The Commonwealth. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1911-1914, 1912-10-11


grass and spring in the desert is wealth
We estimate IL so because these things
can be made TO contribute 10 the com
fort of mankind. When labor is ex-
pended on forms of tangible wealth,
value is made if more value is made
than is consumed, there is accumulation
and the gensis of capital. Capital is
that form of value which under the capt
talist mode of production is Devoted to
rxtracting gain from the process Of
value building. Notes and bonds in all
their genus and species are neither value
nor wcalth-they are evidences Of in
debtcdness, the symbol of the thing
When the laborer created value he is
recompensed with but a part of what he
has created. The difference between
that part and the whole is surplus value,
which is decomposed into rent, profit
and interest; surplus value is the fund
of exploiters theoretically it is at the
point of production here arrived at that
exploitation takes place, not at the point
of consumption. If I pay five cents for
a glass of beer and feel aggrieved, it is
not that the beer is too high, but that
the five cents is not shared by those
who made the beer entirely. By the ex
ercise of monopoly the capitalist is able
to get you on both ends, coming and 60
ing. So when the farmer, who is not
exploited at the point of production, sells
his commodities in a competitive market
and buys in market dominated by mo-
nopoly, he feels the suction of the CAPT
talst antennae. The pressure of popu
lation on the limits of sustenance helps
the farmer and in time gives him a
natural monopoly instead of an artificial
one Then he becomes the most rapac
ious enemy of the submerged sections of
society. By farmer we mean landlord
of course, and not tenant. Now we are
ready to go on. Price is the monetary
expression of value. Ideally, the price
of commodities should be based on their
values, so that one commodity would ex
change with another in which was the
representation of an equal quantity of
social labor. This might be done, and
would be done in handicrafts, and yet
profits could be realized. If prices were
computed on the basis of cost of produc-
ton and an average rate of profit, on
absolutely all commodities, manufactur I
ers would prefer high cost of produc
ton. If shingles cost 81 per thousand
at the point of production, and if a mill
has a capacity of a hundred thousand
and if the rate of profit in industrials
is 10 per cent, then that mill would earn
$40 per diem. Now if the cost of pro-
duction should rise to 50 at the mill,
other conditions remaining as given, that
mill would yield gains of 500 per diem
Why, then, do capitalists constantly
strive to reduce cost prices? 1t is be-
cause that in ALL cases, profits are not
arrived at, nor prices made in that way.
No matter what the cost of a commod-
ity, supply or demand when pronounced
one above the other, is the determining
influence on price within certain limits.
Price is again influenced by potential
values, in this way. If coal can be pro-
duced in certain areas at So per ton and
in certain other areas at 1925, and if
the areas last referred to are owned by
competitive groups of capitalists, the first
group will not let the price 90 where the
second group can enter the market.
Again there are monopoly prices that
have nothing to do with values nor cost
of production, but are solely regulated
on the principle of what the traffic will
bear. In his first volume Marx laws it,
down that price fluctuates about values,
and that profits are realized by selling
commodities at their values. This posi-
tion cannot be maintained. No one knew
it better than Marx himself. At the
same time there are many socialists who
don't know it yet. Marx had to make
assumptions in order that notifications
might follow. In even the exact de-
ductive sciences, like geometry, we have
to assume contrary to what we know to
be the fact that line has length only,
and not breadth. Perhaps this will help
to explain. In wealth of Nations"
Adam Smith examines the production of
wealth from the standpoint of selfish
ness, absolutely ignoring human sym
pathy. No motives are considered but
sordid ones. In his "Theory of Moral
Sentiments" he examines the production
of wealth in the light of exalted human
motives. The thing is viewed from its
good and bad side. One work supple
ments the other This investigation
could not be carried on, in its two parts
simultaneously. To do so would be con
trary to the dialectic of Smith We read
both works and by thesis, antithesis, and
synthesis we reach our conclusions The
ideas expressed in the third volume Of
Marx could not be understood without
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