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| Title | Wage labour and capital |
| Creator (LCNAF) |
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| Contributor (LCNAF) |
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| Publisher | International Publishers |
| Place of Creation (TGN) |
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| Date | 1932 |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
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| Original Item Extent | 48 pages; 20 cm |
| Original Item Location | HB301.M3813 1932 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b8302360~S11 |
| Original Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
| Digital Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/scpamp |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/special-collections |
| Use and Reproduction | In Copyright: This item is protected by copyright. Copyright to this resource is held by the creator or current rights holder, and the resource is provided here for educational purposes. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without permission of the copyright owner. Users assume full responsibility for any infringement of copyright or related rights. |
| Note | Translation of Lohnarbeit und Kapital. |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | Image 38 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | uhlib_2981922_037.jpg |
| Transcript | CHAPTER VII THE GENERAL LAW THAT DETERMINES THE RISE AND FALL OF WAGES AND PROFITS We have said: "Wages are not a share of the worker in the commodities produced by him. Wages are that part of already existing commodities with which the capitalist buys a certain amount of productive labour-power." But the capitalist must replace these wages out of the price for which he sells the product made by the worker; he must so replace it that, as a rule, there remains to him a surplus above the cost of production expended by him, that is, he must get a profit. The selling price of the commodities produced by the worker is divided, from the point of view of the capitalist, into three parts: First, the replacement of the price of the raw materials advanced by him, in addition to the replacement of the wear and tear of the tools, machines, and other instruments of labour likewise advanced by him; second, the replacement of the wages advanced; and third, the surplus left over, i.e., the profit of the capitalist. While the first part merely replaces previously existing values, it is evident that the replacement of the wages and the surplus (the profit of capital) are as a whole taken out of the new value, which is produced by the labour of the worker and added to the raw materials. And in this sense we can view wages as well as profit, for the purpose of comparing them with each other, as shares in the product of the worker. Real wages may remain the same, they may even rise, nevertheless the relative wages may fall. Let us suppose, for instance, that all means of subsistence have fallen two-thirds in price, while the day's wages have fallen but one-third; for example, from three to two shillings. Although the worker can now get a greater amount of commodities with these two shillings than he formerly did with three shillings, yet his wages have decreased in propor- 36 |