnottoadmitadivisionintoparts，whichcannotbeperformedwithouttheco—operationofmanypairsofhands。Iwouldinstancetheliftingofalargetreeontoawain……，everything，inshort，whichcannotbedoneunlessagreatmanypairsofhandshelpeachotherinthesameundividedemploymentandatthesametime。"（E。G。Wakefield:"AViewoftheArtofColonisation。"London，1849，p。168。）

[5]"Asonemancannot，andtenmenmuststraintoliftatonofweight，yet100mencandoitonlybythestrengthofafingerofeachofthem。"（JohnBetters:"ProposalsforRaisingaColledgeofIndustry。"London，1696，p。21。）

[6]"Thereisalso"（whenthesamenumberofmenareemployedbyonefarmeron300acres，insteadofbytenfarmerswith30acresapiece）"anadvantageintheproportionofservants，whichwillnotsoeasilybeunderstoodbutbypracticalmen;foritisnaturaltosay，as1isto4，soare3to12;

butthiswillnotholdgoodinpractice;forinharvesttimeandmanyotheroperationswhichrequirethatkindofdespatchbythethrowingmanyhandstogether，theworkisbetterandmoreexpeditiouslydone:fi。inharvest，2drivers，2loaders，2pitchers，2rakers，andtherestattherick，orinthebarn，willdespatchdoubletheworkthatthesamenumberofhandswoulddoifdividedintodifferentgangsondifferentfarms。"（"AnInquiryintotheConnexionbetweenthePresentPriceofProvisionsandtheSizeofFarms。"ByaFarmer。London，1773，pp。7，8。）

[7]Strictly，Aristotle’sdefinitionisthatmanisbynatureatown—citizen。

ThisisquiteascharacteristicofancientclassicalsocietyasFranklin’sdefinitionofman，asatool—makinganimal，ischaracteristicofYankeedom。

[8]"Ondoitencoreremarquerquecettedivisionpartielledetravailpeutsefairequandmêmelesouvrierssontoccupesd’unemêmebesogne。

Desmaçonsparexemple，occupésàfairepasserdemainsenmainsdesbriquesàunéchafaudagesupérieur，fonttouslamêmebesogne，etpourtantilexisteparmieuxuneespècededivisiondetravail，quiconsisteencequechacund’euxfaitpasserlabriqueparunespacedonné，etquetousensemblelafontparvenirbeaucouppluspromptementàl’endroitmarquequ’ilsneleferaientsichacund’euxportaitsabriqueséparémentjusqu’à