Thus, the worker does not gain if the capitalist keeps the market price above the natural price by virtue of some manufacturing or trading secret, or by virtue of monopoly or the favorable situation of his land.įurthermore, the prices of labour are much more constant than the prices of provisions. The worker need not necessarily gain when the capitalist does, but he necessarily loses when the latter loses. In most cases, for every wage that rises, one remains stationary and one falls. The accidental and sudden fluctuations in market price hit rent less than they do that part of the price which is resolved into profit and wages but they hit profit less than they do wages. And it is just the capacity of the capitalist to direct his capital into another channel which either renders the worker, who is restricted to some particular branch of labour, destitute, or forces him to submit to every demand of this capitalist. Thus in the gravitation of market price to natural price it is the worker who loses most of all and necessarily. But (1) where there is considerable division of labour it is most difficult for the worker to direct his labour into other channels (2) because of his subordinate relation to the capitalist, he is the first to suffer. Should supply exceed demand, then one of the constituent parts of the price – profit, rent or wages – is paid below its rate, factors is therefore withdrawn from this application, and thus the market price gravitates natural price as the centre-point. And the demand on which the life of the worker depends, depends on the whim of the rich and the capitalists. The worker has become a commodity, and it is a bit of luck for him if he can find a buyer. The worker’s existence is thus brought under the same condition as the existence of every other commodity. Should supply greatly exceed demand, a section of the workers sinks into beggary or starvation. The demand for men necessarily governs the production of men, as of every other commodity. The ordinary wage, according to Smith, is the lowest compatible with common humanity, that is, with cattle-like existence. The lowest and the only necessary wage rate is that providing for the subsistence of the worker for the duration of his work and as much more as is necessary for him to support a family and for the race of labourers not to die out. The separation of capital, rent, and labour is thus fatal for the worker. Capital and landed property need not remain fixed in this abstraction, as must the labour of the workers. Thus only for the workers is the separation of capital, landed property, and labour an inevitable, essential and detrimental separation.
Hence the intensity of the competition among the workers.
Besides, the landowner and the capitalist can make use of industrial advantages to augment their revenues the worker has neither rent nor interest on capital to supplement his industrial income. Combination among the capitalists is customary and effective workers’ combination is prohibited and painful in its consequences for them. The capitalist can live longer without the worker than can the worker without the capitalist. Victory goes necessarily to the capitalist. Wages are determined through the antagonistic struggle between capitalist and worker. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 Wages of Labour
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