第54章

salt，coals，andanumberofothernecessarymeansofsubsistence。[41]Gladstone’snextBudgetspeechofApril7th，1864，isaPindaricdithyrambusontheadvanceofsurplus—value—makingandthehappinessofthepeople"temperedbypoverty。"Hespeaksofmasses"ontheborder"ofpauperism，ofbranchesoftradeinwhich"wageshavenotincreased，"andfinallysumsupthehappinessoftheworking—classinthewords:"humanlifeisbut，inninecasesoutoften，astruggleforexistence。"[42]ProfessorFawcett，notboundlikeGladstonebyofficialconsiderations，declaresroundly:"Idonot，ofcourse，denythatmoneywageshavebeenaugmentedbythisincreaseofcapital（inthelasttenyears），butthisapparentadvantageistoagreatextentlost，becausemanyofthenecessariesoflifearebecomingdearer"（hebelievesbecauseofthefallinvalueofthepreciousmetals）……"therichgrowrapidlyricher，whilstthereisnoperceptibleadvanceinthecomfortenjoyedbytheindustrialclasses……They（thelabourers）becomealmosttheslavesofthetradesman，towhomtheyowemoney。"[43]

Inthechaptersonthe"working—day"and"machinery，"thereaderhasseenunderwhatcircumstancestheBritishworking—classcreatedan"intoxicatingaugmentationofwealthandpower"forthepropertiedclasses。Therewewerechieflyconcernedwiththesocialfunctioningofthelabourer。Butforafullelucidationofthelawofaccumulation，hisconditionoutsidetheworkshopmustalsobelookedat，hisconditionastofoodanddwelling。

Thelimitsofthisbookcompelustoconcernourselveschieflywiththeworstpaidpartoftheindustrialproletariat，andwiththeagriculturallabourers，whotogetherformthemajorityoftheworking—class。

Butfirst，onewordonofficialpauperism，oronthatpartoftheworking—classwhichhasforfeiteditsconditionofexistence（thesaleoflabour—power），andvegetatesuponpublicalms。TheofficiallistofpaupersnumberedinEngland[44]851，369

persons;in1856，877，767;in1865，971，433。Inconsequenceofthecottonfamine，itgrewintheyears1863and1864to1，079，382and1，014，978。

Thecrisisof1866，whichfellmostheavilyonLondon，createdinthiscentreoftheworld—market，morepopulousthanthekingdomofScotland，anincreaseofpauperismfortheyear1866of19。5%comparedwith1865，andof24。4%comparedwith1864，andastillgreaterincreaseforthefirstmonthsof1867ascomparedwith1866。Fromtheanalysisofthestatisticsofpauperism，twopointsaretobetaken。Ontheonehand，thefluctuationupanddownofthenumberofpaupers，reflectstheperiodicchangesoftheindustrialcycle。Ontheother，theofficialstatisticsbecomemoreandmoremisleadingastotheactualextentofpauperisminproportionas，withtheaccumulationofcapital，theclass—struggle，and，therefore，theclass—consciousnessoftheworking—men，develop。E。g。，thebarbarityinthetreatmentofthepaupers，atwhichtheEnglishPress（TheTimes，PallMallGazette，etc。）havecriedoutsoloudlyduringthelasttwoyears，isofancientdate。F。Engelsshowedin1844exactlythesamehorrors，exactlythesametransientcantingoutcriesof"sensationalliterature。"

Butfrightfulincreaseof"deathsbystarvation"inLondonduringthelasttenyearsprovesbeyonddoubtthegrowinghorrorinwhichtheworking—peopleholdtheslaveryoftheworkhouse，thatplaceofpunishmentformisery。[45]

B。TheBadlyPaidStrataoftheBritishIndustrialClassDuringthecottonfamineof1862，Dr。SmithwaschargedbythePrivyCouncilwithaninquiryintotheconditionsofnourishmentofthedistressedoperativesinLancashireandCheshire。Hisobservationsduringmanyprecedingyearshadledhimtotheconclusionthat"toavertstarvationdiseases，"thedailyfoodofanaveragewomanoughttocontainatleast3，900grainsofcarbonwith180grainsofnitrogen;thedailyfoodofanaverageman，atleast4，300grainsofcarbonwith200grainsofnitrogen;forwomen，aboutthesamequantityofnutritiveelementsasarecontainedin2lbs。ofgoodwheatenbread，formen1/9more;fortheweeklyaverageofadultmenandwomen，atleast28，600grainsofcarbonand1，330grainsofnitrogen。Hiscalculationwaspracticallyconfirmedinasurprisingmannerbyitsagreementwiththemiserablequantityofnourishmenttowhichwanthadforceddowntheconsumptionofthecottonoperatives。Thiswas，inDecember，1862，29，211grainsofcarbon，and1，295grainsofnitrogenweekly。

Intheyear1863，thePrivyCouncilorderedaninquiryintothestateofdistressoftheworst—nourishedpartoftheEnglishworking—class。Dr。

Simon，medicalofficertothePrivyCouncil，choseforthisworktheabove—mentionedDr。Smith。Hisinquiryrangesontheonehandovertheagriculturallabourers，ontheother，oversilk—weavers，needlewomen，kid—glovers，stocking—weavers，glove—weavers，andshoemakers。Thelattercategoriesare，withtheexceptionofthestocking—weavers，exclusivelytown—dwellers。Itwasmadearuleintheinquirytoselectineachcategorythemosthealthyfamilies，andthosecomparativelyinthebestcircumstances。

Asageneralresultitwasfoundthat"inonlyoneoftheexaminedclassesofin—dooroperativesdidtheaveragenitrogen—supplyjustexceed，whileinanotheritnearlyreached，theestimatedstandardofbaresufficiency[i。e。，sufficienttoavertstarvationdiseases]，andthatintwoclassestherewasdefect？inone，averylargedefect？ofbothnitrogenandcarbon。Moreover，asregardstheexaminedfamiliesoftheagriculturalpopulation，itappearedthatmorethanafifthwerewithlessthantheestimatedsufficiencyofcarbonaceousfood，thatmorethanone—thirdwerewithlessthantheestimatedsufficiencyofnitrogenousfood，andthatinthreecounties（Berkshire，Oxfordshire，andSomersetshire），insufficiencyofnitrogenousfoodwastheaveragelocaldietp;[46]Amongtheagriculturallabourers，thoseofEngland，thewealthiestpartoftheUnitedKingdom，weretheworstfed。[47]Theinsufficiencyoffoodamongtheagriculturallabourers，fell，asarule，chieflyonthewomenandchildren，for"themanmusteattodohiswork。"Stillgreaterpenuryravagedthetown—workersexamined。"Theyaresoillfedthatassuredlyamongthemtheremustbemanycasesofsevereandinjuriousprivation。"[48]（"Privation"ofthecapitalistallthis！i。e。，"abstinence"frompayingforthemeansofsubsistenceabsolutelynecessaryforthemerevegetationofhis"hands。"）

Thefollowingtableshowstheconditionsofnourishmentoftheabove—namedcategoriesofpurelytown—dwellingwork—people，ascomparedwiththeminimumassumedbyDr。Smith，andwiththefood—allowanceofthecottonoperativesduringthetimeoftheirgreatestdistress:

BothSexesAverageweeklycarbonAverageweeklynitrogenFivein—dooroccupations28，876grains1，192grainsUnemployedLancashireOperatives28，211grains1，295grainsMinimumquantitytobeallowedtotheLancashireOperatives，equalnumberofmalesandfemales28，600grains1，330grainsOnehalf，or60/125，oftheindustriallabourcategoriesinvestigated，hadabsolutelynobeer，28%nomilk。Theweeklyaverageoftheliquidmeansofnourishmentinthefamiliesvariedfromsevenouncesintheneedle—womento243/4ouncesinthestocking—makers。Themajorityofthosewhodidnotobtainmilkwereneedle—womeninLondon。Thequantityofbread—stuffsconsumedweeklyvariedfrom73/4lbs。fortheneedle—womento111/2lbs。fortheshoemakers，andgaveatotalaverageof9。9lbs。

peradultweekly。Sugar（treacle，etc。）variedfrom4ouncesweeklyforthekid—gloversto11ouncesforthestockingmakers;andthetotalaverageperweekforallcategorieswas8ouncesperadultweekly。Totalweeklyaverageofbutter（fat，etc。）5ouncesperadult。Theweeklyaverageofmeat（bacon，etc。）variedfrom71/4ouncesforthesilk—weavers，to18

1/4ouncesforthekid—glovers;totalaverageforthedifferentcategories13。6ounces。Theweeklycostoffoodperadult，gavethefollowingaveragefigures;silk—weavers2s。21/2d。，needle—women2s。7d。，kid—glovers2s。

91/2d。，shoemakers2s73/4d。，stocking—weavers2s。61/4d。Forthesilk—weaversofMacclesfieldtheaveragewasonly1s。81/2d。Theworstcategoriesweretheneedle—women，silk—weaversandkid—glovers。[50]Ofthesefacts，Dr。SimoninhisGeneralHealthReportsays:"Thatcasesareinnumerableinwhichdefectivedietisthecauseortheaggravatorofdisease，canbeaffirmedbyanyonewhoisconversantwithpoorlawmedicalpractice，orwiththewardsandout—patientroomsofhospitals……

Yetinthispointofview，thereis，inmyopinion，averyimportantsanitarycontexttobeadded。Itmustberememberedthatprivationoffoodisveryreluctantlyborne，andthatasarulegreatpoornessofdietwillonlycomewhenotherprivationshaveprecededit。Longbeforeinsufficiencyofdietisamatterofhygienicconcern，longbeforethephysiologistwouldthinkofcountingthegrainsofnitrogenandcarbonwhichintervenebetweenlifeandstarvation，thehouseholdwillhavebeenutterlydestituteofmaterialcomfort;clothingandfuelwillhavebeenevenscantierthanfood？againstinclemenciesofweathertherewillhavebeennoadequateprotection？dwellingspacewillhavebeenstintedtothedegreeinwhichover—crowdingproducesorincreasesdisease;ofhouseholdutensilsandfurnituretherewillhavebeenscarcelyany—evencleanlinesswillhavebeenfoundcostlyordifficult，andiftherestillbeself—respectfulendeavourstomaintainit，everysuchendeavourwillrepresentadditionalpangsofhunger。Thehome，too，willbewheresheltercanbecheapestbought;inquarterswherecommonlythereisleastfruitofsanitarysupervision，leastdrainage，leastscavenging，leastsuppressionofpublicnuisances，leastorworstwatersupply，and，ifintown，leastlightandaip;Sucharethesanitarydangerstowhichpovertyisalmostcertainlyexposed，whenitispovertyenoughtoimplyscantinessoffood。Andwhilethesumofthemisofterriblemagnitudeagainstlife，themerescantinessoffoodisinitselfofveryseriousmoment……Thesearepainfulreflections，especiallywhenitisrememberedthatthepovertytowhichtheyadvertisnotthedeservedpovertyofidleness。Inallcasesitisthepovertyofworkingpopulations。Indeed，asregardsthein—dooroperatives，theworkwhichobtainsthescantypittanceoffood，isforthemostpartexcessivelyprolonged。Yetevidentlyitisonlyinaqualifiedsensethattheworkcanbedeemedself—supporting……Andonaverylargescalethenominalself—supportcanbeonlyacircuit，longerorshorter，topauperism。"[51]

Theintimateconnexionbetweenthepangsofhungerofthemostindustriouslayersoftheworking—class，andtheextravagantconsumption，coarseorrefined，oftherich，forwhichcapitalistaccumulationisthebasis，revealsitselfonlywhentheeconomiclawsareknown。Itisotherwisewiththe"housingofthepoor。"Everyunprejudicedobserverseesthatthegreaterthecentralisationofthemeansofproduction，thegreateristhecorrespondingheapingtogetherofthelabourers，withinagivenspace;thatthereforetheswiftercapitalisticaccumulation，themoremiserablearethedwellingsoftheworking—people。"Improvements"oftowns，accompanyingtheincreaseofwealth，bythedemolitionofbadlybuiltquarters，theerectionofpalacesforbanks，warehouses，&c。，thewideningofstreetsforbusinesstraffic，forthecarriagesofluxury，andfortheintroductionoftramways，&c。，driveawaythepoorintoevenworseandmorecrowdedhidingplaces。Ontheotherhand，everyoneknowsthatthedearnessofdwellingsisininverseratiototheirexcellence，andthattheminesofmiseryareexploitedbyhousespeculatorswithmoreprofitorlesscostthaneverweretheminesofPotosi。Theantagonisticcharacterofcapi