第48章

Informertimes，capitalresortedtolegislation，whenevernecessary，toenforceitsproprietaryrightsoverthefreelabourer。Forinstance，downto1815，theemigrationofmechanicsemployedinmachinemakingwas，inEngland，forbidden，undergrievouspainsandpenalties。

Thereproductionoftheworking—classcarrieswithittheaccumulationofskill，thatishandeddownfromonegenerationtoanother。[13]Towhatextentthecapitalistreckonstheexistenceofsuchaskilledclassamongthefactorsofproductionthatbelongtohimbyright，andtowhatextentheactuallyregardsitastherealityofhisvariablecapital，isseensosoonasacrisisthreatenshimwithitsloss。InconsequenceofthecivilwarintheUnitedStatesandoftheaccompanyingcottonfamine，themajorityofthecottonoperativesinLancashirewere，asiswellknown，thrownoutofwork。Bothfromtheworking—classitself，andfromotherranksofsociety，therearoseacryforStateaid，orforvoluntarynationalsubscriptions，inordertoenablethe"superfluous"

handstoemigratetothecoloniesortotheUnitedStates。Thereupon，TheTimespublishedonthe24thMarch，1863，aletterfromEdmundPotter，aformerpresidentoftheManchesterChamberofCommerce。ThisletterwasrightlycalledintheHouseofCommons，themanufacturers’manifesto。[14]Wecullhereafewcharacteristicpassages，inwhichtheproprietaryrightsofcapitaloverlabour—powerareunblushinglyasserted。

"He"（themanoutofwork）"maybetoldthesupplyofcotton—workersistoolarge……and……must……infactbereducedbyathird，perhaps，andthatthentherewillbeahealthydemandfortheremainingtwo—thirds……

Publicopinion……urgesemigration……Themastercannotwillinglyseehislaboursupplybeingremoved;hemaythink，andperhapsjustly，thatitisbothwrongandunsound……Butifthepublicfundsaretobedevotedtoassistemigration，hebasarighttobeheard，andperhapstoprotest。"

Mr。Potterthenshowshowusefulthecottontradeis，howthe"tradehasundoubtedlydrawnthesurplus—populationfromIrelandandfromtheagriculturaldistricts，"howimmenseisitsextent，howintheyear1860ityielded5/13thsofthetotalEnglishexports，how，afterafewyears，itwillagainexpandbytheextensionofthemarket，particularlyoftheIndianmarket，andbycallingforthaplentifulsupplyofcottonat6d。perlb。

Hethencontinues:"Sometime……，one，two，orthreeyears，itmaybe，willproducethequantity……ThequestionIwouldputthenisthis？Isthetradeworthretaining？Isitworthwhiletokeepthemachinery（hemeansthelivinglabourmachines）inorder，andisitnotthegreatestfollytothinkofpartingwiththat？Ithinkitis。I

allowthattheworkersarenotaproperty，notthepropertyofLancashireandthemasters;buttheyarethestrengthofboth;theyarethementalandtrainedpowerwhichcannotbe。replacedforageneration;themeremachinerywhichtheyworkmightmuchofitbebeneficiallyreplaced，nayimproved，inatwelvemont;[15]Encourageorallow（！）theworking—powertoemigrate，andwhatofthecapitalist？……Takeawaythecreamoftheworkers，andfixedcapitalwilldepreciateinagreatdegree，andthefloatingwillnotsubjectitselftoastrugglewiththeshortsupplyofinferiorlabour……

Wearetoldtheworkerswishit"（emigration）。"Verynaturalitisthattheyshoulddoso……Reduce，compressthecottontradebytakingawayitsworkingpowerandreducingtheirwagesexpenditure，sayone—fifth，orfivemillions，andwhatthenwouldhappentotheclassabove，thesmallshopkeepers;andwhatoftherents，thecottagerents……Traceouttheeffectsupwardstothesmallfarmer，thebetterhouseholder，and……thelandowner，andsayiftherecouldbeanysuggestionmoresuicidaltoallclassesofthecountrythanbyenfeeblinganationbyexportingthebestofitsmanufacturingpopulation，anddestroyingthevalueofsomeofitsmostproductivecapitalandenrichment……Iadvisealoan（offiveorsixmillionssterling），……extendingitmaybeovertwoorthreeyears，administeredbyspecialcommissionersaddedtotheBoardsofGuardiansinthecottondistricts，underspeciallegislativeregulations，enforcingsomeoccupationorlabour，asameansofkeepingupatleastthemoralstandardoftherecipientsoftheloan……cananythingbeworseforlandownersormastersthanpartingwiththebestoftheworkers，anddemoralisinganddisappointingtherestbyanextendeddepletiveemigration，adepletionofcapitalandvalueinanentireprovince？"

Potter，thechosenmouthpieceofthemanufacturers，distinguishestwosortsof"machinery，"eachofwhichbelongstothecapitalist，andofwhichonestandsinhisfactory，theotheratnight—timeandonSundaysishousedoutsidethefactory，incottages。Theoneisinanimate，theotherliving。

Theinanimatemachinerynotonlywearsoutanddepreciatesfromdaytoday，butagreatpartofitbecomessoquicklysuperannuated，byconstanttechnicalprogress，thatitcanbereplacedwithadvantagebynewmachineryafterafewmonths。Thelivingmachinery，onthecontrarygetsbetterthelongeritlasts，andinproportionastheskill，handedfromonegenerationtoanother，accumulates。TheTimesansweredthecottonlordasfollows:

"Mr。EdmundPotterissoimpressedwiththeexceptionalandsupremeimportanceofthecottonmastersthat，inordertopreservethisclassandperpetuatetheirprofession，hewouldkeephalfamillionofthelabouringclassconfinedinagreatmoralworkhouseagainsttheir’will。’Isthetradeworthretaining？’asksMr。Potter。’Certainlybyallhonestmeansitis，’weanswer。’Isitworthwhilekeepingthemachineryinorder？’

againasksMr。Potter。Herewehesitate。Bythe’machinery’Mr。Pottermeansthehumanmachinery，forhegoesontoprotestthathedoesnotmeantousethemasanabsoluteproperty。Wemustconfessthatwedonotthinkit’worthwhile，’orevenpossible，tokeepthehumanmachineryinorder—thatistoshutitupandkeepitoiledtillitiswanted。Humanmachinerywillrustunderinaction，oilandrubitasyoumay。Moreover，thehumanmachinerywill，aswehavejustseen，getthesteamupofitsownaccord，andburstorrunamuckinourgreattowns。itmight，asMr。Pottersays，requiresometimetoreproducetheworkers，but，havingmachinistsandcapitalistsathand，wecouldalwaysfindthrifty，hard，industriousmenwherewithtoimprovisemoremaster—manufacturersthanwecaneverwant。Mr。Pottertalksofthetradereviving’inone，two，orthreeyears，’andheasksusnot’toencourageorallow（！）theworkingpowertoemigrate。’[16]Hesaysthatitisverynaturaltheworkersshouldwishtoemigrate;buthethinksthatinspiteoftheirdesire，thenationoughttokeepthishalfmillionofworkerswiththeir700，000dependents，shutupinthecottondistricts;andasanecessaryconsequence，hemustofcoursethinkthatthenationoughttokeepdowntheirdiscontentbyforce，andsustainthembyalms？anduponthechancethatthecottonmastersmaysomedaywantthem……Thetimeiscomewhenthegreatpublicopinionoftheseislandsmustoperatetosavethis’workingpower’fromthosewhowoulddealwithitastheywoulddealwithiron，andcoal，andcotton。"

TheTimes’articlewasonlyajeud’esprit。The"greatpublicopinion"was，infact，ofMr。Potter’sopinion，thatthefactoryoperativesarepartofthemovablefittingsofafactory。Theiremigrationwasprevented。

Theywerelockedupinthat"moralworkhouse，"thecottondistricts，andtheyform，asbefore，"thestrength"ofthecottonmanufacturersofLancashire。

Capitalistproduction，therefore，ofitselfreproducestheseparationbetweenlabour—powerandthemeansoflabour。Ittherebyreproducesandperpetuatestheconditionforexploitingthelabourer。Itincessantlyforceshimtosellhislabour—powerinordertolive，andenablesthecapitalisttopurchaselabour—powerinorderthathemayenrichhimself。[17]Itisnolongeramereaccident，thatcapitalistandlabourerconfronteachotherinthemarketasbuyerandseller。Itistheprocessitselfthatincessantlyhurlsbackthelabourerontothemarketasavendorofhislabour—power，andthatincessantlyconvertshisownproductintoameansbywhichanothermancanpurchasehim。Inreality，thelabourerbelongstocapitalbeforehehassoldhimselftocapital。Hiseconomicbondage[18]isbothbroughtaboutandconcealedbytheperiodicsaleofhimself，byhischangeofmasters，andbytheoscillationsinthemarket—priceoflabour—power。[19]

Capitalistproduction，therefore，underitsaspectofacontinuousconnectedprocess，ofaprocessofreproduction，producesnotonlycommodities，notonlysurplus—value，butitalsoproducesandreproducesthecapitalistrelation;ontheonesidethecapitalist，ontheotherthewage—labourer。[20]

Footnotes[1]"Maiscesriches，quiconsommentlesproduitsdutravaildesautres，nepeuventlesobtenirquepardeséchanges[purchasesofcommodities]。

S’ilsdonnentcependantleurrichesseacquiseetaccumuléeenretourcontrecesproduitsnouveauxquisontl’objetdeleurfantaisie，ilssemblentexposésàépuiserbientôtleurfondsderéserve;

ilsnetravaillentpoint，avors—nousdit，etilsnepeuventmêmetravailler;oncroiraitdoncquechaquejourdoitvoirdiminuerleursvieillesrichesses，etquelorsqu’ilneleurenresteraplus，rienneseraoffertenéchangeauxouvriersquitravaillentexclusivementpoureux……

Maisdansl’ordresocial，larichesseaacquislapropriété

desereproduireparletravaild’autrui，etsansquesonproprietaireyconcoure。Larichesse，commeletravail，etparletravail，donneunfruitannuelquipeutêtredétruitchaqueannéesansquelericheendeviennepluspauvre。Cefruitestlerevenuquinetducapital"（Sismondi:"Nouv。Princ。d’Econ。Pol。"Paris，1819，t。I，pp。81—82。）

[2]"Wagesaswellasprofitsaretobeconsidered，eachofthem，asreallyaportionofthefinishedproduct。"（Ramsay，l。c。，p。142。）"Theshareoftheproductwhichcomestothelabourerintheformofwages。"（J。Mill，"Eléments，&c。"TranslatedbyParissot。Paris，1823，p。34。）

[3]"Whencapitalisemployedinadvancingtotheworkmanhiswages，itaddsnothingtothefundsforthemaintenanceoflabour。"（CazenoveinnotetohiseditionofMalthus’"DefinitionsinPol。Econ。"London，1853，p。

22。）

[4]"Thewagesoflabourareadva