第41章

such，forinstance，asthelossofafingerbeingatriflingmatter。A

working—man’slivingandprospectsdependsomuchuponhisfingers，thatanylossofthemisaveryseriousmattertohim。WhenIhaveheardsuchinconsiderateremarksmade，Ihaveusuallyputthisquestion:Supposeyouwereinwantofanadditionalworkman，andtwoweretoapply，bothequallywellqualifiedinotherrespects，butonehadlostathumboraforefinger，whichwouldyouengage？Thereneverwasahesitationastotheanswer……"

Themanufacturershave"mistakenprejudicesagainstwhattheyhaveheardrepresentedasapseudo—philanthropiclegislation。"（"Rep。ofInsp。ofFact。，31stOct。，1855。"）Thesemanufacturersarecleverfolk，andnotwithoutreasonweretheyenthusiasticfortheslave—holders’rebellion。

[111]InthosefactoriesthathavebeenlongestsubjecttotheFactoryActs，withtheircompulsorylimitationofthehoursoflabour，andotherregulations，manyoftheolderabuseshavevanished。Theveryimprovementofthemachinerydemandstoacertainextent"improvedconstructionofthebuildings，"andthisisanadvantagetotheworkpeople。（See"Rep。ofInsp。ofFact。for31stOct。，1863，"p。109。）

[112]Seeamongstothers，JohnHoughton:"HusbandryandTradeImproved。"London，1727。"TheAdvantagesoftheEastIndiaTrade，1720。"JohnBellers，l。

c。"Themastersandtheirworkmenare，unhappily，inaperpetualwarwitheachother。Theinvariableobjectoftheformeristogettheirworkdoneascheaplyaspossible;andtheydonotfailtoemployeveryartificetothispurpose，whilstthelatterareequallyattentivetoeveryoccasionofdistressingtheirmastersintoacompliancewithhigherdemands。"（"AnEnquiryintotheCausesofthePresentHighPriceofProvisions，"pp。61—62。

Author，theRev。NathanielForster，quiteonthesideoftheworkmen。）

[113]Inold—fashionedmanufacturestherevoltsoftheworkpeopleagainstmachinery，eventothisday，occasionallyassumeasavagecharacter，asinthecaseoftheSheffieldfilecuttersin1865。

[114]SirJamesSteuartalsounderstandsmachineryquiteinthissense。"Jeconsidèredonclesmachinescommedesmoyensd’augmenter（virtuellement）lenombredesgensindustrieuxqu’onn’estpasobligédenourrir……Enquoil’effetd’unemachinediffère—t—ildeceluidenouveauxhabitants？"

（Frenchtrans。t。I。，l。I。，ch。XIX。）MorenaïveisPetty，whosays，itreplaces"Polygamy。"Theabovepointofviewis，atthemost，admissibleonlyforsomepartsoftheUnitedStates。Ontheotherhand，"machinerycanseldombeusedwithsuccesstoabridgethelabourofanindividual;

moretimewouldbelostinitsconstructionthancouldbesavedbyitsapplication。Itisonlyreallyusefulwhenitactsongreatmasses，whenasinglemachinecanassisttheworkofthousands。Itisaccordinglyinthemostpopulouscountries，wheretherearemostidlemen，thatitismostabundant……Itistrotcalledintousebyascarcityofmen，butbythefacilitywithwhichtheycanbebroughttoworkinmasses。"（PiercyRavenstone:"ThoughtsontheFundingSystemanditsEffects。"London，1824，p。45。）

[115][Noteinthe4thGermanedition。？ThisappliestoGermanytoo。

Whereinourcountryagricultureonalargescaleexists，henceparticularlyintheEast，ithasbecomepossibleonlyinconsequenceoftheclearingoftheestates（"Bauernlegen"），apracticewhichbecamewiderspreadinthe16thcenturyandwasparticularlysosince1648。？F。E。]

[116]"Machineryandlabourareinconstantcompetition。"Ricardo，l。c。，p。

479。

[117]Thecompetitionbetweenhand—weavingandpower—weavinginEngland，beforethepassingofthePoorLawof1833，wasprolongedbysupplementingthewages，whichhadfallenconsiderablybelowtheminimum，withparishrelief。

"TheRev。Mr。Turnerwas，in1827，rectorofWilmslowinCheshire，amanufacturingdistrict。ThequestionsoftheCommitteeofEmigration，andMr。Turner’sanswers，showhowthecompetitionofhumanlabourismaintainedagainstmachinery。’Question:Hasnottheuseofthepower—loomsupersededtheuseofthehand—loom？Answer:Undoubtedly;itwouldhavesupersededthemmuchmorethanithasdone，ifthehand—loomweaverswerenotenabledtosubmittoareductionofwages。’’Question:Butinsubmittinghehasacceptedwageswhichareinsufficienttosupporthim，andlookstoparochialcontributionastheremainderofhissupport？Answer:Yes，andinfactthecompetitionbetweenthehand—loomandthepower—loomismaintainedoutofthepoor—rates。’

Thusdegradingpauperismorexpatriation，isthebenefitwhichtheindustriousreceivefromtheintroductionofmachinery，tobereducedfromtherespectableandinsomedegreeindependentmechanic，tothecringingwretchwholivesonthedebasingbreadofcharity。Thistheycallatemporaryinconvenience。"

（"APrizeEssayontheComparativeMeritsofCompetitionandCo—operation。"

Lond。，1834，p。29。）

[118]"Thesamecausewhichmayincreasetherevenueofthecountry"（i。e。，asRicardoexplainsinthesamepassage，therevenuesoflandlordsandcapitalists，whosewealth，fromtheeconomicpointofview，formstheWealthoftheNation），"mayatthesametimerenderthepopulationredundantanddeterioratetheconditionofthelabourer。"（Ricardo，l。c。，p。469。）"Theconstantaimandthetendencyofeveryimprovementinmachineryis，infact，todoawayentirelywiththelabourofman，ortolessenitspricebysubstitutingthelabourofwomenandchildrenforthatofgrown—upmen，orofunskilledforthatofskilledworkmen。"（Ure，l。c。，t。I。，p。35。）

[119]"Rep。Insp。Fact。for31stOctober，1858，"p。43。

[120]"Rep。lnsp。Fact。for31stOctober，1856，"p。15。

[121]Ure，l。c。，p。19。"Thegreatadvantageofthemachineryemployedinbrick—makingconsistsinthis，thattheemployerismadeentirelyindependentofskilledlabourers。"（"Ch。Empl。Comm。V。Report，"Lond。，1866，p。130，n。46。）

Mr。A。Sturrock，superintendentofthemachinedepartmentoftheGreatNorthernRailway，says，withregardtothebuildingoflocomotives，&c。:

"ExpensiveEnglishworkmenarebeinglessusedeveryday。TheproductionoftheworkshopsofEnglandisbeingincreasedbytheuseofimprovedtoolsandthesetoolsareagainservedbyalowclassoflabour……Formerlytheirskilledlabournecessarilyproducedallthepartsofengines。Nowthepartsofenginesareproducedbylabourwithlessskill，butwithgoodtools。Bytools，Imeanengineer’smachinery，lathes，planingmachines，drills，andsoon。"（"RoyalCorn。onRailways，"Lond。，1867，MinutesofEvidence，n。17，862and17，863。）

[122]Ure，l。c。，p。20。

[123]Ure，l。c。，p。321。

[124]Ure，l。c。，p。23。

[125]"Rep。Insp。Fact。，31stOct。，1863，"pp。108，109。

[126]l。c。，p。109。Therapidimprovementofmachinery，duringthecrisis，allowedtheEnglishmanufacturers，immediatelyaftertheterminationoftheAmericanCivilWar，andalmostinnotime，toglutthemarketsoftheworldagain。

Cloth，’duringthelastsixmonthsof1866，wasalmostunsaleable。ThereuponbegantheconsignmentofgoodstoIndiaandChina，thusnaturallymakingtheglutmoreintense。Atthebeginningof1867themanufacturersresortedtotheirusualwayoutofthedifficulty，viz。，reducingwages5percent。

Theworkpeopleresisted，andsaidthattheonlyremedywastoworkshorttime，4daysa—week;andtheirtheorywasthecorrectone。Afterholdingoutforsometime，theself—electedcaptainsofindustryhadtomakeuptheirmindstoshorttime，withreducedwagesinsomeplaces，andinotherswithout。

[127]"Therelationofmasterandmanintheblown—flintbottletradesamountstoachronicstrike。"Hencetheimpetusgiventothemanufactureofpressedglass，inwhichthechiefoperationsaredonebymachinery。OnefirminNewcastle，whoformerlyproduced350，000lbs。ofblown—flintglass，nowproducesinitsplace3，000，500lbs。ofpressedglass。（"Ch。Empl。Comm。，FourthRep。，"1865，pp。262—263。）

[128]Gaskell。"TheManufacturingPopulationofEngland，"London，1833，pp。3，4。

[129]W。Fairbaimdiscoveredseveralveryimportantapplicationsofmachinerytotheconstructionofmachines，inconsequenceofstrikesinhisownworkshops。

[130]Ure，l。c。，pp。368—370

[131]Ure，l。c。，pp。368，7，370，280，281，321，370，475。

[132]Ricardooriginallywasalsoofthisopinion，butafterwardsexpresslydiscla