, 1879-08-10

! ~ ~A %A@o@
aud meat 900 miles to the measure o; QUO
days wages of laborer in II MassaohuseFts.
He moved 500 pounds Of meat aud aou1
from the West to Massachusetts, for $1.25
he aboIshed distances, and bis small accre
ton WAS h. tritiing share Of the slaoor' he
saved to the people of Massachusetts. A
hundred years ago it required the. arauous
labor of ono person in every family Of FIVE
to spin and weave the cloth for the scanty
home-spun clothing Of the family; now one
person in each $50 can produces the cotton
and woo1en fabrics which make the garments
Of the most lberally clothed people ID
the world. After explaining the prog
ress in the efficiency Of capital,
and the improvements in the condition OF
! the factory operatives, under the bencfcent
! force Of competition, he states that invantion
| and competition hnye modified, changed, and
enlarged the factory Of 1860, and substituted
a greater absolute, capital at less value for
each spindle Or loom;. competition has re-
duccd the cost Of labor in the yard of coarse
sheeting to q cent aud a quarter, has in
creased the abundance, enlarged the market,
decreased the hours and drudgery Of the
labor, and increased the earnings Of the
operatives both absolutely and relatively.
Tho production Of the means Of suibsist-
ence is the joint work Of labor aud c5sca,:tal.
Neither can be effective without the other.
Material welfare consists in ample consump-
ton; ample production assures abundance
and. under the lew of competition, Abundant
production assures rapid and moro equal
consumption. The harmony Of inter-
ests lies in the fact that both in
the ratio to the increase in the
amount of capital and to its effectiveness
production Is Increased, and the share of the
annual product falling to capital is relatively
loss mud less in proportion to that which
falls to labor. In other words, the absence
=: OF communism that is to say, inequality
in respect to possession of property-leads,
rs time goes on, to practical communism in
consumption; that is, to more and moro
equal distribution Of the products or means
Of subsistence that ara necessary to comfort.
11r. ATKINSON enforces the general doc
tr1ne which We have. thus briefly shetched
Wy 1t1G1tlCt III l46 hANk41klC5 VI LII kJtdIS VI
Massachusetts,. He estimates that 81, ,000,-
000, 900 represented III 1875 the value Of all
the properly in that State which is capital,
the result Of the labor saved for future
use; this does not include the roads,
bridges, school buildings, churches, pub
lie buildings, etc, ETC.; these ara common
wealth, in no sense productive. When COM
puted, the capital OF thousand millions Of
dollars equals only 5000 to eaoh in
habitont. The total production of the
State is $574 100000 q year. The average
annual product is 5000 per head; tho capital
the saved labor of two and a half centuries
is therefore equal only to three years' pro-
duction, and perhaps not more than two
years production; and if all the capital Of |
the State we're destroyed, and the work of |
the people could be turned from mere |
subsistence to the construction Of mills, etc.,
they could at tile utmost in three years |
restore ell the capital that now exists. |
Under the law Of competition, the percentage
Of profit On capital is SO reduced that if it !
can find any employment which, after dis
tributing to labor 95 to 81 per cent Of the
production, will retain the rest, it will gladly !
engage in it. The producers first get 95 to
81 per cent OF the production, and the owner
Of the capital 8 to per cent This latter
portion has again to be distributed among
tue tradesmen who supply the family and do
The household work Of the capitalist. These |
results are verified by copious references to
facts set forth in detail.
It follows, then, continues Mr.. ATKINSON,
hat if conflict there is to bo in the distribu-
lion, it must be among those who now con-
;ume ninety parts Of the annual prod
let for the cost OF living, and not between
hem and those who save three parts to pro-
tide for the future needs of millions yet un-
,orn. He states tie only three possible
nodes Of distribution j: ~ By the free ex-
hange of services, the service rendered be-
ug measured by the one received; (2) by
axation, and State expenditure of the pro-
eeds; and (3) by alms-giving. It is unnec-
ssary for us to follow his argument on
his branch of the subject. It is only neces- !
ary to understand that capital is merely =
aved labor; the man who works at 81 a. ;
hy at4A h2f FA SeA WIEN bn'eS uue uA3 !
,bor for the future. He has the means of !,
mploying one days labor thereafter All |
apital is the accumulation Of saved ! :
bor,-the means Of making labor
In the harmonious union of j.
lese consists the profit Of both. OF the !
lings produced, labor receives from 90 to 95
ar cent; when it demands al the product, ;;
len capital is withdrawn or destroyed. It g
in the interest of capital to have the ut :,
ost production outside of gambling and =
'eculntion, the profits of commerce are =,
w in cents and hnlf-cents, and in the null :,
plication Of small gains. The greater the :,
'undance, the greater the consumption and :,
. greater supply of the means of subsist- =,
ice and comfort. Capital is not only essen =,
il to production, but its ally and friend, :;
ID he that wars on capital wars also on -
Dor, and proves the enemy of both. r
."
THE FREE-THNEERs IN POLITICS. g.
If there is any limit to political folly, it :, -
S apparently been reached by the smnll ~
terie of professed and dogmatic infidels ''
10 have resolved to hold conference in r.