第49章

Thevalueofthenewproductfurtherincludes:theequivalentofthevalueofthelabour—powertogetherwithasurplus—value。Thisissobecausethevalueofthelabour—power？soldforadefinitelengthoftime，sayaday，aweek，etc。？islessthanthevaluecreatedbyitsuseduringthattime。Buttheworkerhasreceivedpaymentfortheexchange—valueofhislabour—powerandbysodoinghasalienateditsuse—value？thisbeingthecaseineverysaleandpurchase。

Thefactthatthisparticularcommodity，labour—power，possessesthepeculiaruse—valueofsupplyinglabour，andthereforeofcreatingvalue，cannotaffectthegenerallawofcommodityproduction。If，therefore，themagnitudeofvalueadvancedinwagesisnotmerelyfoundagainintheproduct，butisfoundthereaugmentedbyasurplus—value，thisisnotbecausethesellerhasbeendefrauded，forhehasreallyreceivedthevalueofhiscommodity;itisduesolelytothefactthatthiscommodityhasbeenusedupbythebuyer。

Thelawofexchangerequiresequalityonlybetweentheexchange—valuesofthecommoditiesgiveninexchangeforoneanother。Fromtheveryoutsetitpre—supposesevenadifferencebetweentheiruse—valuesandithasnothingwhatevertodowiththeirconsumption，whichonlybeginsafterthedealisclosedandexecuted。

Thustheoriginalconversionofmoneyintocapitalisachievedinthemostexactaccordancewiththeeconomiclawsofcommodityproductionandwiththerightofpropertyderivedfromthem。Nevertheless，itsresultis:

（1）thattheproductbelongstothecapitalistandnottotheworker;

（2）thatthevalueofthisproductincludes，besidesthevalueofthecapitaladvanced，asurplus—valuewhichcoststheworkerlabourbutthecapitalistnothing，andwhichnonethelessbecomesthelegitimatepropertyofthecapitalist;

（3）thattheworkerhasretainedhislabour—powerandcansellitanewifhecanfindabuyer。

Simplereproductionisonlytheperiodicalrepetitionofthisfirstoperation;eachtimemoneyisconvertedafreshintocapital。Thusthelawisnotbroken;onthecontrary，itismerelyenabledtooperatecontinuously。

"Severalsuccessiveactsofexchangehaveonlymadethelastrepresentthefirst"（Sismondi，"NouveauxPrincipes，etc。，"p。70）。

Andyetwehaveseenthatsimplereproductionsufficestostampthisfirstoperation，insofarasitisconceivedasanisolatedprocess，withatotallychangedcharacter。"Ofthosewhosharethenationalincomeamongthemselves，theoneside（theworkers）acquireeveryyearafreshrighttotheirsharebyfreshwork;theothers（thecapitalists）havealreadyacquired，byworkdoneoriginally，apermanentrighttotheirshare"（Sismondi，l。c。，pp。110，111）。Itisindeednotoriousthatthesphereoflabourisnottheonlyoneinwhichprimogenitureworksmiracles。

Nordoesitmatterifsimplereproductionisreplacedbyreproductiononanextendedscale，byaccumulation。Intheformercasethecapitalistsquandersthewholesurplus—valueindissipation，inthelatterhedemonstrateshisbourgeoisvirtuebyconsumingonlyaportionofitandconvertingtherestintomoney。

Thesurplus—valueishisproperty;it，hasneverbelongedtoanyoneelse。Ifheadvancesitforthepurposesofproduction，theadvancesmadecomefromhisownfunds，exactlyasonthedaywhenhefirstenteredthemarket。Thefactthatonthisoccasionthefundsarederivedfromtheunpaidlabourofhisworkersmakesabsolutelynodifference。IfworkerBispaidoutofthesurplus—valuewhichworkerAproduced，then，inthefirstplace，Afurnishedthatsurplus—valuewithouthavingthejustpriceofhiscommoditycutbyahalf—penny，and，inthesecondplace，thetransactionisnoconcernofB’swhatever。WhatBclaims，andhasarighttoclaim，isthatthecapitalistshouldpayhimthevalueofhislabour—power。"Bothwerestillgainers:

theworkerbecausehewasadvancedthefruitsofhislabour"（shouldread:

oftheunpaidlabourofotherworkers）"beforetheworkwasdone"（shouldread:beforehisownlabourhadbornefruit）;"theemployer（lemaître），becausethelabourofthisworkerwasworthmorethanhiswages"（shouldread:producedmorevaluethanthevalueofhiswages）。（Sismondi，l。c。，p。135。）

Tobesure，thematterlooksquitedifferentifweconsidercapitalistproductionintheuninterruptedflowofitsrenewal，andif，inplaceoftheindividualcapitalistandtheindividualworker，weviewintheirtotality，thecapitalistclassandtheworking—classconfrontingeachother。Butinsodoingweshouldbeapplyingstandardsentirelyforeigntocommodityproduction。

Onlybuyerandseller，mutuallyindependent，faceeachotherincommodityproduction。Therelationsbetweenthemceaseonthedaywhenthetermstipulatedinthecontracttheyconcludedexpires。Ifthetransactionisrepeated，itisrepeatedasthe—resultofanewagreementwhichhasnothingtodowiththepreviousoneandwhichonlybychancebringsthesamesellertogetheragainwiththesamebuyer。

If，therefore，commodityproduction，oroneofitsassociatedprocesses，istobejudgedaccordingtoitsowneconomiclaws，wemustconsidereachactofexchangebyitself，apartfromanyconnexionwiththeactofexchangeprecedingitandthatfollowingit。Andsincesalesandpurchasesarenegotiatedsolelybetweenparticularindividuals，itisnotadmissibletoseekhereforrelationsbetweenwholesocialclasses。

Howeverlongaseriesofperiodicalreproductionsandprecedingaccumulationsthecapitalfunctioningto—daymayhavepassedthrough，italwayspreservesitsoriginalvirginity。Solongasthelawsofexchangeareobservedineverysingleactofexchangethemodeofappropriationcanbecompletelyrevolutionisedwithoutinanywayaffectingthepropertyrightswhichcorrespondtocommodityproduction。Thesesamerightsremaininforcebothattheoutset，whentheproductbelongstoitsproducer，who，exchangingequivalentforequivalent，canenrichhimselfonlybyhisownlabour，andalsointheperiodofcapitalism，whensocialwealthbecomestoanever—increasingdegreethepropertyofthosewhoareinapositiontoappropriatecontinuallyandeverafreshtheunpaidlabourofothers。

Thisresultbecomesinevitablefromthemomentthereisafreesale，bythelabourerhimself，oflabour—powerasacommodity。Butitisalsoonlyfromthenonwardsthatcommodityproductionisgeneralisedandbecomesthetypicalformofproduction;itisonlyfromthenonwardsthat，fromthefirst，everyproductisproducedforsaleandallwealthproducedgoesthroughthesphereofcirculation。Onlywhenandwherewage—labourisitsbasisdoescommodityproductionimposeitselfuponsocietyasawhole;butonlythenandtherealsodoesitunfoldallitshiddenpotentialities。Tosaythatthesuperventionofwage—labouradulteratescommodityproductionistosaythatcommodityproductionmustnotdevelopifitistoremainunadulterated。Totheextentthatcommodityproduction，inaccordancewithitsowninherentlaws，developsfurther，intocapitalistproduction，thepropertylawsofcommodityproductionchangeintothelawsofcapitalistappropriation。[8]

Wehaveseenthateveninthecaseofsimplereproduction，allcapital，whateveritsoriginalsource，becomesconvertedintoaccumulatedcapital，capitalisedsurplus—value。Butinthefloodofproductionallthecapitaloriginallyadvancedbecomesavanishingquantity（magnitudoevanescens，inthemathematicalsense），comparedwiththedirectlyaccumulatedcapital，i。e。，withthesurplus—valueorsurplus—productthatisreconvertedintocapital，whetheritfunctionsinthehandsofitsaccumulator，orinthoseofothers。Hence，PoliticalEconomydescribescapitalingeneralas"accumulatedwealth"（convertedsurplus—valueorrevenue），"thatisemployedoveragainintheproductionofsurplus—value，"[9]andthecapitalistas"theownerofsurplus—value。"[10]Itismerelyanotherwayofexpressingthesamethingtosaythatallexistingcapitalisaccumulatedorcapitalisedinterest，forinterestisamerefragmentofsurplus—value。[11]

SECTION2。ERRONEOUSCONCEPTION，BYPOLITICALECONOMY，OFREPRODUCTIONONAPROGRESSIVELY

INCREASINGSCALE

Beforewefurtherinvestigateaccumulationorthereconversionofsurplus—valueintocapital，wemustbrushononesideanambiguityintroducedbytheclassicaleconomists。

Justaslittleasthecommoditiesthatthecapitalistbuyswithapartofthesurplus—valueforhisownconsumption，servethepurposeofproductionandofcreationofvalue，solittleisthelabourthathebuysforthesatisfactionofhisnaturalandsocialrequirements，productivelabour。

Insteadofconvertingsurplus—valueintocapital，he，onthecontrary，bythepurchaseofthosecommoditiesandthatlabour，consumesorexpendsitasrevenue。Inthefaceofthehabitualmodeoflifeoftheoldfeudalnobility，which，asHegelrightlysays，"consistsinconsumingwhatisinhand，"andmoreespeciallydisplaysitselfintheluxuryofpersonalretainers，itwasextremelyimportantforbourgeoiseconomytopromulgatethedoctrinethataccumulationofcapitalisthefirstdutyofeverycitizen，andtopreachwithoutceasing，thatamancannotaccumulate，ifheeatsupallhisrevenue，insteadofspendingagoodpartofitintheacquisitionofadditionalproductivelabourers，whobringinmorethantheycost。Ontheotherhandtheeconomistshadtocontendagainstthepopularprejudice，thatconfusescapitalistproductionwithhoarding，[12]andfanciesthataccumulatedwealthiseitherwealththatisrescuedfrombeingdestroyedinitsexistingform，i。e。，frombeingconsumed，orwealththatiswithdrawnfromcirculation。Exclusionofmoneyfromcirculationwouldalsoexcludeabsolutelyitsself—expansionascapital，whileaccumulationofahoardintheshapeofcommoditieswouldbesheertomfoolery。[13]Theaccumulationofcommoditiesingreatmassesistheresulteitherofover—productionorofastoppageofcirculation。[14]Itistruethatthepopularmindisimpressedbythesight，ontheonehand，ofthemassofgoodsthatarestoredupforgradualconsumptionbytherich，[15]andontheotherhand，bytheformationofreservestocks;thelatter，aphenomenonthatiscommontoallmodesofproduction，andonwhichweshalldwellforamoment，whenwecometoanalysecirculation。Classicaleconomyisthereforequiteright，whenitmaintainsthattheconsumptionofsurplus—productsbyproductive，insteadofbyunproductivelabourers，isacharacteristicfeatureoftheprocessofaccumulation。Butatthispointthemistakesalsobegin。AdamSmithhasmadeitthefashion，torepresentaccumulationasnothingmorethanconsumptionofsurplus—productsbyproductivelabourers，whichamountstosaying，thatthecapitalisingofsurplus—valueconsistsinmerelyturningsurplus—valueintolabour—power。

LetusseewhatRicardo，e。g。，says:"Itmustbeunderstoodthatalltheprodu