WhenM。Proudhonwantstobeaneconomist，andtoabandonforamomentthe\"evolutionofideasinserialrelationintheunderstanding\"，thenhegoesanddrawseruditionfromAdamSmith，fromatimewhentheautomaticworkshopwasonlyjustcomingintoexistence。Indeed，whatadifferencebetweenthedivisionoflaborasitexistedinAdamSmith’sdayandasweseeitintheautomaticworkshop！Inordertomakethisproperlyunderstood，weneedonlyquoteafewpassagesfromDr。Ure’sThePhilosophyofManufactures。
\"WhenAdamSmithwrotehisimmortalelementsofeconomics，automaticmachinerybeinghardlyknown，hewasproperlyledtoregardthedivisionoflaborasthegrandprincipleofmanufacturingimprovement;andheshowed，intheexampleofpin—making，howeachhandicraftsman，beingtherebyenabledtoperfecthimselfbypracticeinonepoint，becameaquickerandcheaperworkman。Ineachbranchofmanufacturehesawthatsomepartswere，onthatprinciple，ofeasyexecution，likethecuttingofpinwiresintouniformlengths，andsomewerecomparativelydifficult，liketheformationandfixationoftheirheads;andthereforeheconcludedthattoeachaworkmanofappropriatevalueandcostwasnaturallyassigned。Thisappropriationformstheveryessenceofthedivisionoflabor……
\"ButwhatwasinDr。Smith’stimeatopicofusefulillus—tration，cannotnowbeusedwithoutriskofmisleadingthepublicmindastotherightprincipleofmanufacturingindustry。Infact，thedivision，orratheradaptationoflabortothedifferenttalentsofmen，islittlethoughtofinfactoryemployment。Onthecontrary，whereveraprocessrequiresapeculiardexterityandsteadinessofhand，itiswithdrawnassoonaspossiblefromthecunningworkman，whoispronetoirregularitiesofmanykinds，anditisplacedinchargeofapeculiarmechanism，soself—regulating，thatachildmaysuperintendit。
\"Theprincipleofthefactorysystemthenis，tosubstitutemechanicalscienceforhandskill，andthepartitionofaprocessintoitsessentialconstituents，forthedivisionorgradationoflaboramongartisans。Onthehandicraftplan，labormoreorlessskilled，wasusuallythemostexpensiveelementofproduction……butontheautomaticplan，skilledlaborgetsprogressivelysuperseded，andwill，eventually，bereplacedbymereoverlookersofmachines。
\"Bytheinfirmityofhumannatureithappens，thatthemoreskillfultheworkman，themoreself—willedandintractableheisapttobecome，and，ofcourse，thelessfitacompon—entofamechanicalsystem，inwhich，byoccassionalirreg—ularities，hemaydogreatdamagetothewhole。Thegrandobjectthereforeofthemodernmanufactureris，throughtheunionofcapitalandscience，toreducethetaskofhisworkpeopletotheexerciseofvigilanceanddexterity——faculties，whenconcentratedtooneprocess，speedilybroughttoperfectionintheyoung。