第35章

Speakingofaninventionfordressingwarps:"Thenthecombinedmalcontents，whofanciedthemselvesimpregnablyentrenchedbehindtheoldlinesofdivisionoflabour，foundtheirflanksturnedandtheirdefencesrendereduselessbythenewmechanicaltactics，andwereobligedtosurrenderatdiscretion。"Withregardtotheinventionoftheself—actingmule，hesays:"Acreationdestinedtorestoreorderamongtheindustriousclasses……Thisinventionconfirmsthegreatdoctrinealreadypropounded，thatwhencapitalenlistsscienceintoherservice，therefractoryhandoflabourwillalwaysbetaughtdocility。"[130]AlthoughUre’sworkappeared30yearsago，atatimewhenthefactorysystemwascomparativelybutlittledeveloped，itstillperfectlyexpressesthespiritofthefactory，notonlybyitsundisguisedcynicism，butalsobythenalvetéwithwhichitblurtsoutthestupidcontradictionsofthecapitalistbrain。Forinstance，afterpropoundingthe"doctrine"statedabove，thatcapital，withtheaidofsciencetakenintoitspay，alwaysreducestherefractoryhandoflabourtodocility，hegrowsindignantbecause"it（physico—mechanicalscience）hasbeenaccusedoflendingitselftotherichcapitalistasaninstrumentforharassingthepoor。"Afterpreachingalongsermontoshowhowadvantageoustherapiddevelopmentofmachineryistotheworking—classes，hewarnsthem，thatbytheirobstinacyandtheirstrikestheyhastenthatdevelopment。"Violentrevulsionsofthisnature，"hesays，"displayshort—sightedmaninthecontemptiblecharacterofaself—tormentor。"Afewpagesbeforehestatesthecontrary。"Haditnotbeenfortheviolentcollisionsandinterruptionsresultingfromerroneousviewsamongthefactoryoperatives，thefactorysystemwouldhavebeendevelopedstillmorerapidlyandbeneficiallyforallconcerned。"Thenheexclaimsagain:"FortunatelyforthestateofsocietyinthecottondistrictsofGreatBritain，theimprovementsinmachineryaregradual’""It"（improvementinmachinery）"issaidtolowertherateofearningsofadultsbydisplacingaportionofthem，andthusrenderingtheirnumbersuperabundantascomparedwiththedemandfortheirlabour。

Itcertainlyaugmentsthedemandforthelabourofchildrenandincreasestherateoftheirwages。’Ontheotherhand，thissamedispenserofconsolationdefendsthelownessofthechildren’swagesonthegroundthatitpreventsparentsfromsendingtheirchildrenattooearlyanageintothefactory。Thewholeofhisbookisavindicationofaworking—dayofunrestrictedlength;thatParliamentshouldforbidchildrenof13yearstobeexhaustedbyworking12hoursaday，remindshisliberalsoulofthedarkestdaysofthemiddleages。ThisdoesnotpreventhimfromcallinguponthefactoryoperativestothankProvidence，whobymeansofmachineryhasgiventhemtheleisuretothinkoftheir"immortalinterests。"[131]

SECTION6。THETHEORYOFCOMPENSATIONASREGARDSTHEWORKPEOPLEDISPLACEDBYMACHINERY

JamesMill，MacCulloch，Torrens，Senior，JohnStuartMill，andawholeseriesbesides，ofbourgeoispoliticaleconomists，insistthatallmachinerythatdisplacesworkmen，simultaneouslyandnecessarilysetsfreeanamountofcapitaladequatetoemploythesameidenticalworkmen。[132]

Supposeacapitalisttoemploy100workmen，at£30ayeareach，inacarpetfactory。Thevariablecapitalannuallylaidoutamounts，therefore，to£3，000。Suppose，also，thathedischarges50ofhisworkmen，andemploystheremaining50withmachinerythatcostshim£1，500。Tosimplifymatters，wetakenoaccountofbuildings，coal，&c。Furthersupposethattherawmaterialannuallyconsumedcosts£3，000，bothbeforeandafterthechange。[133]Isanycapitalsetfreebythismetamorphosis？Beforethechange，thetotalsumof£6，000consistedhalfofconstant，andhalfofvariablecapital。

Afterthechangeitconsistsof£4，500constant（£3，000rawmaterialand£1，500machinery），and£1，500variablecapital。

Thevariablecapital，insteadofbeingonehalf，isonlyonequarter，ofthetotalcapital。Insteadofbeingsetfree，apartofthecapitalisherelockedupinsuchawayastoceasetobeexchangedagainstlabour—power:

variablehasbeenchangedintoconstantcapital。Otherthingsremainingunchanged，thecapitalof£6，000，can，infuture，employnomorethan50men。Witheachimprovementinthemachinery，itwillemployfewer。

Ifthenewlyintroducedmachineryhadcostlessthandidthelabour—powerandimplementsdisplacedbyit，if，forinstance，insteadofcosting£1，500，ithadcostonly£1，000，avariablecapitalof£1，000wouldhavebeenconvertedintoconstantcapital，andlockedup;andacapitalof£500wouldhavebeensetfree。Thelattersum，supposingwagesunchanged，wouldformafundsufficienttoemployabout16outofthe50

mendischarged;nay，lessthan16，for，inordertobeemployedascapital，apartofthis£500mustnowbecomeconstantcapital，thusleavingonlytheremaindertobelaidoutinlabour—power。

But，suppose，besides，thatthemakingofthenewmachineryaffordsemploymenttoagreaternumberofmechanics，canthatbecalledcompensationtothecarpet—makers，thrownonthestreets？Atthebest，itsconstructionemploysfewermenthanitsemploymentdisplaces。Thesumof£1，500

thatformerlyrepresentedthewagesofthedischargedcarpet—makers，nowrepresentsintheshapeofmachinery:（1）thevalueofthemeansofproductionusedintheconstructionofthatmachinery，（2）thewagesofthemechanicsemployedinitsconstruction，and（3）thesurplus—valuefailingtotheshareoftheir"master。"Further，themachineryneednotberenewedtillitiswornout。Hence，inordertokeeptheincreasednumberofmechanicsinconstantemployment，onecarpetmanufacturerafteranothermustdisplaceworkmenbymachines。

Asamatteroffacttheapologistsdonotmeanthissortofsettingfree。

Theyhaveintheirmindsthemeansofsubsistenceoftheliberatedwork—people。

Itcannotbedenied，intheaboveinstance，thatthemachinerynotonlyliberates50men，thusplacingthematothers’disposal，but，atthesametime，itwithdrawsfromtheirconsumption，andsetsfree，meansofsubsistencetothevalueof£1，500。Thesimplefact，bynomeansanewone，thatmachinerycutsofftheworkmenfromtheirmeansofsubsistenceis，therefore，ineconomicparlancetantamounttothis，thatmachineryliberatesmeansofsubsistencefortheworkman，orconvertsthosemeansintocapitalforhisemployment。Themodeofexpression，yousee，iseverything。

Nominibusmollirelicetmala。

Thistheoryimpliesthatthe£1，500worthofmeansofsubsistencewascapitalthatwasbeingexpandedbythelabourofthe50mendischarged。

That，consequently，thiscapitalfallsoutofemploymentsosoonastheycommencetheirforcedholidays，andneverreststillithasfoundafreshinvestment，whereitcanagainbeproductivelyconsumedbythesesame50

men。Thatsoonerorlater，therefore，thecapitalandtheworkmenmustcometogetheragain，andthat，then，thecompensationiscomplete。Thatthesufferingsoftheworkmendisplacedbymachineryarethereforeastransientasaretherichesofthisworld。

Inrelationtothedischargedworkmen，the£1，500worthofmeansofsubsistenceneverwascapital。Whatreallyconfrontedthemascapital，wasthesumof£1，500，afterwardslaidoutinmachinery。Onlookingcloseritwillbeseenthatthissumrepresentedpartofthecarpetsproducedinayearbythe50dischargedmen，whichparttheyreceivedaswagesfromtheiremployerinmoneyinsteadofinkind。Withthecarpetsintheformofmoney，theyboughtmeansofsubsistencetothevalueof£1，500。

Thesemeans，therefore，weretothem，notcapital，butcommodities，andthey，asregardsthesecommodities，werenotwage—labourers，butbuyers。

Thecircumstancethattheywere"freed"bythemachinery，fromthemeansofpurchase，changedthemfrombuyersintonon—buyers。Hencealesseneddemandforthosecommodities？voilàtout。Ifthisdiminutionbenotcompensatedbyanincreasefromsomeotherquarter，themarketpriceofthecommoditiesfalls。Ifthisstateofthingslastsforsometime，andextends，therefollowsadischargeofworkmenemployedintheproductionofthesecommodities。Someofthecapitalthatwaspreviouslydevotedtoproductionofnecessarymeansofsubsistence，hastobecomereproducedinanotherform。Whilepricesfall，andcapitalisbeingdisplaced，thelabourersemployedintheproductionofnecessarymeansofsubsistenceareintheirturn"freed"fromapartoftheirwages。Instead，therefore，ofprovingthat，whenmachineryfreestheworkmanfromhismeansofsubsistence，itsimultaneouslyconvertsthosemeansintocapitalforhisfurtheremployment，ourapologists，withtheircut—and—driedlawofsupplyanddemand，prove，onthecontrary，thatmachinerythrowsworkmenonthestreets;notonlyinthatbranchofproductioninwhichitisintroduced，butalsointhosebranchesinwhichitisnotintroduced。

Therealfacts，whicharetravestiedbytheoptimismofeconomists，areasfollows:Thelabourers，whendrivenoutoftheworkshopbythemachinery，arethrownuponthelabour—market，andthereaddtothenumberofworkmenatthedisposalofthecapitalists。InPartVII。ofthisbookitwillbeseenthatthiseffectofmachinery，which，aswehaveseen，isrepresentedtobeacompensationtotheworking—class，isonthecontraryamostfrightfulscourge。ForthepresentIwillonlysaythis:Thelabourersthatarethrownoutofworkinanybranchofindustry，cannodoubtseekforemploymentinsomeotherbranch。Iftheyfindit，andthusrenewthebondbetweenthemandthemeansofsubsistence，thistakesplaceonlybytheintermediaryofanewandadditionalcapitalthatisseekinginvestment;notatallbytheintermediaryofthecapitalthatformerlyemployedthemandwasafterwardsconvertedintomachinery。Andevenshouldtheyfindemployment，whatapoorlook—outistheirs！Crippledastheyarebydivisionoflabour，thesepoordevilsareworthsolittleoutsidetheiroldtrade，thattheycannotfindadmissionintoanyindustries，exceptafewofinferiorkind，thatareover—suppliedwithunderpaidworkmen。[134]Further，everybranchofindustryattractseachyearanewstreamofmen，whofurnishacontingentfromwhichtofillupvacancies，andtodrawasupplyforexpansion。Sosoonasmachinerysetsfreeapartoftheworkmenemployedinagivenbranchofindustry，thereservemenarealsodivertedintonewchannelsofemployment，andbecomeabsorbedinotherbranches;

meanwhiletheoriginalvictims，duringtheperiodoftransition，forthemostpartstarveandperish。

Itisanundoubtedfactthatmachinery，assuch，isnotresponsiblefor"settingfree"theworkmanfromthemeansofsubsistence。Itcheapensandincreasesproductioninthatbranchwhichitseizeson，andatfirstmakesnochangeinthemassofthemeansofsubsistenceproducedinotherbranches。Hence，afteritsintroduction，thesocietypossessesasmuch，ifnotmore，ofthenecessariesoflifethanbefore，forthelabourersthrownoutofwork;andthatquiteapartfromtheenormousshareoftheannualp