第7章

　　Theadditionalcapitalwhichisthusreplacedbelongstothecirculatingcapital，althoughthemannerofitsexpenditureisirregular。Asitisofparamountimportancetoremedyeverydamagetomachineryimmediately，everycomparativelylargefactoremploysinadditiontotheregularfactoryforcespecialpersonnel——engineers，carpenters，mechanics，locksmiths，etc。Theirwagesareapartofthevariablecapitalandthevalueoftheirlabourisdistributedovertheproduct。Ontheotherhandtheexpensesformeansofproductionarecalculatedonthebasisoftheabove-mentionedaverage，accordingtowhichtheyformcontinuallyapartofthevalueoftheproduct，althoughtheyareactuallyadvancedinirregularperiodsandthereforeenterintotheproductorthefixedcapitalinirregularperiods。

　　Thiscapital，expendedinrepairsproperlysocalled，isinmanyrespectsacapitalsuigeneris，whichcanbeclassedneitherascirculatingnorasfixedcapital，butbelongswithgreaterjustificationtotheformer，sinceitfiguresamongtherunningexpenses。

　　Themannerofbook-keepingdoesnotofcoursechangeinanywaytheactualstateofaffairsbooked。Butitisimportanttonotethatcustomarilymanylinesofbusinessfigurethecostsofrepairstogetherwiththeactualwearandtearofthefixedcapitalinthefollowingmanner:Lettheadvancedfixedcapitalbe&pound；10，000anditsdurability15years。Theannualwearandtearisthen&pound；6662/3。Butthedepreciationiscalculatedonadurabilityofonlytenyears；inotherwords，&pound；1，000areaddedannuallytothepriceoftheproducedcommoditiesforwearandtearofthefixedcapital，insteadof&pound；6662/3。Thus&pound；3331/3arere-servedforrepairs，etc。Thefigures10and15arechosenonlybywayofillustration。

　　Thisamountisspentonanaverageforrepairs，sothatthefixedcapitalmaylast15years。Suchacalculationnaturallydoesnotpreventthefixedcapitalandtheadditionalcapitalspentonrepairsfrombelongingtodifferentcategories。Onthestrengthofthismodeofcalculationitwasassumedforinstancethatthelowestcostestimateforthemaintenanceandreplacementofsteamshipswas15percentannuallythetimeofreproductionbeingtherefore62/3years。Inthesixties，theEnglishgovernmentindemnifiedthePeninsularandOrientalCo。attheannualrateof16percent，correspondingtoareproductiontimeof61/4years。Onrailwaystheaveragelifeofalocomotiveis10

　　years，butthedepreciation，countinginrepairsistakenas121/2percent，whichbringsdownitsdurabilityto8years。Inthecaseofpassengerandgoodscars，theestimateis9percent，oradurabilityof111/9years。