labour。Twelvehours’labourareexchangedagainst10，6，&tc。，hours’
labour。Thisequalizationofunequalquantitiesnotmerelydoesawaywiththedeterminationofvalue。Suchaself—destructivecontradictioncannotbeinanywayevenenunciatedorformulatedasalaw。[3]
Itisofnoavailtodeducetheexchangeofmorelabouragainstless，fromtheirdifferenceofform，theonebeingrealized，theotherliving。[4]Thisisthemoreabsurdasthevalueofacommodityisdeterminednotbythequantityoflabouractuallyrealizedinit，butbythequantityoflivinglabournecessaryforitsproduction。Acommodityrepresents，say，6working—hours。Ifaninventionismadebywhichitcanbeproducedin3hours，thevalue，evenofthecommodityalreadyproduced，fallsbyhalf。
Itrepresentsnow3hoursofsociallabourinsteadofthe6formerlynecessary。
Itisthequantityoflabourrequiredforitsproduction，nottherealizedformofthatlabour，bywhichtheamountofthevalueofacommodityisdetermined。
Thatwhichcomesdirectlyfacetofacewiththepossessorofmoneyonthemarket，isinfactnotlabour，butthelabourer。Whatthelattersellsishislabour—power。Assoonashislabouractuallybegins，ithasalreadyceasedtobelongtohim;itcanthereforenolongerbesoldbyhim。Labouristhesubstance，andtheimmanentmeasureofvalue，buthasitselfnovalue。[5]
Intheexpression\"valueoflabour，\"theideaofvalueisnotonlycompletelyobliterated，butactuallyreversed。Itisanexpressionasimaginaryasthevalueoftheearth。Theseimaginaryexpressions，arise，however，fromtherelationsofproductionthemselves。Theyarecategoriesforthephenomenalformsofessentialrelations。ThatintheirappearancethingsoftenrepresentthemselvesininvertedformisprettywellknownineveryscienceexceptPoliticalEconomy。[6]
ClassicalPoliticalEconomyborrowedfromevery—daylifethecategory\"priceoflabour\"withoutfurthercriticism，andthensimplyaskedthequestion，howisthispricedetermined？Itsoonrecognizedthatthechangeintherelationsofdemandandsupplyexplainedinregardtothepriceoflabour，asofallothercommodities，nothingexceptitschangesi。e。，theoscillationsofthemarket—priceaboveorbelowacertainmean。Ifdemandandsupplybalance，theoscillationofpricesceases，allotherconditionsremainingthesame。Butthendemandandsupplyalsoceasetoexplainanything。Thepriceoflabour，atthemomentwhendemandandsupplyareinequilibrium，isitsnaturalprice，determinedindependentlyoftherelationofdemandandsupply。Andhowthispriceisdeterminedisjustthequestion。Oralargerperiodofoscillationsinthemarket—priceistaken，e。g。，ayear，andtheyarefoundtocancelonetheother，leavingameanaveragequantity，arelativelyconstantmagnitude。Thishadnaturallytobedeterminedotherwisethanbyitsowncompensatingvariations。Thispricewhichalwaysfinallypredominatesovertheaccidentalmarket—pricesoflabourandregulatesthem，this\"necessaryprice\"（Physiocrats）or\"naturalprice\"oflabour（AdamSmith）can，aswithallothercommodities，benothingelsethanitsvalueexpressedinmoney。InthiswayPoliticalEconomyexpectedtopenetrateathwarttheaccidentalpricesoflabour，tothevalueoflabour。
Aswithothercommodities，thisvaluewasdeterminedbythecostofproduction。
Butwhatisthecostofproduction—ofthelabourer，i。e。，thecostofproducingorreproducingthelabourerhimself？ThisquestionunconsciouslysubstituteditselfinPoliticalEconomyfortheoriginalone;forthesearchafterthecostofproductionoflabourassuchturnedinacircleandneverleftthespot。Whateconomiststhereforecallvalueoflabour，isinfactthevalueoflabour—power，asitexistsinthepersonalityofthelabourer，whichisasdifferentfromitsfunction，labour，asamachineisfromtheworkitperforms。Occupiedwiththedifferencebetweenthemarket—priceoflabouranditsso—calledvalue，withtherelationofthisvaluetotherateofprofit，andtothevaluesofthecommoditiesproducedbymeansoflabour，&tc。，theyneverdiscoveredthatthecourseoftheanalysishadlednotonlyfromthemarket—pricesoflabourtoitspresumedvalue，buthadledtotheresolutionofthisvalueoflabouritselfintothevalueoflabour—power。Classicaleconomyneverarrivedataconsciousnessoftheresultsofitsownanalysis;itaccepteduncriticallythecategories\"valueoflabour，\"\"naturalpriceoflabour，\"&tc。，。asfinalandasadequateexpressionsforthevalue—relationunderconsideration，andwasthusled，aswillbeseenlater，intoinextricableconfusionandcontradiction，whileitofferedtothevulgareconomistsasecurebasisofoperationsfortheirshallowness，whichonprincipleworshipsappearancesonly。
Letusnextseehowvalue（andprice）oflabour—power，presentthemselvesinthistransformedconditionaswages。
Weknowthatthedailyvalueoflabour—poweriscalculateduponacertainlengthofthelabourer’slife，towhich，again，correspondsacertainlengthofworking—day。Assumethehabitualworking—dayas12hours，thedailyvalueoflabour—poweras3s。，theexpressioninmoneyofavaluethatembodies6hoursoflabour。Ifthelabourerreceives3s。，thenhereceivesthevalueofhislabour—powerfunctioningthrough12hours。If，now，thisvalueofaday’slabour—powerisexpressedasthevalueofaday’slabouritself，wehavetheformula:Twelvehours’labourhasavalueof3s。Thevalueoflabour—powerthusdeterminesthevalueoflabour，or，expressedinmoney，itsnecessaryprice。If，ontheotherhand，thepriceoflabour—powerdiffersfromitsvalue，inlikemannerthepriceoflabourdiffersfromitsso—calledvalue。
Asthevalueoflabourisonlyanirrationalexpressionforthevalueoflabour—power，itfollows，ofcourse，thatthevalueoflabourmustalwaysbelessthanthevalueitproduces，forthecapitalistalwaysmakeslabour—powerworklongerthanisnecessaryforthereproductionofitsownvalue。Intheaboveexample，thevalueofthelabour—powerthatfunctionsthrough12hoursis3s。，avalueforthereproductionofwhich6hoursarerequired。
Thevaluewhichthelabour—powerproducesis，ontheotherhand，6s。，becauseit，infact，functionsduring12hours，andthevalueitproducesdepends，notonitsownvalue，butonthelengthoftimeitisinaction。Thus，wehavearesultabsurdatfirstsightthatlabourwhichcreatesavalueof6s。possessesavalueof3s。[7]
Wesee，further:Thevalueof3s。bywhichapartonlyoftheworking—day—i。e。，6hours’labour—ispaidfor，appearsasthevalueorpriceofthewholeworking—dayof12hours，whichthusincludes6hoursunpaidfor。Thewage—formthusextinguisheseverytraceofthedivisionoftheworking—dayintonecessarylabourandsurplus—labour，intopaidandunpaidlabour。Alllabourappearsaspaidlabour。Inthecorvée，thelabouroftheworkerforhimself，andhiscompulsorylabourforhislord，differinspaceandtimeintheclearestpossibleway。Inslave1abour，eventhatpartoftheworking—dayinwhichtheslaveisonlyreplacingthevalueofhisownmeansofexistence，inwhich，therefore，infact，heworksforhimselfalone，appearsaslabourforhismaster。Alltheslave’slabourappearsasunpaidlabour。[8]Inwagelabour，onthecontrary，evensurplus—labour，orunpaidlabour，appearsaspaid。Theretheproperty—relationconcealsthelabouroftheslaveforhimself;herethemoney—relationconcealstheunrequitedlabourofthewagelabourer。
Hence，wemayunderstandthedecisiveimportanceofthetransformationofvalueandpriceoflabour—powerintotheformofwages，orintothevalueandpriceoflabouritself。Thisphenomenalform，whichmakestheactualrelationinvisible，and，indeed，showsthedirectoppositeofthatrelation，formsthebasisofallthejuridicalnotionsofbothlabourerandcapitalist，ofallthemystificationsofthecapitalisticmodeofproduction，ofallitsillusionsastoliberty，ofalltheapologeticshiftsofthevulgareconomists。
Ifhistorytookalongtimetogetatthebottomofthemysteryofwages，nothing，ontheotherhand，ismoreeasytounderstandthanthenecessity，theraisond’etre，ofthisphenomenon。
Theexchangebetweencapitalandlabouratfirstpresentsitselftothemindinthesameguiseasthebuyingandsellingofallothercommodities。
Thebuyergivesacertainsumofmoney，theselleranarticleofanaturedifferentfrommoney。Thejurist’sconsciousnessrecognizesinthis，atmost，amaterialdifference，expressedinthejuridicallyequivalentformula:
\"Doutdes，doutfacias，facioutdes，facioutfacias。\"[9]
Furthermore，exchange—valueanduse—value，beingintrinsicallyincommensurablemagnitudes，theexpressions\"valueoflabour，\"\"priceoflabour，\"donotseemmoreirrationalthantheexpressions\"valueofcotton，\"\"priceofcotton。\"Moreover，thelabourerispaidafterhehasgivenhislabour。
Initsfunctionofmeansofpayment，moneyrealizessubsequentlythevalueorpriceofthearticlesupplied—i。e。，inthisparticularcase，thevalueorpriceofthelaboursupplied。Finally，theuse—valuesuppliedbythelabourertothecapitalistisnot，infact，hislabour—power，butitsfunction，somedefiniteusefullabour，theworkoftailoring，shoemaking，spinning，&tc。Thatthissamelabouris，ontheotherhand，theuniversalvalue—creatingelement，andthuspossessesapropertybywhichitdiffersfromallothercommodities，isbeyondthecognizanceoftheordinarymind。
Letusputourselvesintheplaceofthelabourerwhoreceivesfor12
hours’labour，saythevalueproducedby6hours’labour，say3s。Forhim，infact，his12hours’labouristhemeansofbuyingthe3s。Thevalueofhislabour—powermayvary，withthevalueofhisusualmeansofsubsistence，from3to4shillings，orfrom3to2shillings;or，ifthevalueofhislabour—powerremainsconstant，itspricemay，inconsequenceofchangingrelationsofdemandandsupply，riseto4s。orfallto2s。Healwaysgives12hoursoflabour。Everychangeintheamountoftheequivalentthathereceivesappearstohim，therefore，necessarilyasachangeinthevalueorpriceofhis12hours’work。ThiscircumstancemisledAdamSmith，whotreatedtheworking—dayasaconstantquantity，[10]totheassertionthatthevalueoflabourisconstant，althoughthevalueofthemeansofsubsistencemayvary，andthesameworking—day，therefore，mayrepresentitselfinmoreorlessmoneyforthelabourer。
Letusconsider，ontheotherhand，thecapitalist。Hewishestoreceiveasmuchlabouraspossibleforaslittlemoneyaspossible。Practically，therefore，theonlythingthatinterestshimisthedifferencebetweenthepriceoflabour—powerandthevaluewhichitsfunctioncreates。But，then，hetriestobuyallcommoditiesascheaplyaspossible，andalwaysaccountsforhisprofitbysimplecheating，bybuyingunder，andsellingoverthevalue。Hence，henevercomestoseethat，ifsuchathingasthevalueoflabourreallyexisted，andhereallypaidthisvalue，nocapitalwouldexist，hismoneywouldnotbeturnedintocapital。
Moreover，theactualmovementofwagespresentsphenomenawhichseemtoprovethatnotthevalueoflabour—powerispaid，butthevalueofitsfunction，oflabouritself。Wemayreducethesephenomenatotwogreatclasses:1。）Changeofwageswiththechanginglengthoftheworking—day。
Onemightaswellconcludethatnotthevalueofamachineispaid，butthatofitsworking，becauseitcostsmoretohireamachineforaweekthanforaday。2。）Theindividualdifferenceinthewagesofdifferentlabourerswhodothesamekindofwork。Wefindthisindividualdifference，butarenotdeceivedbyit，inthesystemofslavery，where，franklyandopenly，withoutanycircumlocution，labour—poweritselfissold。Only，intheslavesystem，theadvantageofalabour—powerabovetheaverage，andthedisadvantageofalabour—powerbelowtheaverage，affectstheslave—owner;
inthewage—laboursystem，itaffectsthelabourerhimself，becausehislabour—poweris，intheonecase，soldbyhimself，intheother，byathirdperson。
Fortherest，inrespecttothephenomenalform，\"valueandpriceoflabour，\"or\"wages，\"ascontrastedwiththeessentialrelationmanifestedtherein，viz。，thevalueandpriceoflabour—power，thesamedifferenceholdsthatholdsinrespecttoallphenomenaandtheirhiddensubstratum。
Theformerappeardirectlyandspontaneouslyascurrentmodesofthought;
thelattermustfirstbediscoveredbyscience。ClassicalPoliticalEconomynearlytouchesthetruerelationofthings，without，however，consciouslyformulatingit。Thisitcannot，solongasitsticksinitsbourgeoisskin。
Footnotes[1]\"Mr。Ricardoingeniouslyenoughavoidsadifficultywhich，onafirstview，threatenstoencumberhisdoctrine？thatvaluedependsonthequantityoflabouremployedinproduction。Ifthisprincipleisrigidlyadheredto，itfollowsthatthevalueoflabourdependsonthequantityoflabouremployedinproducingit？whichisevidentlyabsurd。Byadexterousturn，therefore，Mr。Ricardomakesthevalueoflabourdependonthequantityoflabourrequiredtoproducewages;or，togivehimthebenefitofhisownlanguage，hemaintains，thatthevalueoflabouristobeestimatedbythequantityoflabourrequiredtoproducewages;bywhichhemeansthequantityoflabourrequiredtoproducethemoneyorcommoditiesgiventothelabourer。Thisissimilartosaying，thatthevalueofclothisestimated，notbythequantityoflabourbestowedonitsproduction，butbythequantityoflabourbestowedontheproductionofthesilver，forwhichtheclothisexchanged。\"？\"ACriticalDissertationontheNature，&tc。，ofValue，\"pp。50，51。
[2]\"Ifyoucalllabouracommodity，itisnotlikeacommoditywhichisfirstproducedinordertoexchange，andthenbroughttomarketwhereitmustexchangewithothercommoditiesaccordingtotherespectivequantitiesofeachwhichtheremaybeinthemarketatthetime;labouriscreatedthemomentitisbroughttomarket;nay，itisbroughttomarketbeforeitiscreated。\"？\"ObservationsonCertainVerbalDisputes，\"&tc。，pp。75，76。
[3]\"Treatinglabourasacommodity，andcapital，theproduceoflabour，asanother，then，ifthevaluesofthesetwocommoditieswereregulatedbyequalquantitiesoflabour，agivenamountoflabourwould……exchangeforthatquantityofcapitalwhichhadbeenproducedbythesameamountoflabour;antecedentlabourwould……exchangeforthesameamountaspresentlabour。Butthevalueoflabourinrelationtoothercommodities……isdeterminednotbyequalquantitiesoflabour。\"？E。G。WakefieldinhiseditionofAdamSmith’s\"WealthofNations，\"Vol。I。，London，1836，p。231，note。
[4]\"Therehastobeanewagreement\"（aneweditionofthesocialcontract！）
\"thatwheneverthereisanexchangeofworkdoneforworktobedone，thelatter\"（thecapitalist）\"istoreceiveahighervaluethantheformer\"
（theworker）。？Simonde（deSismondi），\"DelaRichesseCommerciale，\"Geneva，1803，VolI，p。37。
[5]\"Labourtheexclusivestandardofvalue……thecreatorofallwealth，nocommodity。\"ThomasHodgskin，\"Popul。Polit。Econ。，\"p。186。
[6]Ontheotherhand，theattempttoexplainsuchexpressionsasmerelypoeticlicenseonlyshowstheimpotenceoftheanalysis。Hence，inanswertoProudhon’sphrase;\"Labouriscalledvalue，notasbeingacommodityitself，butinviewofthevaluessupposedtobepotentiallyembodiedinit。Thevalueoflabourisafigurativeexpression，\"&tc。Ihaveremarked:\"Inlabour，commodity，whichisafrightfulreality，he（Proudhon）seesnothingbutagrammaticalellipsis。Thewholeofexistingsociety，then，baseduponlabourcommodity，ishenceforthbaseduponapoeticlicense，onafigurativeexpression。Doessocietydesiretoeliminatealltheinconvenienceswhichtroubleit，ithasonlytoeliminatealltheill—soundingterms。Letitchangethelanguage，andforthatithasonlytoaddressitselftotheAcademyandaskitforaneweditionofitsdictionary。\"（KarlMarx，\"MiseredelaPhilosophie，\"pp。34，35。）Itisnaturallystillmoreconvenienttounderstandbyvaluenothingatall。Thenonecanwithoutdifficultysubsumeeverythingunderthiscategory。Thus，e。g。，J。B。Say:\"Whatisvalue？\"Answer:\"Thatwhichathingisworth\";andwhatis\"price\"？Answer:
\"Thevalueofathingexpressedinmoney。\"Andwhyhasagricultureavalue？
Answer:\"Becauseonesetsapriceonit。\"Thereforevalueiswhatathingisworth，andthelandhasits\"value，\"becauseitsvalueis\"expressedinmoney。\"Thisis，anyhow，averysimplewayofexplainingthewhyandthewhereforeofthings。
[7]Cf。\"ZurKritik&tc。\"，p。40，whereIstatethat，intheportionofthatworkthatdealswithCapital，thisproblemwillbesolved:\"Howdoesproduction，onthebasisofexchange—valuedeterminedsimplybylabour—time，leadtotheresultthattheexchange—valueoflabourislessthantheexchange—valueofitsproduct？\"
[8]The\"MorningStar\"，aLondonFree—tradeorgan，naiftosilliness，protestedagainandagainduringtheAmericanCivilWar，withallthemoralindignationofwhichmaniscapable，thattheNegrointhe\"ConfederateStates\"workedabsolutelyfornothing。ItshouldhavecomparedthedailycostofsuchaNegrowiththatofthefreeworkmanintheEast—endofLondon。
[9]Igiveinorderthatyoumaygive;Igiveinorderthatyoumayproduce;
Iproducesothatyoumaygive;Iproducesothatyoumayproduce。
[10]AdamSmithonlyaccidentallyalludestothevariationoftheworking—daywhenheisreferringtopiece—wages。
ChapterTwentyKarlMarxCapitalVolumeOnePartVI:
WagesCHAPTERTWENTY:
TIME—WAGES
Wagesthemselvesagaintakemanyforms，afactnotrecognizableintheordinaryeconomictreatiseswhich，exclusivelyinterestedinthematerialsideofthequestion，neglecteverydifferenceofform。Anexpositionofalltheseformshowever，belongstothespecialstudyofwagelabour，notthereforetothiswork。Stillthetwofundamentalformsmustbebrieflyworkedouthere。
Thesaleoflabour—power，aswillberemembered，takesplaceforadefiniteperiodoftime。Theconvertedformunderwhichthedaily，weekly，&tc。，valueoflabour—powerpresentsitself，ishencethatoftimewages，thereforeday—wages，&tc。
Nextitistobenotedthatthelawssetforth，inthe17thchapter，onthechangesintherelativemagnitudesofpriceoflabour—powerandsurplus—value，passbyasimpletransformationofform，intolawsofwages。
Similarlythedistinctionbetweentheexchange—valueoflabourpower，andthesumofthenecessariesoflifeintowhichthisvalueisconverted，nowreappearsasthedistinctionbetweennominalandrealwages。Itwouldbeuselesstorepeathere，withregardtothephenomenalform，whathasbeenalreadyworkedoutinthesubstantialform。Welimitourselvesthereforetoafewpointscharacteristicoftime—wages。
Thesumofmoney[1]whichthelabourerreceivesforhisdailyorweeklylabour，formstheamountofhisnominalwages，orofhiswagesestimatedinvalue。Butitisclearthataccordingtothelengthoftheworking—day，thatis，accordingtotheamountofactuallabourdailysupplied，thesamedailyorweeklywagemayrepresentverydifferentpricesoflabour，i。e。，verydifferentsumsofmoneyforthesamequantityoflabour。[2]Wemust，therefore，inconsideringtime—wages，againdistinguishbetweenthesum—totalofthedailyorweeklywages，&tc。，andthepriceoflabour。Howthen，tofindthisprice，i。e。，themoney—valueofagivenquantityoflabour？Theaveragepriceoflabourisfound，whentheaveragedailyvalueofthelabour—powerisdividedbytheaveragenumberofhoursintheworking—day。If，e。g。，thedailyvalueoflabour—poweris3shillings，thevalueoftheproductof6working—hours，andiftheworking—dayis12hours，thepriceof1workinghouris3/12shillings=3d。Thepriceoftheworking—hourthusfoundservesastheunitmeasureforthepriceoflabour。
Itfollows，therefore，thatthedailyandweeklywages，&tc。，mayremainthesame，althoughthepriceoflabourfallsconstantly。If，e。g。，thehabitualworking—dayis10hoursandthedailyvalueofthelabour—power3s。，thepriceoftheworking—houris33/5d。Itfallsto3s。assoonastheworking—dayrisesto12hours，to22/5dassoonasitrisesto15
hours。Dailyorweeklywagesremain，despiteallthis，unchanged。Onthecontrary，thedailyorweeklywagesmayrise，althoughthepriceoflabourremainsconstantorevenfalls。If，e。g。，theworking—dayis10hours，andthedailyvalueoflabour—power3shillings，thepriceofoneworking—houris33/5d。Ifthelabourer，inconsequenceofincreaseoftrade，works12hours，thepriceoflabourremainingthesame，hisdailywagenowrisesto3shillings7i5/d。withoutanyvariationinthepriceoflabour。Thesameresultmightfollowif，insteadoftheextensiveamountoflabour，itsintensiveamountincreased。[3]Theriseofthenominaldailyorweeklywagesmaythereforebeaccompaniedbyapriceoflabourthatremainsstationaryorfalls。Thesameholdsastotheincomeofthelabourer’sfamily，assoonasthequantityoflabourexpendedbytheheadofthefamilyisincreasedbythelabourofthemembersofhisfamily。Thereare，therefore，methodsofloweringthepriceoflabourindependentofthereductionofthenominaldailyorweeklywages。[4]
Asagenerallawitfollowsthat，giventheamountofdailyorweeklylabour，&tc。，thedailyorweeklywagesdependonthepriceoflabourwhichitselfvarieseitherwiththevalueoflabour—power，orwiththedifferencebetweenitspriceanditsvalue。Given，ontheotherhand，thepriceoflabour，thedailyorweeklywagesdependonthequantityofthedailyorweeklylabour。
Theunit—measurefortime—wages，thepriceoftheworking—hour，isthequotientofthevalueofaday’slabour—power，dividedbythenumberofhoursoftheaverageworking—day。Letthelatterbe12hours，andthedailyvalueoflabour—power3shillings，thevalueoftheproductof6hoursoflabour。Underthesecircumstancesthepriceofaworkinghouris3d。;
thevalueproducedinitis6d。Ifthelabourerisnowemployedlessthan12hours（orlessthan6daysintheweek），e。g。，only6or8hours，hereceives，withthispriceoflabour，only2s。or1s。6d。aday。[5]Asonourhypothesishemustworkontheaverage6hoursdaily，inordertoproduceaday’swagecorrespondingmerelytothevalueofhislabourpower，asaccordingtothesamehypothesisheworksonlyhalfofeveryhourforhimself，andhalfforthecapitalist，itisclearthathecannotobtainforhimselfthevalueoftheproductof6hoursifheisemployedlessthan12hours。Inpreviouschapterswesawthedestructiveconsequencesofover—work;herewefindthesourcesofthesufferingsthatresulttothelabourerfromhisinsufficientemployment。
Ifthehour’swageisfixedsothatthecapitalistdoesnotbindhimselftopayaday’soraweek’swage，butonlytopaywagesforthehoursduringwhichhechoosestoemploythelabourer，hecanemployhimforashortertimethanthatwhichisoriginallythebasisofthecalculationofthehour—wage，ortheunit—measureofthepriceoflabour。Sincethisunitisdeterminedbytheratiodailyvalueoflabour—power棗棗棗棗棗棗棗棗棗？
working—dayofagivennumberofhours’
it，ofcourse，losesallmeaningassoonastheworking—dayceasestocontainadefinitenumberofhours。Theconnectionbetweenthepaidandtheunpaidlabourisdestroyed。Thecapitalistcannowwringfromthelabouracertainquantityofsurplus—labourwithoutallowinghimthelabour—timenecessaryforhisownsubsistence。Hecanannihilateallregularityofemployment，andaccordingtohisownconvenience，caprice，andtheinterestofthemoment，makethemostenormousover—workalternatewithrelativeorabsolutecessationofwork。Hecan，underthepretenseofpaying\"thenormalpriceoflabour，\"abnormallylengthentheworking—daywithoutanycorrespondingcompensationtothelabourer。Hencetheperfectlyrationalrevoltin1860oftheLondonlabourers，employedinthebuildingtrades，againsttheattemptofthecapitaliststoimposeonthemthissortofwagebythehour。Thelegallimitationoftheworking—dayputsanendtosuchmischief，althoughnot，ofcourse，tothediminutionofemploymentcausedbythecompetitionofmachinery，bychangesinthequalityofthelabourersemployed，andbycrisespartialorgeneral。
Withanincreasingdailyorweeklywagethepriceoflabourmayremainnominallyconstant，andyetmayfallbelowitsnormallevel。Thisoccurseverytimethat，thepriceoflabour（reckonedperworking—hour）remainingconstant，theworking—dayisprolongedbeyonditscustomarylength。Ifinthefraction:
dailyvalueoflabourpower棗棗棗棗棗棗？
working—daythedenominatorincreases，thenumeratorincreasesyetmorerapidly。
Thevalueoflabour—power，asdependentonitswearandtear，increaseswiththedurationofitsfunctioning，andinmorerapidproportionthantheincreaseofthatduration。Inmanybranchesofindustrywheretime—wageisthegeneralrulewithoutlegallimitstotheworking—time，thehabithas，therefore，spontaneouslygrownupofregardingtheworkingdayasnormalonlyuptoacertainpoint，e。g。，uptotheexpirationofthetenthhour（\"normalworking—day，\"\"theday’swork，\"\"theregularhoursofwork\"）。
Beyondthislimittheworking—timeisover—time，andis，takingthehourasunit—measure，paidbetter（\"extrapay\"），althoughofteninaproportionridiculouslysmall。[6]Thenormalworking—dayexistshereasafractionoftheactualworking—day，andthelatter，oftenduringthewholeyear，lastslongerthantheformer。[7]Theincreaseinthepriceoflabourwiththeextensionoftheworking—daybeyondacertainnormallimit，takessuchashapeinvariousBritishindustriesthatthelowpriceoflabourduringtheso—callednormaltimecompelsthelabourertoworkduringthebetterpaidover—time，ifhewishestoobtainasufficientwageatall。[8]Legallimitationoftheworking—dayputsanendtotheseamenities。[9]
Itisafactgenerallyknownthat，thelongertheworking—days，inanybranchofindustry，thelowerarethewages。[10]A。Redgrave，factoryinspector，illustratesthisbyacomparativereviewofthe20yearsfrom1839—1859，accordingtowhichwagesroseinthefactoriesunderthe10HoursLaw，whilsttheyfellinthefactoriesinwhichtheworklasted14to15hoursdaily。[11]
Fromthelaw，\"thepriceoflabourbeinggiven，thedailyorweeklywagedependsonthequantityoflabourexpended，\"itfollows，firstofall，thatthelowerthepriceoflabour，thegreatermustbethequantityoflabour，orthelongermustbetheworking—dayforthelabourertosecureevenamiserableaveragewage。Thelownessofthepriceoflabouractshereasastimulustotheextensionofthelabour—time。[12]
Ontheotherhand，theextensionoftheworking—timeproduces，initsturn，afallinthepriceoflabour，andwiththisafallintheday’sorweek’swages。
Thedeterminationofthepriceoflabourby:
dailyvalueoflabourpower棗棗棗棗棗棗棗棗棗？
workingdayofagivennumberofhoursshowsthatamereprolongationoftheworking—daylowersthepriceoflabour，ifnocompensationstepsin。Butthesamecircumstanceswhichallowthecapitalistinthelongruntoprolongtheworking—day，alsoallowhimfirst，andcompelhimfinally，tonominallylowerthepriceoflabouruntilthetotalpriceoftheincreasednumberofhoursislowered，and，therefore，thedailyorweeklywage。Referencetotwocircumstancesissufficienthere。Ifonemandoestheworkof11/2or2men，thesupplyoflabourincreases，althoughthesupplyoflabour—poweronthemarketremainsconstant。
Thecompetitionthuscreatedbetweenthelabourersallowsthecapitalisttobeatdownthepriceoflabour，whilstthefallingpriceoflabourallowshim，ontheotherhand，toscrewupstillfurthertheworking—time。[13]Soon，however，thiscommandoverabnormalquantitiesofunpaidlabour，i。e。，quantitiesinexcessoftheaveragesocialamount，becomesasourceofcompetitionamongstthecapitaliststhemselves。Apartofthepriceofthecommodityconsistsofthepriceoflabour。Theunpaidpartofthelabour—priceneednotbereckonedinthepriceofthecommodity。Itmaybepresentedtothebuyer。Thisisthefirststeptowhichcompetitionleads。Thesecondsteptowhichitdrivesistoexcludealsofromthesellingpriceofthecommodityatleastapartoftheabnormalsurplus—valuecreatedbytheextensionoftheworking—day。Inthisway，anabnormallylowsellingpriceofthecommodityarises，atfirstsporadically，andbecomesfixedbydegrees;alowersellingpricewhichhenceforwardbecomestheconstantbasisofamiserablewageforanexcessiveworking—time，asoriginallyitwastheproductoftheseverycircumstances。Thismovementissimplyindicatedhere，astheanalysisofcompetitiondoesnotbelongtothispartofoursubject。Nevertheless，thecapitalistmay，foramoment，speakforhimself。\"InBirminghamthereissomuchcompetitionofmastersoneagainstanotherthatmanyareobligedtodothingsasemployersthattheywouldotherwisebeashamedof;andyetnomoremoneyismade，butonlythepublicgetsthebenefit。\"[14]ThereaderwillrememberthetwosortsofLondonbakers，ofwhomonesoldthebreadatitsfullprice（the\"full—priced\"bakers），theotherbelowitsnormalprice（\"theunder—priced，\"\"theundersellers\"）。The\"full—priced\"
denouncedtheirrivalsbeforetheParliamentaryCommitteeofInquiry:\"Theyonlyexistnowbyfirstdefraudingthepublic，andnextgetting18hours’
workoutoftheirmenfor12hours’wages……Theunpaidlabourofthemenwasmade……thesourcewherebythecompetitionwascarriedon，andcontinuessotothisday……Thecompetitionamongthemasterbakersisthecauseofthedifficultyingettingridofnight—work。Anunderseller，whosellshisbreadbelowthecost—priceaccordingtothepriceofflour，mustmakeitupbygettingmoreoutofthelabourofthemen……IfIgotonly12hours’workoutofmymen，andmyneighborgot18or20，hemustbeatmeinthesellingprice。Ifthemencouldinsistonpaymentforover—work，thiswouldbesetright……Alargenumberofthoseemployedbytheundersellersareforeignersandyouths，whoareobligedtoacceptalmostanywagestheycanobtain。\"[15]
Thisjeremiadisalsointerestingbecauseitshowshowtheappearanceonlyoftherelationsofproductionmirrorsitselfinthebrainofthecapitalist。Thecapitalistdoesnotknowthatthenormalpriceoflabouralsoincludesadefinitequantityofunpaidlabour，andthatthisveryunpaidlabouristhenormalsourceofhisgain。Thecategoryofsurpluslabour—timedoesnotexistatallforhim，sinceitisincludedinthenormalworking—day，whichhethinkshehaspaidforintheday’swages。
Butover—timedoesexistforhim，theprolongationoftheworking—daybeyondthelimitscorrespondingwiththeusualpriceoflabour。Facetofacewithhisundersellingcompetitor，heeveninsistsuponextrapayforthisover—time。
Heagaindoesnotknowthatthisextrapayincludesunpaidlabour，justaswellasdoesthepriceofthecustomaryhouroflabour。Forexample，thepriceofonehourofthe12hours’working—dayis3d。，saythevalue—productofhalfaworking—hour，whilstthepriceoftheover—timeworking—houris4d。，orthevalue—productof2/3ofaworkinghour。Inthefirstcasethecapitalistappropriatestohimselfone—half，inthesecond，one—thirdoftheworking—hourwithoutpayingforit。
Footnotes[1]Thevalueofmoneyitselfisherealwayssupposedconstant。
[2]\"Thepriceoflabouristhesumpaidforagivenquantityoflabour。\"（SirEdwardWest，\"PriceofCornandWagesofLabour，\"London，1836，p。67。）
Westistheauthoroftheanonymous\"EssayontheApplicationofCapitaltoLand。\"byaFellowoftheUniversityCollegeofOxford，London，1815。
Anepoch—makingworkinthehistoryofPoliticalEconomy。