[3]\"Thewagesoflabourdependuponthepriceoflabourandthequantityoflabourperformed……Anincreaseinthewagesoflabourdoesnotnecessarilyimplyanenhancementofthepriceoflabour。Fromfulleremployment，andgreaterexertions，thewagesoflabourmaybeconsiderablyincreased，whilethepriceoflabourmaycontinuethesame。\"（West，op。cit。，pp。67，68，112。）Themainquestion:\"Howisthepriceoflabourdetermined？\"West，however，dismisseswithmerebanalities。
[4]Thisisperceivedbythefanaticalrepresentativeoftheindustrialbourgeoisieofthe18thcentury，theauthorofthe\"EssayonTradeandCommerce\"oftenquotedbyus，althoughheputsthematterinaconfusedway:\"Itisthequantityoflabourandnotthepriceofit\"（hemeansbythisthenominaldailyorweeklywages）\"thatisdeterminedbythepriceofprovisionsandothernecessaries:reducethepriceofnecessariesverylow，andofcourseyoureducethequantityoflabourinproportion。Mastermanufacturersknowthattherearevariouswaysofraisingandfellingthepriceoflabour，besidesthatofalteringitsnominalamount。\"（op。cit。，pp。48，61。）Inhis\"ThreeLecturesontheRateofWages，\"London，1830，inwhichN。W。
SeniorusesWest’sworkwithoutmentioningit，hesays:\"Thelabourerisprincipallyinterestedintheamountofwages\"（p。14），thatistosay，thelabourerisprincipallyinterestedinwhathereceives，thenominalsumofhiswages，notinthatwhichhegives，theamountoflabour！
[5]Theeffectofsuchanabnormallesseningofemploymentisquitedifferentfromthatofageneralreductionoftheworking—day，enforcedbylaw。Theformerhasnothingtodowiththeabsolutelengthoftheworking—day，andmayoccurjustaswellinaworking—dayof15，asof6hours。Thenormalpriceoflabourisinthefirstcasecalculatedonthelabourerworking15hours，inthesecondcaseonhisworking6hoursadayontheaverage。
Theresultisthereforethesame，ifheintheonecaseisemployedonlyfor71/2，intheotheronlyfor3hours。