The morning times., 1896-08-09
none y with whici, he buys goods produced

money with which he buys goods produced
by the distant laborers. as before. =
In the first case we are accustomed TO
speak of the labOrer as an employe or the
capitalist or as u man working Tor an
other man; in the second cnse we say the
man was working for himself. But the
real economic fact Is, the man was working
for himself in each case, and TO the extent
that the product or his labor was ex-
changed he was an employer OF other men,
including capitalists themselves.
1t is DO more true to say that capital
employs labor than IL il TO say that
labor employs capital; nor is 1t any more
true to say that. the owner OF factory
employs men. the product OF whose labor hs
purchases under the name OF wages, than
it 10 to say the wheat merchant employs
farmers in the purchase OF his wheat
The merchant is the typical capitalist,
and he earns his wages. as allcapitalsts do,
by facilitating exchanges. We use con-
ventional terms 10 designate various modes
OF exchange, such as buying, swapping
and hiring but essentially these modes are
all of a kind. Consumption goods, TO use
BOebm- Baiverk's expression for the var
ious commodities necessary to satisfy hu-
man desire, constitute the goal Of Industry,
however complex its FORMS
For the sake al these great buildings are
erected for manufacturing and storing;
ships and railways constructed for trans
porting. and when we realize how conf
pleteIy all this work depends on the
simple application OF labor 10 land, on
the farm, in the forest and n the mine, land
AMI labor are seen to be the foundation
OF IL all.
Evidently goods must be produced before
they Can be physically exchanged, and the
more the functions or capital is seen TO &c
that OF celebrating and extending the pro-
.f-<w .t..,.. ,t,d
less primitive it appears as a factor in
production. Therefore, we say that land
and labor are the primary factors and capt.
tai a secondary factor in the production OF
wealth.
To confoGnd wealth with the priInary
factors OF weaithis untiiinka BILE $ to con-
fuse the meaning OF common salt with its
chemical factors c,orine and sodium In
other words. it would he Just as sensible
TO say that sodium or chlorine is salt as it
Is to say that labor or land is wealth.
There is one idea essential to all wealth
that is value And since capital is wealth
devoted TO the production OF more wealth,
this idea Is CT the very essence Of CAPT
tai. Any form OF capital that ceases to be
valuable to any extent, to that extent It
ceases to be capital.
But land may be valuable or not, ac-
cordlng 10 circumstances. 1t belongs to
the category of land irrespective Of value
Not SO with capital. It's function is to be
exchanged for something else, and when
this function Is gone the capital is gone.
On the other hand. wealth may be pro-
duced from land. especially In new coun-
tries, when it has no exchange value.
The more fully we grasp the idea that
land is a primary factor IN production
the ultimate employe % all labor the more
we shall he concerped TO secure this uiti-
mate means OF employment TO all, ami the
less we shall need to bother ourselves
about capitalists. FREELAND.