New-York tribune., 1918-04-07


EI ABoR.-Man acquires utilities either
h by his own effort or by exchange.
THE personal effort of man is called
labor.
at is called intellectual or muscular ac-
cording to the predominating kind of effort
it requires. The mechanic of locomotive
directs and does not transport, whereas the
man who wheels a barrow transports rather
than directs.
"Ihe value OF the man is in relation to
the power Of the instrument. He is capa-
bic of yielding more utilities when, q
locomotive, he draws hundreds of tons at
the rate Of several tens of kilometres per
hour. than when he draws his barrow filled
with one twenty-flfth of a cubic metre of
earth at the rate of s KIN. SOC metres per
hour.
"Ricardo made mistake when he said:
The value of any goods depends on the
quantity of labor needed to produce them
This definition confuses effort and util-
ity, labor and result. Now, the purchaser
never knows the effort; he only pays for
the result and if this result responds to
one Of his needs.
at is mistake to say that labor is mer-
chandise' and that the salary is the rcrnu-
nerat.ol OF labor.
"Thc wage payer does not pay for the
effort; he pays for the result of the effort.
TIE salary does not rcmunerate labor,
it pays for the products the services
furnished by labor.
"rhe salary is high or low according to
the productivity of labor.
90 CAPITAL-James Mill gave this def
~ milton of capital, which is the most
often repeated and which has given rise to
~, oil ifo1
is accumulated labor
"In all capital there is certain percent
age of natural agents which owe nothing to
labor: such as the muscles of a market
porter the voice of a singer. The sun Of
Nice is Capital; it is, however, not accumu-
lated labor. The landowners at Nice know
how to make use of the climate of Nice,
the singer knows how to use her voice and
the porter his muscles they have one and
all given an economic function to the nat
ural agents in their possession. That is
the share of Labor in Capital, nothing more.
"Subjective and Objective Capital--There
are two sorts of capital, and to indicate
them use the words subjective and objec-
tive, in the sense given them by Kant: SUBJ
jective, which belongs to me; objective,
all that is outsid of me.
The productive capacity of each person
constitutes his subjective character; such
are the strength Of the laborer, the science
of the engineer, the professional skill of
the artisan.
The objective capital is composed of all
the other utilities performing economic
functions; such are the securities with
which manufacturer sets up his plant,
purchases raw material, pays wages.
"The salary is the purchase by objective
capital Of the products services rendered
by sub jective capital
'What is called conflicts of capital and
labor is the opposition which is estab-
lished between objective capital and sub
jective capital.
"These conflicts arise out of erro-
neous conception Of the role of objective
capital: it is supposed that. when its pos
SCISSOR directly purchases the products
the services arising out Of the subjective
capital thcy~arc Tor his own use; but he is
only an intermediary between the producers
and the consumers.
"In ell industry the objective capital
only makes advances which, under penalty
of ruin, must be reimbursed by the con-
sumer.
"The objective capital guarantees that
the supplier Of the plant, of the raw ma
terial or the products Of labor will be paid
at due date, nothing more. 1t is not the
manufacturer that pays the salaries which
ne exchanges for the proceeds of labor, it
is his customers. 1t is not he who deter
mines the rate of the salaries
"Thc director OF an industry does not
produce for his own needs. He produces
FOR the needs OF others
'lIe IS rot int consumer of the products
or services which he remunerates with
salaries, he is only an Intermediary.
Capital merely advances the salary, as
it advances the plant and raw material; he
that pays the salaries is the consumer who
purchases the products or remunerates the
services.
"lf the price of the product or of ne
service is too high the result is abstention
or substitution; the consumer, by strike,
decisive, though individual and silent,
ceases to pay; the supplier is obliged to
shut down, and the salary disappears"