第39章

285。）"Whenyouspeakofsub—inspectors，doyoumeanmenatalesssalary，andofaninferiorstamptothepresentinspectors？""Iwouldnothavetheminferior，ifyoucouldgetthemotherwise。"（n。294。）"Doyoumerelywantmoreinspectors，ordoyouwantalowerclassofmenasaninspector？"

"Amanwhowouldknockabout，andseethatthingsarekeptright;amanwhowouldnotbeafraidofhimself。"（n。295。）"Ifyouobtainedyourwishingettinganinferiorclassofinspectorsappointed，doyouthinkthattherewouldbenodangerfromwantofskill，&c？""Ithinknot，IthinkthattheGovernmentwouldseeafterthat，andhavepropermeninthatposition。"

（n。297。）Thiskindofexaminationbecomesatlasttoomuchevenforthechairmanofthecommittee，andheinterruptswiththeobservation:"Youwantaclassofmenwhowouldlookintoallthedetailsofthemine，andwouldgointoalltheholesandcorners，andgointotherealfacts……theywouldreporttothechiefinspector，whowouldthenbringhisscientificknowledgetobearonthefactstheyhavestated？"

（ns。298，299。）"Woulditnotentailverygreatexpenseifalltheseoldworkingswerekeptventilated？""Yes，expensemightbeincurred，butlifewouldbeatthesametimeprotected。"（n。531。）Aworkingminerobjectstothe17thsectionoftheActof1860;hesays，"Atthepresenttime，iftheinspectorofminesfindsapartofthemineunfittoworkin，hehastoreportittothemine—ownerandtheHomeSecretary。Afterdoingthat，thereisgiventotheowner20daystolookoverthematter;attheendof20dayshehasthepowertorefusemakinganyalterationinthemine;but，whenherefuses，themine—ownerwritestotheHomeSecretary，atthesametimenominatingfiveengineers，andfromthosefiveengineersnamedbythemine—ownerhimself，theHomeSecretaryappointsone，Ithink，asarbitrator，orappointsarbitratorsfromthem;nowwethinkinthatcasethemine—ownervirtuallyappointshisownarbitrator。"（n。581。）Bourgeoisexaminer，himselfamine—owner:"But……isthisa’Merelyspeculativeobjection？"（n。586。）"Thenyouhaveaverypooropinionoftheintegrityofminingengineers？""Itismostcertainlyunjustandinequitable。"（n。

588。）"Donotminingengineerspossessasortofpubliccharacter，anddonotyouthinkthattheyareabovemakingsuchapartialdecisionasyouapprehend？""Idonotwishtoanswersuchaquestionasthatwithrespecttothepersonalcharacterofthosemen。Ibelievethatinmanycasestheywouldactverypartiallyindeed，andthatitoughtnottobeintheirhandstodoso，wheremen’slivesareatstake。"（n。589。）Thissamebourgeoisisnotashamedtoputthisquestion:"Doyounotthinkthatthemine—owneralsosufferslossfromanexplosion？"Finally，"ArenotyouworkmeninLancashireabletotakecareofyourowninterestswithoutcallingintheGovernmenttohelpyou？""No。"（n。1042。）

Intheyear1865therewere3，217coalminesinGreatBritain，and12

inspectors。AYorkshiremine—ownerhimselfcalculates（Times，26thJanuary，1867），thatputtingononesidetheirofficework，whichabsorbsalltheirtime，eachminecanbevisitedbutonceintenyearsbyaninspector。

Nowonderthatexplosionshaveincreasedprogressively，bothinnumberandextent（sometimeswithalossof200—300men），duringthelasttenyears。Thesearethebeautiesof"free"capitalistproduction！[ThissentencehasbeenaddedtotheEnglishtextinconformitywiththe4thGermanedition。？Ed。]

TheverydefectiveAct，passedin1872，isthefirstthatregulatesthehoursoflabourofthechildrenemployedinmines，andmakesexploitersandowners，toacertainextent，responsibleforso—calledaccidents。

TheRoyalCommissionappointedin1867toinquireintotheemploymentinagricultureofchildren，youngpersons，andwomen，haspublishedsomeveryimportantreports。SeveralattemptstoapplytheprinciplesoftheFactoryActs，butinamodifiedform，toagriculturehavebeenmade，buthavesofarresultedincompletefailure。AllthatIwishtodrawattentiontohereistheexistenceofanirresistibletendencytowardsthegeneralapplicationofthoseprinciples。

Ifthegeneralextensionoffactorylegislationtoalltradesforthepurposeofprotectingtheworking—classbothinmindandbodyhasbecomeinevitable，ontheotherhand，aswehavealreadypointedout，thatextensionhastensonthegeneralconversionofnumerousisolatedsmallindustriesintoafewcombinedindustriescarriedonuponalargescale;itthereforeacceleratestheconcentrationofcapitalandtheexclusivepredominanceofthefactorysystem。Itdestroysboththeancientandthetransitionalforms，behindwhichthedominionofcapitalisstillinpartconcealed，andreplacesthembythedirectandopenswayofcapital;buttherebyitalsogeneralisesthedirectoppositiontothissway。Whileineachindividualworkshopitenforcesuniformity，regularity，order，andeconomy，itincreasesbytheimmensespurwhichthelimitationandregulationoftheworking—daygivetotechnicalimprovement，theanarchyandthecatastrophesofcapitalistproductionasawhole，theintensityoflabour，andthecompetitionofmachinerywiththelabourer。Bythedestructionofpettyanddomesticindustriesitdestroysthelastresortofthe"redundantpopulation，"andwithitthesoleremainingsafety—valveofthewholesocialmechanism。Bymaturingthematerialconditions，andthecombinationonasocialscaleoftheprocessesofproduction，itmaturesthecontradictionsandantagonismsofthecapitalistformofproduction，andtherebyprovides，alongwiththeelementsfortheformationofanewsociety，theforcesforexplodingtheoldone。[243]

SECTION10。MODERNINDUSTRYANDAGRICULTURE

Therevolutioncalledforthbymodernindustryinagriculture，andinthesocialrelationsofagriculturalproducers，willbeinvestigatedlateron。Inthisplace，weshallmerelyindicateafewresultsbywayofanticipation。

Iftheuseofmachineryinagricultureisforthemostpartfreefromtheinjuriousphysicaleffectithasonthefactoryoperative，itsactioninsupersedingthelabourersismoreintense，andfindslessresistance，asweshallseelaterindetail。InthecountiesofCambridgeandSuffolk，forexample，theareaofcultivatedlandhasextendedverymuchwithinthelast20years（upto1868），whileinthesameperiodtheruralpopulationhasdiminished，notonlyrelatively，butabsolutely。IntheUnitedStatesitisasyetonlyvirtuallythatagriculturalmachinesreplacelabourers;

inotherwords，theyallowofthecultivationbythefarmerofalargersurface，butdonotactuallyexpelthelabourersemployed。In1861thenumberofpersonsoccupiedinEnglandandWalesinthemanufactureofagriculturalmachineswas1，034，whilstthenumberofagriculturallabourersemployedintheuseofagriculturalmachinesandsteam—enginesdidnotexceed1，205。

Inthesphereofagriculture，modernindustryhasamorerevolutionaryeffectthanelsewhere，forthisreason，thatitannihilatesthepeasant，thatbulwarkoftheoldsociety，andreplaceshimbythewage—labourer。

Thusthedesireforsocialchanges，andtheclassantagonismsarebroughttothesamelevelinthecountryasinthetowns。Theirrational，old—fashionedmethodsofagriculturearereplacedbyscientificones。Capitalistproductioncompletelytearsasundertheoldbondofunionwhichheldtogetheragricultureandmanufactureintheirinfancy。Butatthesametimeitcreatesthematerialconditionsforahighersynthesisinthefuture，viz。，theunionofagricultureandindustryonthebasisofthemoreperfectedformstheyhaveeachacquiredduringtheirtemporaryseparation。Capitalistproduction，bycollectingthepopulationingreatcentres，andcausinganever—increasingpreponderanceoftownpopulation，ontheonehandconcentratesthehistoricalmotivepowerofsociety;ontheotherhand，itdisturbsthecirculationofmatterbetweenmanandthesoil，i。e。，preventsthereturntothesoilofitselementsconsumedbymanintheformoffoodandclothing;itthereforeviolatestheconditionsnecessarytolastingfertilityofthesoil。Bythisactionitdestroysatthesametimethehealthofthetownlabourerandtheintellectuallifeoftherurallabourer。[244]Butwhileupsettingthenaturallygrownconditionsforthemaintenanceofthatcirculationofmatter，itimperiouslycallsforitsrestorationasasystem，asaregulatinglawofsocialproduction，andunderaformappropriatetothefulldevelopmentofthehumanrace。Inagricultureasinmanufacture，thetransformationofproductionundertheswayofcapital，means，atthesametime，themartyrdomoftheproducer;theinstrumentoflabourbecomesthemeansofenslaving，exploiting，andimpoverishingthelabourer;thesocialcombinationandorganisationoflabour—processesisturnedintoanorganisedmodeofcrushingouttheworkman’sindividualvitality，freedom，andindependence。Thedispersionoftherurallabourersoverlargerareasbreakstheirpowerofresistancewhileconcentrationincreasesthatofthetownoperatives。Inmodernagriculture，asintheurbanindustries，theincreasedproductivenessandquantityofthelaboursetinmotionareboughtatthecostoflayingwasteandconsumingbydiseaselabour—poweritself。Moreover，allprogressincapitalisticagricultureisaprogressintheart，notonlyofrobbingthelabourer，butofrobbingthesoil;allprogressinincreasingthefertilityofthesoilforagiventime，isaprogresstowardsruiningthelastingsourcesofthatfertility。Themoreacountrystartsitsdevelopmentonthefoundationofmodernindustry，liketheUnitedStates，forexample，themorerapidisthisprocessofdestruction。[245]Capitalistproduction，therefore，developstechnology，andthecombiningtogetherofvariousprocessesintoasocialwhole，onlybysappingtheoriginalsourcesofallwealth—thesoilandthelabourer。

Footnotes[1]Millshouldhavesaid，"ofanyhumanbeingnotfedbyotherpeople’slabour，"

for，withoutdoubt，machineryhasgreatlyincreasedthenumberofwell—to—doidlers。

[2]See，forinstance，Hutton:"CourseofMathematics。"

[3]"Fromthispointofviewwemaydrawasharplineofdistinctionbetweenatoolandamachine:spades，hammers，chisels，&c。，combinationsofleversandofscrews，inallofwhich，nomatterhowcomplicatedtheymaybeinotherrespects，manisthemotivepower，……allthisfallsundertheideaofatool;buttheplough，whichisdrawnbyanimalpower，andwind—mills，&c。，mustbeclassedamongmach