第52章

Apartfromnaturalconditions，suchasfertilityofthesoil，&C。，andfromtheskillofindependentandisolatedproducers（shownratherqualitativelyinthegoodnessthanquantitativelyinthemassoftheirproducts），thedegreeofproductivityoflabour，inagivensociety，isexpressedintherelativeextentofthemeansofproductionthatonelabourer，duringagiventime，withthesametensionoflabour—power，turnsintoproducts。Themassofthemeansofproductionwhichhethustransforms，increaseswiththeproductivenessofhislabour。Butthosemeansofproductionplayadoublepart。Theincreaseofsomeisaconsequence，thatoftheothersaconditionoftheincreasingproductivityoflabour。E。g。，withthedivisionoflabourinmanufacture，andwiththeuseofmachinery，morerawmaterialisworkedupinthesametime，and，therefore，agreatermassofrawmaterialandauxiliarysubstancesenterintothelabour—process。

Thatistheconsequenceoftheincreasingproductivityoflabour。Ontheotherhand，themassofmachinery，beastsofburden，mineralmanures，drain—pipes，&c。，isaconditionoftheincreasingproductivityoflabour。Soalsoisitwiththemeansofproductionconcentratedinbuildings，furnaces，meansoftransport，&c。Butwhetherconditionorconsequence，thegrowingextentofthemeansofproduction，ascomparedwiththelabour—powerincorporatedwiththem，isanexpressionofthegrowingproductivenessoflabour。Theincreaseofthelatterappears，therefore，inthediminutionofthemassoflabourinproportiontothemassofmeansofproductionmovedbyit，orinthediminutionofthesubjectivefactorofthelabour—processascomparedwiththeobjectivefactor。

Thischangeinthetechnicalcompositionofcapital，thisgrowthinthemassofmeansofproduction，ascomparedwiththemassofthelabour—powerthatvivifiesthem，isreflectedagaininitsvalue—composition，bytheincreaseoftheconstantconstituentofcapitalattheexpenseofitsvariableconstituent。Theremaybe，e。g。，originally50percent。ofacapitallaidoutinmeansofproduction，and50percent。inlabour—power;lateron，withthedevelopmentoftheproductivityoflabour，80percent。inmeansofproduction，20percent。inlabour—power，andsoon。Thislawoftheprogressiveincreaseinconstantcapital，inproportiontothevariable，isconfirmedateverystep（asalreadyshown）bythecomparativeanalysisofthepricesofcommodities，whetherwecomparedifferenteconomicepochsordifferentnationsinthesameepoch。Therelativemagnitudeoftheelementofprice，whichrepresentsthevalueofthemeansofproductiononly，ortheconstantpartofcapitalconsumed，isindirect，therelativemagnitudeoftheotherelementofpricethatpayslabour（thevariablepartofcapital）

isininverseproportiontotheadvanceofaccumulation。

Thisdiminutioninthevariablepartofcapitalascomparedwiththeconstant，orthealteredvalue—compositionofthecapital，however，onlyshowsapproximatelythechangeinthecompositionofitsmaterialconstituents。

If，e。g。，thecapital—valueemployedto—dayinspinningis7/8constantand1/8variable，whilstatthebeginningofthe18thcenturyitwas1/2

constantand1/2variable，ontheotherhand，themassofrawmaterial，instrumentsoflabour，&c。，thatacertainquantityofspinninglabourconsumesproductivelyto—day，ismanyhundredtimesgreaterthanatthebeginningofthe18thcentury。Thereasonissimplythat，withtheincreasingproductivityoflabour，notonlydoesthemassofthemeansofproductionconsumedbyitincrease，buttheirvaluecomparedwiththeirmassdiminishes。

Theirvaluethereforerisesabsolutely，butnotinproportiontotheirmass。Theincreaseofthedifferencebetweenconstantandvariablecapital，is，therefore，muchlessthanthatofthedifferencebetweenthemassofthemeansofproductionintowhichtheconstant，andthemassofthelabour—powerintowhichthevariable，capitalisconverted。Theformerdifferenceincreaseswiththelatter，butinasmallerdegree。

But，iftheprogressofaccumulationlessenstherelativemagnitudeofthevariablepartofcapital，itbynomeans，indoingthis，excludesthepossibilityofariseinitsabsolutemagnitude。Supposethatacapital—valueatfirstisdividedinto50percent。ofconstantand50percent。ofvariablecapital;laterinto80percent。ofconstantand20percent。ofvariable。

Ifinthemeantimetheoriginalcapital，say£6，000，hasincreasedto£18，000，itsvariableconstituenthasalsoincreased。Itwas£3，000，itisnow£3，600。Butwhereasformerlyanincreaseofcapitalby20percent。wouldhavesufficedtoraisethedemandforlabour20percent。，nowthislatterriserequiresatriplingoftheoriginalcapital。

InPartIV。itwasshown，howthedevelopmentoftheproductivenessofsociallabourpre—supposesco—operationonalargescale;howitisonlyuponthissuppositionthatdivisionandcombinationoflabourcanbeorganised，andthemeansofproductioneconomisedbyconcentrationonavastscale;howinstrumentsoflabourwhich，fromtheirverynature，areonlyfitforuseincommon，suchasasystemofmachinery，canbecalledintobeing;howhugenaturalforcescanbepressedintotheserviceofproduction;andhowthetransformationcanbeeffectedoftheprocessofproductionintoatechnologicalapplicationofscience。Onthebasisoftheproductionofcommodities，wherethemeansofproductionarethepropertyofprivatepersons，andwheretheartisanthereforeeitherproducescommodities，isolatedfromandindependentofothers，orsellshislabour—powerasacommodity，becausehelacksthemeansforindependentindustry，co—operationonalargescalecanrealiseitselfonlyintheincreaseofindividualcapitals，onlyinproportionasthe—meansofsocialproductionandthemeansofsubsistencearetransformedintotheprivatepropertyofcapitalists。

Thebasisoftheproductionofcommoditiescanadmitofproductiononalargescaleinthecapitalisticformalone。Acertainaccumulationofcapital，inthehandsofindividualproducersofcommodities，formsthereforethenecessarypreliminaryofthespecificallycapitalisticmodeofproduction。

Wehad，therefore，toassumethatthisoccursduringthetransitionfromhandicrafttocapitalisticindustry。Itmaybecalledprimitiveaccumulation，becauseitisthehistoricbasis，insteadofthehistoricresultofspecificallycapitalistproduction。Howititselforiginates，weneednothereinquireasyet。Itisenoughthatitformsthestarting—point。Butallmethodsforraisingthesocialproductivepoweroflabourthataredevelopedonthisbasis，areatthesametimemethodsfortheincreasedproductionofsurplus—valueorsurplus—product，whichinitsturnistheformativeelementofaccumulation。Theyare，therefore，atthesametimemethodsoftheproductionofcapitalbycapital，ormethodsofitsacceleratedaccumulation。Thecontinualre—transformationofsurplus—valueintocapitalnowappearsintheshapeoftheincreasingmagnitudeofthecapitalthatentersintotheprocessofproduction。Thisinturnisthebasisofanextendedscaleofproduction，ofthemethodsforraisingtheproductivepoweroflabourthataccompanyit，andofacceleratedproductionofsurplus—value。If，therefore，acertaindegreeofaccumulationofcapitalappearsasaconditionofthespecificallycapitalistmodeofproduction，thelattercausesconverselyanacceleratedaccumulationofcapital。Withtheaccumulationofcapital，therefore，thespecificallycapitalisticmodeofproductiondevelops，andwiththecapitalistmodeofproductiontheaccumulationofcapital。Boththeseeconomicfactorsbringabout，inthecompoundratiooftheimpulsestheyreciprocallygiveoneanother，thatchangeinthetechnicalcompositionofcapitalbywhichthevariableconstituentbecomesalwayssmallerandsmallerascomparedwiththeconstant。

Everyindividualcapitalisalargerorsmallerconcentrationofmeansofproduction，withacorrespondingcommandoveralargerorsmallerlabour—army。

Everyaccumulationbecomesthemeansofnewaccumulation。Withtheincreasingmassofwealthwhichfunctionsascapital，accumulationincreasestheconcentrationofthatwealthinthehandsofindividualcapitalists，andtherebywidensthebasisofproductiononalargescaleandofthespecificmethodsofcapitalistproduction。Thegrowthofsocialcapitaliseffectedbythegrowthofmanyindividualcapitals。Allothercircumstancesremainingthesame，individualcapitals，andwiththemtheconcentrationofthemeansofproduction，increaseinsuchproportionastheyformaliquotpartsofthetotalsocialcapital。Atthesametimeportionsoftheoriginalcapitalsdisengagethemselvesandfunctionasnewindependentcapitals。

Besidesothercauses，thedivisionofproperty，withincapitalistfamilies，playsagreatpartinthis。Withtheaccumulationofcapital，therefore，thenumberofcapitalistsgrowstoagreaterorlessextent。Twopointscharacterisethiskindofconcentrationwhichgrowsdirectlyoutof，orratherisidenticalwith，accumulation。First:Theincreasingconcentrationofthesocialmeansofproductioninthehandsofindividualcapitalistsis，otherthingsremainingequal，limitedbythedegreeofincreaseofsocialwealth。Second:Thepartofsocialcapitaldomiciledineachparticularsphereofproductionisdividedamongmanycapitalistswhofaceoneanotherasindependentcommodity—producerscompetingwitheachother。Accumulationandtheconcentrationaccompanyingitare，therefore，notonlyscatteredovermanypoints，buttheincreaseofeachfunctioningcapitalisthwartedbytheformationofnewandthesub—divisionofoldcapitals。Accumulation，therefore，presentsitselfontheonehandasincreasingconcentrationofthemeansofproduction，andofthecommandoverlabour;ontheother，asrepulsionofmanyindividualcapitalsonefromanother。

Thissplitting—upofthetotalsocialcapitalintomanyindividualcapitalsortherepulsionofitsfractionsonefromanother，iscounteractedbytheirattraction。Thislastdoesnotmeanthatsimpleconcentrationofthemeansofproductionandofthecommandoverlabour，whichisidenticalwithaccumulation。Itisconcentrationofcapitalsalreadyformed，destructionoftheirindividualindependence，expropriationofcapitalistbycapitalist，transformationofmanysmallintofewlargecapitals。Thisprocessdiffersfromtheformerinthis，thatitonlypre—supposesachangeinthedistributionofcapitalalreadytohand，andfunctioning;itsfieldofactionisthereforenotlimitedbytheabsolutegrowthofsocialwealth，bytheabsolutelimitsofaccumulation。Capitalgrowsinoneplacetoahugemassinasinglehand，becauseithasinanotherplacebeenlostbymany。Thisiscentralisationproper，asdistinctfromaccumulationandconcentration。

Thelawsofthiscentralisationofcapitals，oroftheattractionofcapitalbycapital，cannotbedevelopedhere。Abriefhintatafewfactsmustsuffice。Thebattleofcompetitionisfoughtbycheapeningofcommodities。

Thecheapnessofcommoditiesdemands，caeterisparibus，ontheproductivenessoflabour，andthisagainonthescaleofproduction。Therefore，thelargercapitalsbeatthesmaller。Itwillfurtherberememberedthat，withthedevelopmentofthecapital