Itbeingobvious，fromtheseaccumulatedconsiderations，thatarealriseofgeneralwagescannotbethrownontheconsumerbyariseofprices;
itfollowsalsothatarealriseevenofpartialwages——ofwagesinoneorafewemployments——whenthrownontheconsumerbyanincreasedpriceofthearticlesproduced，isgenerallyagainmade，whollyorinpart，attheexpenseoftheremainderofthelabouringclasses。For，theaggregateincomesofthepurchasingpublicnotbeingincreased，ifmoreisspentonsomearticlesofconsumption，lesswillbespentonothers。Therearetwopossiblesuppositions。Thepublicmayeitherreduceitsconsumptionofthearticleswhichhaverisen，oritmayretrenchbypreferenceinotherarticles。Intheformercase，fftheconsumptionfallsoffinfullproportiontotheriseofprice，thereisnomoremoneythanbeforeexpendedinthearticle，andnomore，therefore，tobedividedbetweenthelabourersandtheiremployers;butthelabourersmaypossiblyretaintheirimprovedwages，attheexpenseofprofits，untiltheemployers，wearyofhavinglessprofitthanotherpeople，withdrawpartoftheircapital。Butiftheconsumptiondoesnotfalloff，orfallsoffinalessdegree，sothatmoreisreallyspentonthearticlesafterthanbeforetherise，thepricesofsomeotherthingswillfallfromdiminisheddemand;theproducersofthoseotherthingswillhavelesstodivide，andeitherwagesorprofitsmustsuffer。Itwillusuallybewages;forastherewillnotbeemploymentinthosedepartmentsforsomanylabourersasbefore，somelabourerswillbethrownoutofwork。
AsMr。Thorntonremarks，thegeneralincreaseoftheincomesofthecommunitythroughtheprogressofwealthmaymakeuptotheotherbranchesoftheproductiveclassesforwhattheythuslose，andconvertitfromanabsoluteloss，tothelossofagain——thegainwhichasabodytheywouldhavederivedfromthegeneralincreaseofwealth，butofwhichthewhole，ormorethanthefairshare，hasbeendrawnoffbyasinglebranch。Still，theriseofwagesinanydepartmentisnecessarilyattheexpenseeitherofwagesinotherdepartmentsorofprofits，andingeneralbothwillcontributetoit。Solong，atleast，asthereareanyclassesoflabourerswhoarenotunionised，thesuccessesoftheUnionswillgenerallybeacauseoflosstothelabourersinthenon—unionistoccupations。
Fromtherecognitionofthisfactarisesaseriousquestionofrightandwrong，asbetweenUnionistsandtheremainderofthelabouringclasses。
Asbetweenthemselvesandtheiremployers，theyareundernoobligationsbutthoseofprudence。Theemployersarequitecapableoftakingcareofthemselves。Unionistsareundernomoraldutytotheiremployerswhichtheconditionstheymayseektoimposeonthemcanpossiblyviolate。Buttheyowemoraldutiestotheremainderofthelabouringclasses，andmoraldutiestothecommunityatlarge;anditbehoovesthemtotakecarethattheconditionstheymakefortheirownseparateinterestdonotconflictwitheitheroftheseobligations。