第33章

ThemoraldegradationcausedbythecapitalisticexploitationofwomenandchildrenhasbeensoexhaustivelydepictedbyF。Engelsinhis"LagederArbeitendenKlasseEnglands，"andotherwriters，thatIneedonlymentionthesubjectinthisplace。Buttheintellectualdesolationartificiallyproducedbyconvertingimmaturehumanbeingsintomeremachinesforthefabricationofsurplus—value，astateofmindclearlydistinguishablefromthatnaturalignorancewhichkeepsthemindfallowwithoutdestroyingitscapacityfordevelopment，itsnaturalfertility，thisdesolationfinallycompelledeventheEnglishParliamenttomakeelementaryeducationacompulsoryconditiontothe"productive"employmentofchildrenunder14years，ineveryindustrysubjecttotheFactoryActs。Thespiritofcapitalistproductionstandsoutclearlyintheludicrouswordingoftheso—callededucationclausesintheFactoryActs，intheabsenceofanadministrativemachinery，anabsencethatagainmakesthecompulsionillusory，intheoppositionofthemanufacturersthemselvestotheseeducationclauses，andinthetricksanddodgestheyputinpracticeforevadingthem。"Forthisthelegislatureisalonetoblame，byhavingpassedadelusivelaw，which，whileitwouldseemtoprovidethatthechildrenemployedinfactoriesshallbeeducated，containsnoenactmentbywhichthatprofessedendcanbesecured。Itprovidesnothingmorethanthatthechildrenshalloncertaindaysoftheweek，andforacertainnumberofhours（three）ineachday，beinclosedwithinthefourwallsofaplacecalledaschool，andthattheemployerofthechildshallreceiveweeklyacertificatetothateffectsignedbyapersondesignatedbythesubscriberasaschoolmasterorschoolmistress。"[54]PrevioustothepassingoftheamendedFactoryAct，1844，ithappened，notunfrequently，thatthecertificatesofattendanceatschoolweresignedbytheschoolmasterorschoolmistresswithacross，astheythemselveswereunabletowrite。"Ononeoccasion，onvisitingaplacecalledaschool，fromwhichcertificatesofschoolattendance，hadissued，Iwassostruckwiththeignoranceofthemaster，thatIsaidtohim:’Pray，sir，canyouread？’Hisreplywas:’Aye，summat！’andasajustificationofhistighttograntcertificates，headded:’Atanyrate，I

ambeforemyscholars。’Theinspectors，whentheBillof1844wasinpreparation，didnotfailtorepresentthedisgracefulstateoftheplacescalledschools，certificatesfromwhichtheywereobligedtoadmitasacompliancewiththelaws，buttheyweresuccessfulonlyinobtainingthusmuch，thatsincethepassingoftheActof1844，thefiguresintheschoolcertificatemustbefilledupinthehandwritingoftheschoolmaster，whomustalsosignhisChristianandsurnameinfull。"[55]SirJohnKincaid，factoryinspectorforScotland，relatesexperiencesofthesamekind。"ThefirstschoolwevisitedwaskeptbyaMrs。AnnKillin。Uponaskinghertospellhername，shestraightwaymadeamistake，bybeginningwiththeletterC，butcorrectingherselfimmediately，shesaidhernamebeganwithaK。Onlookingathersignature，however，intheschoolcertificatebooks，Inoticedthatshespeltitinvariousways，whileherhandwritingleftnodoubtastoherunfitnesstoteach。Sheherselfalsoacknowledgedthatshecouldnotkeeptheregiste……InasecondschoolIfoundtheschoolroom15feetlong，and10feetwide，andcountedinthisspace75

children，whoweregobblingsomethingunintelligible"[56]Butitisnotonlyinthemiserableplacesabovereferredtothatthechildrenobtaincertificatesofschoolattendancewithouthavingreceivedinstructionofanyvalue，forinmanyschoolswherethereisacompetentteacher，hiseffortsareoflittleavailfromthedistractingcrowdofchildrenofallages，frominfantsof3yearsoldandupwards;hislivelihood，miserableatthebest，dependingonthepencereceivedfromthegreatestnumberofchildrenwhomitispossibletocramintothespace。Tothisistobeaddedscantyschoolfurniture，deficiencyofbooks，andothermaterialsforteaching，andthedepressingeffectuponthepoorchildrenthemselvesofaclose，noisome’atmosphere。Ihavebeeninmanysuchschools，whereIhaveseenrowsofchildrendoingabsolutelynothing;andthisiscertifiedasschoolattendance，and，instatisticalreturns，suchchildrenaresetdownasbeingeducated。"[57]InScotlandthemanufacturerstryalltheycantodowithoutthechildrenthatareobligedtoattendschool。"ItrequiresnofurtherargumenttoprovethattheeducationalclausesoftheFactoryAct，beingheldinsuchdisfavouramongmill—owners，tendinagreatmeasuretoexcludethatclassofchildrenalikefromtheemploymentandthebenefitofeducationcontemplatedbythisAct。"[58]Horriblygrotesquedoesthisappearinprintworks，whichareregulatedby’aspecialAct。BythatAct，"everychild，beforebeingemployedinaprintworkmusthaveattendedschoolforatleast30days，andnotlessthan150hours，duringthesixmonthsimmediatelyprecedingsuchfirstdayofemployment，andduringthecontinuanceofitsemploymentintheprintworks，itmustattendforalikeperiodof30days，and150hoursduringeverysuccessiveperiodofsixmonths……Theattendanceatschoolmustbebetween8a。m。

and6p。m。Noattendanceoflessthan21/2hours，normorethan5hoursonanyoneday，shallbereckonedaspartofthe150hours。Underordinarycircumstancesthechildrenattendschoolmorningandafternoonfor30days，foratleast5hourseachday，andupontheexpirationofthe30days，thestatutorytotalof150hourshavingbeenattained，having，intheirlanguage，madeuptheirbook，theyreturntotheprintwork，wheretheycontinueuntilthesixmonthshaveexpired，whenanotherinstalmentofschoolattendancebecomesdue，andtheyagainseektheschooluntilthebookisagainmadeup……Manyboyshavingattendedschoolfortherequirednumberofhours，whentheyreturntoschoolaftertheexpirationoftheirsixmonths’workintheprintwork，areinthesameconditionaswhentheyfirstattendedschoolasprint—workboys，thattheyhavelostalltheygainedbytheirpreviousschoolattendance……

Inotherprintworksthechildren’sattendanceatschoolismadetodependaltogetherupontheexigenciesoftheworkintheestablishment。Therequisitenumberofhoursismadeupeachsixmonths，byinstalmentsconsistingoffrom3to5hoursatatime，spreadingover，perhaps，thewholesixmonths……Forinstance，theattendanceononedaymightbefrom8to11a。m。，onanotherdayfromIp。m。to4p。m。，andthechildmightnotappearatschoolagainforseveraldays，whenitwouldattendfrom3p。m。to6p。m。;thenitmightattendfor3or4daysconsecutively，orforaweek，thenitwouldnotappearinschoolfor3weeksoramonth，afterthatuponsomeodddaysatsomeoddhourswhentheoperativewhoemployeditchosetospareit;

andthusthechildwas，asitwere，buffetedfromschooltowork，fromworktoschool，untilthetaleof150hourswastold。"[59]

Bytheexcessiveadditionofwomenandchildrentotheranksoftheworkers，machineryatlastbreaksdowntheresistancewhichthemaleoperativesinthemanufacturingperiodcontinuedtoopposetothedespotismofcapital。[60]

B。ProlongationoftheWorking—DayIfmachinerybethemostpowerfulmeansforincreasingtheproductivenessoflabour？i。e。，forshorteningtheworking—timerequiredintheproductionofacommodity，itbecomesinthehandsofcapitalthemostpowerfulmeans，inthoseindustriesfirstinvadedbyit，forlengtheningtheworking—daybeyondallboundssetbyhumannature。Itcreates，ontheonehand，newconditionsbywhichcapitalisenabledtogivefreescopetothisitsconstanttendency，andontheotherhand，newmotiveswithwhichtowhetcapital’sappetiteforthelabourofothers;

Inthefirstplace，intheformofmachinery，theimplementsoflabourbecomeautomatic，thingsmovingandworkingindependentoftheworkman。

Theyarethenceforthanindustrialperpetuummobile，thatwouldgoonproducingforever，diditnotmeetwithcertainnaturalobstructionsintheweakbodiesandthestrongwillsofitshumanattendants。Theautomaton，ascapital，andbecauseitiscapital，isendowed，inthepersonofthecapitalist，withintelligenceandwill;itisthereforeanimatedbythelongingtoreducetoaminimumtheresistanceofferedbythatrepellentyetelasticnaturalbarrier，man。[61]Thisresistanceismoreoverlessenedbytheapparentlightnessofmachinework，andbythemorepliantanddocilecharacterofthewomenandchildrenemployedonit。[62]

Theproductivenessofmachineryis，aswesaw，inverselyproportionaltothevaluetransferredbyittotheproduct。Thelongerthelifeofthemachine，thegreateristhemassoftheproductsoverwhichthevaluetransmittedbythemachineisspread，andthelessistheportionofthatvalueaddedtoeachsinglecommodity。Theactivelifetimeofamachineis，however，clearlydependentonthelengthoftheworking—day，oronthedurationofthedailylabour—processmultipliedbythenumberofdaysforwhichtheprocessiscarriedon。

Thewearandtearofamachineisnotexactlyproportionaltoitsworking—time。

Andevenifitwereso，amachineworking16hoursdailyfor71/2years，coversaslongaworkingperiodas，andtransmitstothetotalproductnomorevaluethan，thesamemachinewouldifitworkedonly8hoursdailyfor15years。Butinthefirstcasethevalueofthemachinewouldbereproducedtwiceasquicklyasinthelatter，andthecapitalistwould，bythisuseofthemachine，absorbin71/2yearsasmuchsurplus—valueasinthesecondcasehewouldin15。

Thematerialwearandtearofamachineisoftwokinds。Theonearisesfromuse，ascoinswearawaybycirculating，theotherfromnon—use，asaswordrustswhenleftinitsscabbard。Thelatterkindisduetotheelements。Theformerismoreorlessdirectlyproportional，thelattertoacertainextentinverselyproportional，totheuseofthemachine。[63]

Butinadditiontothematerialwearandtear，amachinealsoundergoes，whatwemaycallamoraldepreciation。Itlosesexchange—value，eitherbymachinesofthesamesortbeingproducedcheaperthanit，orbybettermachinesenteringintocompetitionwithit。[64]Inbothcases，bethemachineeversoyoungandfulloflife，itsvalueisnolongerdeterminedbythelabouractuallymaterialisedinit，butbythelabour—timerequisitetoreproduceeitheritorthebettermachine。

Ithas，therefore，lostvaluemoreorless。Theshortertheperiodtakentoreproduceitstotalvalue，thelessisthedangerofmoraldepreciation;

andthelongertheworking—day，theshorteristhatperiod。Whenmachineryisfirstintroducedintoanindustry，newmethodsofreproducingitmorecheaplyfollowblowuponblow，[65]andsodoimprovements，thatnotonlyaffectindividualpartsanddetailsofthemachine，butitsentirebuild。Itis，therefore，intheearlydaysofthelifeofmachinerythatthisspecialincentivetotheprolongationoftheworking—daymakesitselffeltmostacutely。[66]

Giventhelengthoftheworking—day，allothercircumstancesremainingthesame，theexploitationofdoublethenumberofworkmendemands，notonlyadoublingofthatpartofconstantcapitalwhichisinvestedinmachineryandbuildings，butalsoofthatpartwhichislaidoutinrawmaterialandauxiliarysubstances。Thelengtheningo