KARL MARXWAGES, PRICE,
AND
PROFITFOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS PEKING 1975 First Edition 1965 Second Printing 1969 Third Printing 1970 Fourth Printing 1973 Fifth Printing 1975 |
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[1] This is the text of an address Karl Marx delivered in English at the sessions of the General Council of the First International on June 20 and 27, 1865. The address was occasioned by speeches made by John Weston, member of the General Council, on May 2 and 23. Weston tried to prove in his speeches that a general rise in the rate of wages would be of no use to the workers and that, therefore, trade unions had a "harmful" effect. Marx's manuscript of this address has been preserved. The address was first published in London, 1898, by Marx's daughter, Eleanor Marx Aveling, under the title "Value, Price and Profit," with a preface by Edward Aveling. In the manuscript, the preliminary and the first six sections bear no headings. They were added by Edward Aveling. The title used in the present edition is the generally accepted one. [p.1]
[2] Maximum Laws: Introduced in 1793 and 1794, during the French bourgeois revolution, by the Jacobin Convention. They fixed definite price limits for commodities and maximum wages. [p.13]
[3] In September 1861 (1860 in Marx's manuscript), the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its 31st annual meeting in Manchester, which was attended by Marx, then Engels' guest in the city. William Newmarch, president of the economic section of the association, also spoke at the meeting, but by a slip of the pen, Marx referred to him as Newman. Presiding over the section meeting, Newmarch delivered a report entitled "On the Extent to Which Sound Principles of Taxation Are Embodied in the Legislation of the United Kingdom." (See Report of the Thirty-first Meeting of the Britisb As-
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sociation for the Advancement of Science, Held at Manchester in September 1861, London, 1862, p. 230.) [p.14]
[4] This refers to a six-volume history of industry, commerce and finance by the British economist Thomas Tooke. The volumes were published separately under the following titles: A History of Prices and of the State of the Circulation, from 1793 to 1837, London, 1838, Vols. I-II; A History of Prices and of the State of the Circulation, in 1838 and 1839, London, 1840; A History of Prices and of the State of the Circulation, from 1839 to 1847 Inclusive, London, 1848; and T. Tooke and W. Newmarch, A History of Prices and of the State of the Circulation, During the Nine Years 1848-1856, London, 1857, Vols. V-VI. [p.14]
[5] See Robert Owen, Observations on the Effect of the Manufacturing System, London, 1817, p. 76. The book first appeared in 1815. [p.14]
[6] The extensive demolition of the dwelling-houses of agricultural labourers in England in the mid-19th century followed the feverish development of capitalist industry and the introduction of the capitalist mode of production in agriculture at a time when there was "relative overpopulation" in the countyside. The widespread demolition of the houses was accelerated by the fact that the amount of poor rate paid by a land-owner largely depended on the number of poor people who lived on his land. So the land-owners deliberately pulled down those houses which they did not need themselves and which could be used as shelters for the "surplus" population. (For details, see Karl Marx, Capital, FLPH, Moscow, 1954, Vol. I, pp. 673-96.) [p.16]
[7] The Society of Arts, founded in London in 1754, was an enlightened bourgeois philanthropic institution. The report "The Forces Used in Agriculture" was delivered by John Chalmers Morton, who died in 1864. [p.16]
[8] The Corn Laws of Britain, which aimed at restricting or prohibiting the import of grain from abroad, were introduced in the interest of the big land-owners. The repeal of the laws by the British Parliament in June 1846 meant a victory for the industrial bourgeoisie which had fought against them under the slogan of free trade. [p.17]
[9] See David Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation, London, 1821, p. 26. The first edition of the book appeared in London in 1817. [p.31]
[10] See Benjamin Franklin, Works, Boston, 1836, Vol. II. [p.35]
[11] Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Edinburgh, 1814, Vol. I, p. 93. [p.41]
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[12] "Labour power" in the authorized English translation of Capital. [p.43]
[13] Thomas Hobbes, "Leviathan, or the Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil," English Works, London, 839, Vol. III, p. 76. [p.44]
[14] This refers to the wars waged by England from 1793 to 1815 against France during the period of the bourgeois revolution of France in the late 18th century. During these wars the British government established a terror regime against the working people. In particular during this period, several popular uprisings in England were suppressed and laws were passed which made trade unionism illegal. [p.66]
[15] Marx is referring to Thomas Malthus' critical pamphlet entitled An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent, and the Principles by Which It Is Regulated, London, 1815. [p.66]
[16] This refers to the pamphlet, An Essay on Trade and Commerce: Containing Observations on Taxes, published anonymously in London in 1770. It was attributed to J. Cunningham. [p.66]
[17] This refers to a debate on child and juvenile labour in the British parliament between February and March 1832 which arose out of the Ten Hours Bill introduced in 1831. [p.67]
[18] Juggernaut according to Hinduism is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. The cult of Juggernaut is characterized by elaborate ceremony and fanatic religious passion which used to be manifested by self-torment and suicidal immolation. During festivals an image of Vishnu-Juggernaut is drawn on a huge car, under whose wheels many devotees, it is said, used to allow themselves to be crushed to death. [p.68]
[19 ] W. T. Thornton, Over-population and Its Remedy, London, 1846. [p.73]
[20] Under the Poor Laws of England, first introduced in the 16th century, every parish collected poor rates from its inhabitants. Those who could not provide for themselves and their families were granted relief. [p.73]
[21]
See Karl Marx, Capital, FLPH, Moscow, 1954, Vol. I, Chap. XXXIII, p. 765, Note 1:
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[-DJR-"]We treat here of real Colonies, virgin soils, colonized by free immigrants. The United States are, speaking economically, still only a Colony of Europe. Besides, to this category belong also
such old plantations as those in which the abolition of slavery has completely altered the earlier conditions.["-DJR-]
As the land in colonial countries was forcibly converted everywhere into private property, wage workers became deprived of the possibility of becoming self-sustaining producers.
[p.75]
[22] David Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation, London, l821, p. 479. [p.75]