第46章

[3]"Thewagesoflabourdependuponthepriceoflabourandthequantityoflabourperformed……Anincreaseinthewagesoflabourdoesnotnecessarilyimplyanenhancementofthepriceoflabour。Fromfulleremployment，andgreaterexertions，thewagesoflabourmaybeconsiderablyincreased，whilethepriceoflabourmaycontinuethesame。"（West，op。cit。，pp。67，68，112。）Themainquestion:"Howisthepriceoflabourdetermined？"West，however，dismisseswithmerebanalities。

[4]Thisisperceivedbythefanaticalrepresentativeoftheindustrialbourgeoisieofthe18thcentury，theauthorofthe"EssayonTradeandCommerce"oftenquotedbyus，althoughheputsthematterinaconfusedway:"Itisthequantityoflabourandnotthepriceofit"（hemeansbythisthenominaldailyorweeklywages）"thatisdeterminedbythepriceofprovisionsandothernecessaries:reducethepriceofnecessariesverylow，andofcourseyoureducethequantityoflabourinproportion。Mastermanufacturersknowthattherearevariouswaysofraisingandfellingthepriceoflabour，besidesthatofalteringitsnominalamount。"（op。cit。，pp。48，61。）Inhis"ThreeLecturesontheRateofWages，"London，1830，inwhichN。W。

SeniorusesWest’sworkwithoutmentioningit，hesays:"Thelabourerisprincipallyinterestedintheamountofwages"（p。14），thatistosay，thelabourerisprincipallyinterestedinwhathereceives，thenominalsumofhiswages，notinthatwhichhegives，theamountoflabour！

[5]Theeffectofsuchanabnormallesseningofemploymentisquitedifferentfromthatofageneralreductionoftheworking—day，enforcedbylaw。Theformerhasnothingtodowiththeabsolutelengthoftheworking—day，andmayoccurjustaswellinaworking—dayof15，asof6hours。Thenormalpriceoflabourisinthefirstcasecalculatedonthelabourerworking15hours，inthesecondcaseonhisworking6hoursadayontheaverage。

Theresultisthereforethesame，ifheintheonecaseisemployedonlyfor71/2，intheotheronlyfor3hours。

[6]"Therateofpaymentforovertime（inlace—making）issosmall，from1/2

d。and3/4d。to2d。perhour，thatitstandsinpainfulcontrasttotheamountofinjuryproducedtothehealthandstaminaoftheworkpeople……

Thesmallamountthusearnedisalsooftenobligedtobespentinextranourishment。"（"Child。Empl。Com。，II。Rep。，"p。xvi。，n。117。）

[7]E。g。，inpaper—stainingbeforetherecentintroductionintothistradeoftheFactoryAct。"Weworkonwithnostoppageformeals，sothattheday’sworkof101/2hoursisfinishedby4:30p。m。，andallafterthatisover—time，andweseldomleaveoffworkingbefore6p。m。，sothatwearereallyworkingover—timethewholeyearround。"（Mr。Smith’s"EvidenceinChild。Empl。Com。，1。Rep。，"p。125。）

[8]E。g。，intheScotchbleaching—works。"InsomepartsofScotlandthistrade"

（beforetheintroductionoftheFactoryActin1862）"wascarriedonbyasystemofover—time，i。e。，tenhoursadayweretheregularhoursofwork，forwhichanominalwageof1s。2d。perdaywaspaidtoaman，therebeingeverydayover—timeforthreeorfourhours，paidattherateof3d。perhour。Theeffectofthissystem……amancouldnotearnmorethan8s。perweekwhenworkingtheordinaryhours……withoutover—timetheycouldnotearnafairday’swages。"（"Rept。ofInsp。ofFactories，"April30th，1863，p。10。）"Thehigherwages，forgettingadultmalestoworklongerhours，areatemptationtoostrongtoberesisted。"（"Rept。ofInsp。

ofFact。，"April30th，1848，p。5。）Thebook—bindingtradeinthecityofLondonemploysverymanyyounggirlsfrom14toI5yearsold，andthatunderindentureswhichprescribecertaindefinitehoursoflabour。Nevertheless，theyworkinthelastweekofeachmonthuntil10，11，12，or1o’clockatnight，alongwiththeolderlabourers，inaverymixedcompany。"Themasterstemptthembyextrapayandsupper，"whichtheyeatinneighboringpublichouses。Thegreatdebaucherythusproducedamongthese"youngimmortals"

（"Children’sEmploymentComm。，V。Rept。，"p。44，n。191）iscompensatedbythefactthatamongtherestmanyBiblesandreligiousbooksareboundbythem。

[9]See"Reportsoflnsp。ofFact。，"30thApril，1863，p。10。Withveryaccurateappreciationofthestateofthings，theLondonlabourersemployedinthebuildingtradesdeclared，duringthegreatstrikeandlock—outof1860，thattheywouldonlyacceptwagesbythehourundertwoconditions:（1），that，withthepriceoftheworking—hour，anormalworkingdayof9and10hoursrespectivelyshouldbefixed，andthatthepriceofthehourforthe10hours，working—dayshouldbehigherthanthatforthehourofthe9hoursworking—day;（2），thateveryhourbeyondthenormalworking—dayshouldbereckonedasover—timeandproportionallymorehighlypaid。

[10]"Itisaverynotablething，too，thatwherelonghoursaretherule，smallwagesarealsoso。"（"ReportofInsp。ofFact。，"31st。Oct。，1863，p。9。）

"Theworkwhichobtainsthescantypittanceoffood，is，forthemostpart，excessivelyprolonged。"（"PublicHealth，SixthReport，"1864，p。15。）

[11]"ReportofInspectorsofFact。，"30thApril，1860，pp。31，32。

[12]Thehandnail—makersinEngland，e。g。，have，onaccountofthelowpriceoflabour，towork15hoursadayinordertohammerouttheirmiserableweeklywage。"It’sagreatmanyhoursinaday（6a。m。to8p。m。），andhehastoworkhardallthetimetogetIId。orIs。，andthereisthewearofthetools，thecostoffiring，andsomethingforwasteirontogooutofthis，whichtakesoffaltogether21/2d。or3d。"（"Children’sEmploymentCom。，III。Report，"p。136，n。671。）Thewomenearnbythesameworking—timeaweek’swageofonly5shillings。（l。c。，p。137，n。674。）

[13]Ifafactory—hand，e。g。，refusedtoworkthecustomarylonghours，"hewouldveryshortlybereplacedbysomebodywhowouldworkanylengthoftime，andthusbethrownoutofemployment。"（"ReportsofInspectorsofFactories，"30thApril，1848。Evidence，p。39，n。58。）"Ifonemanperformstheworkoftwo……therateofprofitswillgenerallyberaised……inconsequenceoftheadditionalsupplyoflabourhavingdiminisheditsprice。"

（Senior，l。c。，p。15。）

[14]"Children’sEmploymentCom。，IIIRep。，"Evidence，p。66，n。22。

[15]"Report，&tc。，RelativetotheGrievancesComplainedofbytheJourneymenBakers。"London，1862，p。411，andib。Evidence，notes479，359，27。Anyhowthefull—pricedbakers，aswasmentionedabove，andastheirspokesman，Bennett，himselfadmits，maketheirmen"generallybeginworkat11p。m……upto8o’clockthenextmorning……Theyarethenengagedalldaylong……aslateas7o’clockintheevening。"（l。c。，p。22。）

ChapterTwenty—OneKarlMarxCapitalVolumeOnePartVI:

WagesCHAPTERTWENTY—ONE:

PIECE—WAGES

Wagesbythepiecearenothingelsethanaconvertedformofwagesbytime，justaswagesbytimeareaconvertedformofthevalueorpriceoflabour—power。

Inpiece—wagesitseemsatfirstsightasiftheuse—valueboughtfromthelabourerwas，notthefunctionofhislabour—power，livinglabour，butlabouralreadyrealizedintheproduct，andasifthepriceofthislabourwasdetermined，notaswithtime—wages，bythefractiondailyvalueoflabour—power棗棗棗棗棗棗棗棗棗棗？

theworkingdayofagivennumberofhoursbutbythecapacityforworkofproducer。[1]

Theconfidencethattrustsinthisappearanceoughttoreceiveafirstsevereshockfromthefactthatbothformsofwagesexistsidebyside，simultaneously，inthesamebranchesofindustry;e。g。，"thecompositorsofLondon，asageneralrule，workbythepiece，time—workbeingtheexception，whilethoseinthecountryworkbytheday，theexceptionbeingworkbythepiece。TheshipwrightsoftheportofLondonworkbythejoborpiece，whilethoseofallotherpartsworkbytheday。"[2]

InthesamesaddleryshopsofLondon，oftenforthesamework，piece—wagesarepaidtotheFrench，time—wagestotheEnglish。Intheregularfactoriesinwhichthroughoutpiece—wagespredominate，particularkindsofworkareunsuitabletothisformofwage，andarethereforepaidbytime。[3]Butitis，moreover，self—evidentthatthedifferenceofforminthepaymentofwagesaltersinnowaytheiressentialnature，althoughtheoneformmaybemorefavorabletothedevelopmentofcapitalistproductionthantheother。

Lettheordinaryworking—daycontain12hoursofwhich6arepaid，6

unpaid。Letitsvalue—productbe6shillings，thatofonehour’slabourtherefore6d。Letussupposethat，astheresultofexperience，alabourerwhoworkswiththeaverageamountofintensityandskill，who，therefore，givesinfactonlythetimesociallynecessarytotheproductionofanarticle，suppliesin12hours24pieces，eitherdistinctproductsormeasurablepartsofacontinuouswhole。Thenthevalueofthese24pieces，after。

subtractionoftheportionofconstantcapitalcontainedinthem，is6

shillings，andthevalueofasinglepiece3d。Thelabourerreceives1

1/2d。perpiece，andthusearnsin12hours3shillings。Justas，withtime—wages，itdoesnotmatterwhetherweassumethatthelabourerworks6hoursforhimselfand6hoursforthecapitalist，orhalfofeveryhourforhimself，andtheotherhalfforthecapitalist，sohereitdoesnotmatterwhetherwesaythateachindividualpieceishalfpaid，andhalfunpaidfor，orthatthepriceof12piecesistheequivalentonlyofthevalueofthelabour—power，whilstintheother12piecessurplus—valueisincorporated。

Theformofpiece—wagesisjustasirrationalasthatoftime—wages。

Whilstinourexampletwopiecesofacommodity，aftersubtractionofthevalueofthemeansofproductionconsumedinthem，areworth6d。asbeingtheproductofonehour，thelabourerreceivesforthemapriceof3d。

Piece—wagesdonot，infact，distinctlyexpressanyrelationofvalue。

Itisnot，therefore，aquestionofmeasuringthevalueofthepiecebytheworking—timeincorporatedinit，butonthecontrary，ofmeasuringtheworking—timethelabourerhasexpendedbythenumberofpieceshehasproduced。Intime—wages，thelabourismeasuredbyitsimmediateduration;

inpiece—wages，bythequantityofproductsinwhichthelabourhasembodieditselfduringagiventime。[4]Thepriceoflabourtimeitselfisfinallydeterminedbytheequation:

valueofaday’slabour=dailyvalueoflabour—power。Piece—wageis，therefore，onlyamodifiedformoftime—wage。

Letusnowconsideralittlemorecloselythecharacteristicpeculiaritiesofpiece—wages。

Thequalityofthelabourisherec