The Labor enquirer., 1884-04-19
The Socialist Catechism.
Justice, Nondon England.)
What is wealth?

Justice, Nondon England)
What is wealth?
Everything that supplies the wants OF
man, and ministers in any way to his
comfort and enjoyment.
Whence is wealth derived? ?
From labor usefully employed on nat
ural objects.
Give instances of useful employment
of labor.
Flowing, sowing, spinning, weaving, etc.
Give instances of labor uselessly en-
ployed.
Digging pit for the purpose of filling
it up again. making road that leads no
where, supporting people in absolute
idleness by presenting them with food
and clothing for doing nothing, etc., etc.
What do we mean when we say that
an article has value?
That it is useful or agreeable to human
beings, or else that it embodies a certain
amount of generally useful labor.
How do economists distinguish these
two cases?
By the terms "use value" and "e1-
change value"
Are the two ever identical?
They cannot be compared at all.
Explain by an instance what you mean
by this.
The hunger of starving man who en-
ters bakers shop does not effect the
exchange value of loaf, which is meas
ured by the amount of labor which has
been expended in making and baking it.
What is its use-value to him?
Its use-value is infinitely great, as it ls
a question of life and death to him to
obtain it.
What is its use-value to another man ?
Its use-value is nothing at all to tur-
tle-fed alderman sick already with ex-
cessive eating, but its exchange-value re-
mains the same in all cases.
Is there no exception to this rule?
If the baker has a monopoly of bak-
ing, and no other loaves are anywhere
obtainable, he can charge much higher
price than the amount of his expended
labor entities him to demand,
Is this often done?
Every monopolist does it, as a matter
of course.
Who are the chief monopolists?
There are two great classes. The land.
lords monopolize the land, and the CAPT
tallsts the machinery.
How does the landlord secure hiE
profit?
By extorting from the laborer share
of all that he produces, under. threat O.
excluding him from the land.
How does the capitalist act?
He extorts from those laborers who
are excluded from the land a share of al
that they produce, under threat of with
holding from them the implements O
production. and thus refusing to let then
work at all.
What are the terms of the bargain?
The capitalist agrees to return to the
laborer as wages about quarter of wha
he has produced by his work, keeping
the remaining three quarters for himsel
and his class.
/ What is it that regulates the amount
freturned to the laborer?
The amount that is necessary to keep
him and his family alive.
Why does the capitalist care to keep
him alive?
Because capital without labor is utterly
helpless.
How is this amount settled?
By competition among the laborers
and the hlggling of the labor market.
Is it invariable ?
1t varies with all the variations Of
trade, and differs according to the differ,
ent degrees of skill of the differeht la,
borers, but it constantly lends to bare
subsistence for the mass of laborers.
By what name is this law known?
The iron law of wages.
How can it be proved?
By reckoning up the amount of food
and clothing consumed by those who
produce them.
Is there any independent testimony to
its truth
The witness of all the doctors who
have studied the subject.
What evidence do they give upon it ?
They declare that diseases arising
from insufficient nourishment are con-
stantly present throughout the laboring
classes, and that t'the poor are perma-
nently afflicted with one disease-starva-
ton"
What remedy for this do Socialists
propose?
Simply that the laboring classes should
become their own employers?
. What effect would this have?s
The classes who live in idleness on the
fruits of the labor of other people would