Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-03-02

underblde me other to obtain fresh
custom or to retain that which he
already has. For the consumer this
is benefit in the way of cheapness.
But this lowering of prices is only
obtained by an increase of sale; the
small profit obtained on each article
is only com pensated by the sale of a
larger number of articles. The nat
ural result is that production is car
ried on upon larger scale, with
greater concentration Of work, larger
supply of raw material, and an aug
mented output. In other words;
under free competition the greater
the capitalist the more he overpow-
ers and swallows up smaller capital.
lists.
Here we have the productive
power of capital; the pound of to-
day produces another pound. Here
also we find the origin of our COM
plicated system of credit; the capt.
tai which ID IN excess OF the require.
ments Of business, whether tempo
rarlly or permanently, is employed
by way of loan, partnerships, shares,
etc., in other forms of production.
Up to the present we have re-
garded the producer simply as a
producer. Let US now look at him
in his two capacities: employer or
contractor, and worker, and distin-
guish the particular features which
free competition imposes. The fate
of both is determined by the price
of the product in its sale, and by
the proportion of it which free com
petition brings to each. The value
of the product is at first to be found
in the market price; that is, it de-
ponds at each and every moment
upon the relation between the sup
ply of the article and the demand
for it. But this in it's turn is sub
ject to the fundamental law that,
in the long run, the price of prod
uct is the same as its cost of produc-
ton. Say, for example, that the
supply of an article is so great that
the price falls below the cost of pro-
ductlon, then the production of that
article will either cease or be moder.
ated; on the other hand, if the price
of an article be so high as to yield
more than the usual profit, then, by
virtue of free competition, capital
will be attracted to that particular
industry, and the supply will be in
creased until the price is brought
down to the cost of production.
The market price of a product os
cillates like pendulum, but with
great irregularities, and it's many
changes very often have unpleasant
and rulnous consequences for the in.
dividual capitalist; for he may be
forced to sell his wares when prices
are low, and may not be able to place
his wares on the market when prices
are high. But this only concerns
the individual; the capitalist class
as class, is not affected by it; for il
is at such times that the smaller
capitalists are crushed, and the su.
premacy of large capitals over small
capitals is established.
AS regards capital these oscilla
tons in prices compensate one an
other on the average, and not a sin
gle hour of labor, not one drop o.
the sweat of the laborer is lost t(
capital; they are all paid back tc
capital by the consumer. If this bt
the position of the capitalist as re
CARDS the consumer, what is it tina
determines the proportion of thu
proceeds of the product which shal
come to the worker? What is i
that determines and settles the
wages of the worker?
Under the present system of pro
0uctlon the average wages are Inn
tied by an iron law to the necessary
means for subsistence, to the mini
mum of food, etc. This has beer
disputed by certain political econo
mlsts. In opposition they asser
that the price of labor is regulates
by the demand for it as compare,
with the supply of it. The peopl
who assert this look upon labor al
they do upon any other kind o
merchandise, and they do this quit
rightly, for it is with labor as will
merchandise or wares-its price
determined by demand and supply
But what is it that regulates