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$ Das Kapital.

L

Kritik der politischen Ockonomie. E

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v.. !4

8

Karl Marn.

I

I

Errtcr Band

B.A I. DU rrOl.*~.~.~...'. dl%X.~IYLI.HamburgVerlsg von Otta Meiasner. 1

1861

Crmer of rhs First Ce-Edition of CAPITAL. 1'01. 1

(reduced)

CAPITAL

A Critique of Political Economy

by KARL MARX

VOLUME I

THE PROCESS OFCAPITALIST PRODUCTION

TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRD CERMAN EDITIONBY SAMUEL MOORE AND EDWARD AVEWNC

EDITED BY

FREDERICK ENGELS

INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERSNew York



Cnl~l'C:\LIST I~ILOUUCTION

devclopmcnl of 111~ niid~llc ages, ~lic exislence of sovereign towns,has been long on rhe nanc.

~l~~ llislor!. of priniilivc accum~~lalion,

all rovolulionsareel,oC~l-llln~illg~ l I?CL ~ ~ l

~ ICVCIS for LIIC eallilillisl class in collrsoof ~orInalion; but, above all, those momenls when veal massesof are suddcnl!. and forcibly torn from their means of sllb-sis~ence, and hurled as free and "unattached prolelarians on lll0Inl)our-nlarkel. The exproprialion of the agricultural producer,of lllc pcasanl, from the soil, is Lhe basis 01 Lhc whole process.TI^^ llislory of this exproprialion, in differen1 counlries, aSSumesdifferen1 aspecls, and runs Lllrouglr ils various phases in dinerent

succession, nn~l nl differcut pcriods. In Ellgland alone,

,vhicll \,.e lake as our urnniple, has il 1110 classic form.'

CHAPTER XXVIIE~PR~PRI~'lTON AQILICULTIIRAL PCII'L7..iT[r)y

OF TllEPllUP TlIE LAND

IxEngland. serfdom had practically disappeared in the lastPar1 of tho 14th coiltury. The immense majority of ihe popula-lion' consisted then, and to a still larger extenl, in the 15th

cenlurY, of free peasant proprietors, whatever was the felldalLitle un'der which their right of property was hidden. In the largerseignorial domains, the old bailiff, himself a serf, \va~displaecdby the fmo farlncr. The woyo-lu1,ourcru of ngric~llLljrr: consisrctlP~"L~Y of Peasauts, wllo uliliecd tl~oir luisuro limo t,y \vorkingOn Lhe large eslalos, partly of an independent special class ofl~ag~-labourers,relatively and absolutely few in numbers. ~h~laLl0r also were ~raclically at the same lime peasant farmers,

hesides lheir wagos, they had allotted to them arable land

to the exlent of 4 or more acres, logether with their cotlages. B~-

they, with the rest of the peasants, enjoyed the usufrllct of

Lhe collllnon land, wl~icll gave paslure to their calllc, furnijtLed

lhem with timber, fire-wood, turf, &c.' In all countries of Europe,

'Wc mu31 never brgcl Llral evcn Lbr serl was no1 only Lhe oancr, if

but a Lribulc-paying uwcr, ol Lbe piece ol land allached lo his houzo, but



718 EXPROPRIATION OF AORICULTURAL POPULATION 719

CAPITALIST PRODUCTION

I

feudal production is characteriscd by division of the soilanlongst tbc greatest possiblc nunlbcr of sub-fcl~datorics. Themight of thc feudal lord, like that of the sovereign, depcndcdnot on the length of his rent-roll, hut on the number of his sub-jects, and the latter depended on the number of peasant pro-prietor~.~

Although, therefore, the English land, after the Normanconquest, was distributed in gigantic baronies, one of which oftenincludcd sonlo 900 of the old Anglo-Saxon lordships, it washcslrc\vn with small pcasnllt properties, only here and there

interspersed with grcat seignorial domains. Such conditions.togctller with tbe prosperity of thc towns so characteristicof the15th century, allowed of that wealth of the eople which ChnnccllorForiescue so eloquently paints in his "{audcs legum Anglba";but it excluded the possibility of capitalistic wealth.

The prelude of tbe revolution that laid the foundation ofthe capitalist mode of production, was played in the last tbirdof the 15th, and the first decade of thc 16th century. A massof free proletarians was hurled on the labour-market by thebreaking-up of the bands of feudal retainers, who, as Sir JamesSteuart well says, "everywhere uselessly filled housc and castle."Altl~ough the royal power, itself a product of bourgeois develop-

ment, in its strife after absolute sovereignty forcibly hastened onthc dissolution of these bands of retainers, it was by no menusthe sole cause of it. In insolent conflict with king and parliament,thc great feudal lords crcated an incomparably larger proletar-iat by the forcible driving of tlle peasantry from the land, to

which the latter had the same feudal right as the lord himself.and by the usurpation of the conllnon lands. Tllc rapid rise of thoFlcmisb wool manufactures, anJ the corresponding rise in theprice of tvool in England, gave the direct impulse to these evic-tions. The old nobility had been devoured by the great fcudalwars. The ncw nobility was the child of its time, for which nroncywas tlle power of all powers. T~*ansformation of arable land into

also a co-possessor 01 tho common land. "Le paysan (in Silesla, under Freder-

icb: 11.) esl serl." Novorlheless, Lheso serI6 posw common lands. "On n'n pas

I pu encore cllgagcr lc9 SilSsie~lsau partage dcs communes, tandis que dans la

! Nouvelle hlarcbe, il n'y a gukrc de village oh ce partn c ne soit cxfculb avcc le plus grand succbs!' (hlrrnbcau: "De la hlonarchie $russlennc. I.ondres.

I 1788, 1. ii, pp. 129, 126.)

1 Japan, witil ils purely feudal organisation 01 landed property and itsdeveloped perire culture, gives a much truer picture of lbe European middleages lban all our history hoohs, dictated as these are, lor the most part, bybou



rgeois prejudices. It is very convcniei~t to be "liberal" at lhe expense oftbe middle agcs.

P

;

!.

sheep-walks was, therefore, its cry. Harrison, in his "Descrip-tion of England! prefixed to Holinshed's Cbroniclcs," dezcrihesbow the exproprlatlon of small peasants is ruining the Country."What care our great encroachers?" The dwellings of ~hc pcarar~tsaud the cottages of the lnbourers were razed to the ground or doomedto decay. ''If," says Harrison, "the old records of euerie manour besought ... it will soon appear tbat in some manour seventeene.eighteene, or twentie houscs are shrunk . . . that England wasneuer less furnished with people than at the prescnt .. . Of cities

and townes eitllcr uttcrly docaied or moro than a qllartar or hall

diminished, though some one he a little irlcreascd hereor thcre;of townes pulled downe for sheepe-wnlks, and no more bul thelordships now standing in them. . .I could saie some\\fhat." Thecomplaints of these old chroniclers are always exaggerated, butthey reflect faithfully the impression made on contemp~rariesby the revolution in the conditions of production. A comparisonof the writings of Chancellor Fortescue and Thomas More revealsthe gulf between the 15th and 16th century. As Thornton rightlyhas it, the English working-class was prccipitated without anytransition from its golden into its iron age.

Legislation was terrified at this revolution. It did not yet

stand on tbat height of civilisation where the "wealth of the na-

tion" (i.e., the formation of capital, and the reckless esploita-

tion and impoverishing of the mass of the people) figure as the

ulrirna Thule of all state-craft. In his lristory of Henry VII.,

Bacon says: "Inclosures at that time (1h89) began to he more

frequent, whereby arable land (wllich could not he manured

willlout pcopll? and fernilics) was turncfl into rjarlurc, \r.l~ich

was easily rid by a few herdsmen; and tenancies for years, lives,

and at will (whereupon much of thc yeomanry lived) were turned

into demesnes. This bred a decay of people, and (hy consequcmcc)

a decay of towns, churclles, tithes, and the like . . . . In remedy-

ing of this inconvcnicnce the king's wisdom was admirable,

and the parliament's at that time . . . they took a course to Lake



away depopul~lting inclosures, and depopulating pasturogo."

An Act of Henry VII., 1489, cap. 19, forbad thc destruction of

all "houses of husbandry" to which at least 20 acres of land be-

longed. By an Act, 25 Henry VIII., the same law was renewed.

It recites, among other things, that many farms and large flocks ol

cattle, especially of sheep, are concentrated in the hands of a few

men, whereby the rent of land basmuch risen and tillage has fall-

en off, churchcs and houses have been pulled down, and marvellous

numbers of people have buen deprived of the means wherewith




to mail~tain tLernselves and tlleir families. The Act, therc-

fore, ordains the rebuilding of the tlecayetl form-steads, and fires

a proportion between corn land and pastore land, kc. An Act uf

15.33 recites illat some owners possess 24,000 sheep, and limitsthe numberto be owned to 2,000.' The cry of the ~eople and lllelegislation directed, for 150 years after Henry VII., againstthe espropriation of the small farmers and peasants, were aliliofr~itless. The secret of their inefficiency Baco~~,

\\rithout knolvi~~git, reveals to us. "The device of King Henry VII.," says Bacon,in his "Essa!.s, Civil and iloral," Essay 29, "was profound an11

admirable, in making farms and houses of llosbandry of a stand-ard; that is, maintained with such a proportion of land untotllenl as may breed a subject to live in coriveniont plenty, and noservile contlition, and to keep the plougll in the hands of the o\vnersaud not lnero hirelings."? \\'hat the capitalist system demanded

was, on the ot.her hand, a degraded and alnlost servileconditiollof the mass of lie people, the transformation of them into mercen-aries, and of their means of labour into capital. During this trans-Iornlntiol~ period, legislation also strove to retain tllo 4 acres ofland bj- the cottage of the agricultural wage-labourer, and forbadhim to takr lodgers into his cottage. In the reign of James I., 1627,Kugcr Cruckcr of Front Mill. \\,as condcmncd for having built

111his "Ulopia," Thomas hloro says, lhal in England :'your sllepe tllatwere wont lo be so mekc and mmc, and so smal calurs, now, as I hosre saw,hc lccomc so great devourers and so wylde Lhal Lhcy eale up, and swallowdownc, u:r very men lhemsclfes." "lllopia," lransl. by Robinson, ed. Al.ber.

Lond., 16G!I, p. 41.Bacon sho\\.s Lhe connesion bel\veen a free, \\-ell-to-dopcasantry and

good infantry. "This did wonderfully concern Llrc nliglll and mal~nerhood of~llu kilqdom to llavu farms as il werc of a slanda~d sutiicic~lt Lo ma~nlain all ablc body dnl of pcnury, aud did in ccfcct amorliso a groat part of Lhc land5of tbe kiugdon~ut~loihc llold and uccupetion ollho yco~nnnry or middla pco.plc, of a conditios between genllcmco, and collagcrs and pcasaats .... For ithatlr been helll by Ihe gc,~leral opinion of men of best judpenl in Llte wars....thal the principal slrcngtll of an army consislelh i:~thelnfantry or foot.AnJ

to make good infanlry il requircll~men bred, no1 in a servile or indigent lash-ion: lul in some frce and plc~~liful

manner. Thcrclorc, if a State runnlosl Lo

iloblernel~ and cnllemen, aud Lhal lho husbandr~lcll and plougl~men be but

RS tbeir\\.orkfo!k and labourers, or else mere cotlagers (\vhlch are but hous'dbegqars), you may have a good cavalry, bul nc\.cr good slablo bn~ldsof fool.....%ndI his is to be seen in Frnuce, and Italy, and somc other partsnbrond, \~hcre



in eKccl all is noblesse or peasau~try.... il~so~llucl~

(hat lhey arc inforccd to

c~~~ploymcrccnary bands of S\\.iLzcrs aud ll~clike, for lhcir bntlalio~~s

of fool:whereby aljo it comes lo pass tl~al those nalions l~avo much peoplc and fcwsoldiers." ("The Reign of Heury VII." Vcrbalinl reprint from Kennet's Eng-

land. Ed. i'i1'3. Lond., 1870, p. 30s.)

a cottage on the manor of Front Mill nrithout 4 acres of lariil ;it-tacl~etl to the same in perpetuity. As late as Charles 1,'s~.i!ig~l,

lfi38,

o royal comnlission was appointed to cnforcc llic cilrl.?.jrig (11,tof tllc old lalvs, especinlly tl~nl rcfcrring Lo tllc 4 aclcs of lanil.Even in Crom~vell's time, the building of a house within 4 mi1r.iof London mas forbidden unless it \\.as endowed will1 4 acres ofland. As late as the first half of the 16th century complai~lt i.5made if the cottage of theagricultural labourer has not an adjunctof one or two acres of land. Nowadays he is luck? if it is fuinishedwitha little gnrdcn, or if he nlay Font, far n\vay fron~ his coltago,o few roods. "Landlords and farmers," says Dr. Hunter, "work herehand in hand. A few acres to the cottage would makc the labourerstoo independont."lThe process of forcible expropriation of the people receivedin the 16th century a new and frightful impulse from the Refor-

mation, and from the consequent colossal spoliation of the churchproperty. The Catholic church was, at the time of the Reforma-tion, feudal proprietor of a great part of the English land. Thesuppression of the monasteries, &c., hurled their inmates intothe proletariat. The estates of the church were to a large extentgiven away to rapnciolls royal favourites, or sold at a nominal price111 speclllating farmers and citizens, who drove out, m masre, theIlprcditary sub-tenants and threw their holdings into onc. Tllelegally guaranteed properly of the poorer folk in a part of thechurc11's tithes urns tacitly cmnfiscntc~l.' "Pallper llhiql~e jacet,"cried Queen Elizabeth, after a journey thronghEn:land. In the43rd year .of her reign the nation Jvas obliged to recognise pau-pcrism officially by the introduction of a poor-rate. "The arlthorsof this law seem to have bee11 ashamed to state the ground; ~f it,lor [contrary to traditional usage] it has no prennlblo \vl~ntr\.cr."~I<!. the 161.11 of Charles l., cli. 4, it was declared perpet~~al,rind

ill f~lct.only in 16,'34 tlitl it t:~l<u a n1:w anrl harshcr form.' '~Yu:sc

' Dr. Hunter, 1. c., p. 134. "Tl~c quanlily of land assigned (in the 01x7

1,~s)

\\.osld now he 'udgcd loo great for laboorcrs, and rather as likely to co:r-

rrrl lhclrl into small farmers:' (George RoberLs: "The Social History of tl~s

Prnplc of lhc Soulhcrn Counties of England in Past Centurirs." I.oilJ..



IS%. no. 184-185.1

''.T~ICright 61 the poor lo share in tl~clilhe, is cslabljshcd by thc ten-our or ~-...-.-

~

nncionl slnlutcs." I'rnckoll. I. c., Vol. It., PD. 88.-605).

a William c~hhe~<?~h 5 ,571.

11isiory' of ~hc Protcsta<i ~r,~orrnaiion,* 'The "spirit" of I'rolrslanlism maybc seen fro113 lllc fr,llo\rir~g.;rr:,r,ng

dlrr ll~ings.In thcsoutll of Elrglnnd crrlnin landcd proprielors and well-1u.d~

far!~~rrs

pul lhcir heads logerht,r and propoundcd Len qucstiolbr as LO tlic righ!.

inlcrllrctationof lho poor-law 01 Elizabeth. These lhcy laid bcfore a crlcbrated




722 1

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immediate results of the Reformation were not its most lasting

ones. The properly of the cliurcll formed the religious bul~vark of I

the traditional conditions of landed property. With its fall tl~ese

were no longer tenable.'Even in the last decade of the ~-17th century, the yeomanry,

-~-~the class of independent peasants, were more numerous thanthe class of farmers. They had formed the backbone of Cromaell'a

strength, and, even accorlling to 1110 confession of hlacaulay, stoodin favourable contrast to the drunkeu squires and to their serv-

jurist oi tlrat limo, Sergeant Sniggc (later o jnd7c under laulcs 1.) lor his

opilrion. "Qoestioll 0-Soma of tllu nlora ~vea~tlly~armcrs

ill lllu pal.ish ilsvedevised a skilful mode by wl~icll all tho trouhlo of cneculing this he1 (Lbo

43rd 01 Eilzatclh) miglrl be avoided. Thcy have proposcd tilat wvc shall erect

a prison in the parish, and then give notice to the ncigbhoerhood, tho1 ilally peeons are disposed to farm tile poor ol this parish, they do givc in scvlcdproposals, on a cerlain day, of the lowest price at which tllay will takathem off our hands; and that they will he authorised to refuse to any one un-less he he shut up in the aforesaid f!iso". Tho proposers of lllis plan conceive that lllere will be fouud in the a lolrllng counties, pcrsons.wll0, hcing un-willinglo labour and notpossessing substance or credit to take a fnrm or ship.so as to live ailhout labour, may be rnduced lo make a very advantagconsoffcr lo the parish. If any of the poor perish under the contractor's care. lhesin will lie a1 his door, 5s the parish will have done its duty by them. Weare, however, apprehensrve that the present Act (43rd of Elizabeth) willnot warrant a prudenlial measure of this kind; but you are to barn that 1110rest of the freeholders of the county, and 01the adjoiztingeounly of B, willvery rcadily join in instructing their nremhers lo pro Kose an Act to enable tlleparish to contract with a erson to lack up and wor the poor; and to declarethat if any person shall reyuse Lo hc so locked up and worlred, he shall bc cn-titled lo no relief. This, it is hopcd, will revcnt pcrsons in distress fromwanting relief, and be the means of keepin iown parishes:' [R.Blakey: 'ThsHistory of Political Literature from the fiarliest Times." Lond., 1855, Vol.11.. pp. 86-85.) In Scotland, the abolition of serfdom took place some centu-ries laler than in England. Even in 1608, Fletcher of Sultonn, declared in theScotch pnrliament. "The number of beggars in Scotland is reckoncd at not

less than 200,000. Thc only remedy that I, a rcpuhlican on Princlplc. can sug-gest, is to restore the old state of serldonx, to make slevcs o all tllose wilearc



unable lo provide [or their ow11 subsislence." Edan, I. c., Book I., 611. I.. pp.

00-6L, says, "Thc dccrese of villcnagc seems necessarily to have hccn 1l1a

ura of llic origin oi the poor. hfanlllact~~rcs

and colnmerce arc lhe two parcllleoi our i~\tion,sl poov:' Eden,liLc oo\\v Xutcl\ rop\ib\ie;u, on yubiciglc, ens onlyii) ILia: nol llle abqlitiqp 01villenage, bu1,thc ab@jtipaoi Lhp property of tho ~griculturallabourer in the soil mado hlin:? ptoletarioa, uud welitaally epatiper. In Franci, where-thempropriatlon was cffcctcd in anotller way, lllcardam,t~aaccot h(ouline,;457r, aiid th\lcE&ct oi 1850, correspond to \l\e Englisb

poor-laws. ' --.. .

1 Proicjsor Rogers, a1thon:b iormcrly Profcssor of Political Economy inthe Ucrirersily of Oxford, the hotbed of Prolcstnnt orll~odoxy, in his prcftlccto Lhe "Hislory or h~riculture" lays slrcss on Lhu fact of tlre paupcrisatioo of tho mass of the people by Lhe Heforruation-

B]LPIlOPRIATION OP AGRICULTURAL POPULATIOX 723

auts,thecountry clergy, who had lo marry their masters' cast-offniisl.rossos. About 1750, tho ycornanry had disappear~d,~ so

2nd

lra~l, in Lllc last ducade of LLe 18111 cantllry, tllc last trace of Ll~ecommun land of tllo egricultural lahourer. We loave on one sideheru tl~a purely economic causes of the agricultural revolutiorl.Wu deal only with tho forcible means employed.

After the restoration of the Stuarts, tho landed proprietors

carriod, by legal means, an act of usurpation, effected ever!.!vl~ereon the Continent witllout any legal formality. They abolished1.11~fe~ldal tonuro of land, i.e., they got rid of all its ohlig.,I t'ions10 tllo Statu, "indcnlnilicd" the Stalo by taxw on LIID pasantryand the rest of tho mass of tho people, vindicated ior tbernsclwsthe rights of modern private property in estates to which lheyIiod only a feudal title, and, finnlly, passod those laws of scttlo-ment, which, mutatis mutandis, had the same eflect on the Lng-lish agricultural labourer, as the edict of the Tartar Boris Godunofon tho Russian peasantry.

The "glorious Revolution" brought into power, along with \,William of Orango, the landlord and capitalist appropriators ofsu~plus-value. They inaugurated the new era by practising ona colossal scalo thefts of statelands, thefts that had been hitherto 1managed more modestly. These estates were given awav. sold at a Irid~culnus figuro, or ovcn a~~nexed estates'by direct \

10scizuro?-All ihii 6oppXnehwiihbCt~3fQhtmr&er7ition of 8



' "A Letter to Sir T.C. Bunhu Bart., on the High Price of Provisions.

IlY a SuKolk Ccntlcmsn." 1pswich,?i95. .4. Ercn thc fanatical advucnle of1110 syslcm of large farms, the author 07 the "inquiry into the Conrrcaionbel\\-oen the Prescnl Price of Provisions:' London, 1773. p, 139, says:

"I nos1 lomcnt the loss oi our yeomanry, Lhat set of men who really 1,cpl ,lpllle inde endencc of this nation; and sorry 1 am to see their lands no\v ill (Irellallds oflnonopolising Lords, tenanted out to sluali farrncrs, n-bo hold tbcirlcascs on sue11 conditions as lo he liltle beltcr tl~nnvnssnln IP~~Y n

tn att~nd

'On Lhe privalemoral characlerof Lhis hour eois hero, among otherIhinp: "Tbe Iarpc rant of landsin irclsnd to ~adySrkney, in ,695, is a pub-

lie instance 01tlla8ing's affection, and the lady's influence...Lady 0rl;ncy's

u~~rlc;iringofliccs nrc sapporcd to lbovc hccn-flr:da lahioruni ~rtirisl<:ria."[Ill tlho Sluallu hla~~~~scripl.

Collcctiun, at tile UriLisll Aluseum, No. 4224. l.haAlanuscript is cntilled: "Tho chnractcr and hcbaviour of King \Villiam, SUE-dcrland, %LC.. as ropreserlted in Original Letters to the Duke of Shrewahuryir0111 Somers Bnlihr, Oxford, Sccrclnry Vcroon.ctc." It is in11 of curiosa.

a "The ill~yal alienation of the Crown Esli~to~,

parlly by sale and part-ly by gift, is a scar~dalous~l~aptcr

in English llistory ... a gigantic iraud on thcnation." (F. W. Ncwman, Lecturcsos Pol~tlcal Economy." Londo~r. 1851. pp.

129. 130.) [For dctails as to how tl~e present large landoil proprietors of Eng-land eanle inlo Lhcir posscsjions SCL."Our Old Sobility. By &oliessc Oblige."I.ondoa, i87Y.-P. 8.1



CAPIT.4LIST PRODUCTION EXPROPRIATION OF AGRICULTURAL POPKLATION

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726 CAP~TALISTPRODUCTION I EXPROPRIATION OB AGRICULTURAL POPULATIOS 727

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and many other families \vho were cl~ieny employed and sup- usurpation of the common lands and the revolution in agric~ll-

portrd by tl~cm."' It \vi~s not o111y t.l~c 1e11d that lay wast.e, but tnre accompanying this, told so acutely on the agricl~llilraloIten land cllllivated citl~er in common or held under a definite labourers that, C~CIIaccording to Eden, 1,etwcon 17tj5 an11 1780,rent paid to tlie comn~unity, that ~vi~s thcir wages began to fall below the minimum, and to be supple-

annexed by t.110 ncigl~bour-iiig landlords under pretext ul c~~closurc. "I l~ave here in view mented by oflicial poor-law relief. Their wages, he says. "\\ere

i enclosures of open fields and lands already improved. It is acl~nowl- not more

than enough for the absolute necessaries of life."

! edged by even the writers in defcnce of enclosures that tl~esc di- Let us hearfor a moment a dofendor ofencIosures anrl an

i nii~iisl~edvillages increase the monopolies of farms, raise tho opponent of Dr. Prico. "Nor is it a conscqllence that therc mustprices of provisions, and produco depcpulation . . . and evcn be depopulation, because men are not seen wasting their labour !tl~c cnclosore of wast,e lands (as !lo\\. carricrl on) hears hard on in the openficld. . . . If, by cnnverting the little farmers into a Ithe poor, by depriving tl~en~ of a part of t.l~cirsubsistence, aud body 01 nlcnwho must work Ior otlrers, n~or(: laljo,rr ir prorl81ci:d. ',

only goes to\\zards increasing Iarms already t~olarge."~ it is an advantage which the nation" (to which, of course, the "con- 1"When."sa!-s Dr. Price, "this land gets into the hands of a few grcal vcrtcd" ones do not be1ong)"should wish for. . . . the produce beingIarmers, the consequence nust be that the littlo farmers" grcater when their joint labours are employcrl on one farm, there(earlier designated by him "a multitude of little proprietors and will be a surplus for manufactures, and by this mcans manu-tenants, who maintain themselves and families by the produco factures, one of the mines of the nation, will increase, in propor-of the grouud they occupy by sheep kept on a common, by pouC tion to the quantity of corn produced,'"try, hogs, &c., and who therefore have little occasion to purchase The stoical peace of mind with which the political economistany of the means of subsistence") "urill be converted into a body regards the most shameless violation of Lhe "sacred right.6 ofof men who earn their subsistence by working for others, and who propcrty'l-aad.fh.0-gres8est acts of violence to persons, as =on\,:ill be under a necessity of going to market for all they want. ... as thcy are necessary to I~-the__fnunrtatj~_n_s

of the capitalisticThere \\.ill, perhaps, be more labour, because there will be more mode,0f.~raduction~~is~6h~~~

by Sir F. hi. ~=~~~t%Toistcompulsion to it.. .. Tow~ls and manufactures will increase, and tory, to boot,Thewho e serles of thefts, outrages, Spopu-



because more will be driyen to them in quest of places and employ- Iar misery, that accompanied the forcible expropriation of the 1 :ment. This is Ll~c way in which the cngrossing of farmsnaturally people, from the last third of the 15th to the end of the 18th cen-operates. And this is tho way in which, for many years, it has tury, lead him merely to the comfortable conclusion: "The due 1

heell ncLunlly operating in this kingdom.""Ic sums op tl~e cITcct of

rhc enclosures thus: "Upon tllo ~~~l~olc,

tl~c circ~rnistnnces of tho

lo\\.er rank3 01 men are altered in almost ovcry ruupcct Ior thoI, c . From little occupiers ol land, tiicy arc.rcJuced to thoI slate of (la\--!abourers and hirelings; and, at tho samc tinlo, their/ 1 111 Iact,

sltbsislcnc~ in that state has becomo i~iorc diITic111t.)~~

. ,.... ~.

~ ~

.

Rcv. Addington: "In uir,' lnlo Ibo Reasons lor or agninsl EnclosingOft!! Fields." London, 1771, pp. 37. 43 passinl.

I)r, I\, Priccj I. yh, ;I. ii.,l. 155, I~orsl~~r, ICcnt. Pricc, ond

Adtli~~glo~~,

Jaorcs Anderson. sIOU e rco rind c0111parcd \\it11 Llle miserable pratlleolSyco~hant hIacCulloch in his cntalo~nu: "'rllc Lileraturco[ Polilical Erono-my,"-London. 1615.

a Pricc, I. c.. p. 147.Pricc, I. c., p. 159. Wo ore rcnlinded of ancint Romc. "Tlle rich 11ad

llossrssion oilhe .grealcr part 01 Ll~eundivided land. Tllcy trustd ill llra

c~~l,Jitionsofthc

lime, that these possessions $\fould not hc ngnin tul;crl lrozntllenl, bought, (herclore, soole of tl~c pieces of lorl,l lying rlcar Llra!irs,and

belollgillg to tile poor, with tl~o.~cqnii,scr~~~co

ol tlicir o\\zn:.l.s,and looh sotiic



728 C.%PlTALIST PRODUCTIONproportion_,bct\r.ocnarable land and pasture lia~llo be established.During the \'hole of the 14111 and the grealer pnrt of ll~c15111cell-turj, lhere was one ncre of paslure to 2. 3, and even 4 of arableland. About the middle of Lhe 16111century ll~e proportion waschanged of 2 acres of pasture to 2, later on, of 2 acres of pasture to

one of arable, until at last ihe just proporlion of 3 acres of pnsturoto one of arable land was attained."In the 19th century, the very memory of the conncxionbetween the agricultural labourer and the communal propertyhad, of course, vanished. To say nothing of more recent limes.have the agricultural population received a farlhiug of compen-sation for the 3,511,770 acres of common land which between1601 and 1631 were stolen from them and by parliamenlary de-vices presonted to the lnndlords by the landlords?The last process of holes sale expropriation of 111s agricul-tural population from hhe soil is, finally, 1110 so-called clearingof estates, i.e., the sweeping men off Lliem. All the English

methods hitherto considered culminalod in "clearing." As \ve sawin the picture of mode111 conditions given in a former chapler,where there are no more independent peasants to get rid of, tho"clearing" of cotlages begins; so lhat the agricultural labourers donot find on the soil cultivated by them even the spol necessaryfor their own housing. Bul what "clearing of eslobes" really andproperly signifies, we learn only in tho promised lnnd of modernromance, the Highlands of Scotland. There the process is distin-guished by its ~)~stematiccharacter, by the magnitude of the scaleon Svhich it is carried oul a1 one. blow (in Ireland landlords havegtmc to the length of sweeping away several villages a1 once; inScotland areas as large as German principalities are denlt with),finally by the peculiar form of properly, under which the cmbcz-

zled lands were held.The Highlantl Cells were organised in C~IIIIS,C~CIIof whir11was the owner ol the land on wl~ichil was settled. The repro-sentalive of the clau. Its chief or "great man," was only iho titu-lar own1.r of lhis properly, just as the Queen of Englnnd is 1110titular owner of all the nalioual soil. When the English govern-ment s~~ccevdodin suppressing the i~~leslinewars of lhesc "grontmen," and their constant incursions into the Lowland plains, thechiefs of the clans by no means gave up theirtime-honoured trndeas robbers; they only changed its for^^^. On their own authorityi they transformed their nominal righl into a right of privale prop-erty, and as this brought them into collision with their clansmen,resolved to drive them out by open force. "A king of England mighti iEXPHOPRIATION OF AGRICULTURAL POPGLATIOS 7'29-as well claim to drive his subjects into the sea." says Profc:;orNcwrnan.l This revolution, which began in Scotland after tbc lastrising of the followers of tlre Pretender, can be followed thrt,ughils first phnses i~rlhe wrilings of Sir James Sleuart2 and JamesAnderson.' In 1110 18th ccnlury the l~untud-outGaels were for-bidden lo emigrate from the country, with a view to driving themby force lo Glasgow and other manufacturing lo\\ns.' As an exam-ple of the method5 obtaining in the 19th century, the "clearing"made by the Duchess of Sulberland \\.ill suflice here. This person,well instructed in economy, resolved, on entering upon her govern-ment, Lo ellecl a radical cure, and lo Lurn the whole country. \r.hose

populalion had already been, by earlier processes of the like kind,reduced lo 15,000, into a sheep-walk. From 1814 to 1820 these15,000 inhabitants, aboul3,OOO families, were systemalically bunt-



ed and rooted out. All their villages were deslroyed and burnt,-' 1. c.. p. 132.'Steuarl says: 'If you compare Lbe renl of these lands" (bc erroneouslyineludcs in this economic calegory Lhe Lribule of the La~kmenlo the clan-chief)"with Lhc extent, il appears very smnll. If you compare it with the num-bcrs led upon lbo farm, you will nnd LhaL an eslale in Lbe Highlands main-ln~ns,perhaps. tcn limes as many eoplc as anolhcr of the same \-alua in agood an

d furtilc province." (I. c.. voy. i., ch. xvi.. p. 104.)lnmes Auderson: "Observallons on tho hlcans of Exciling a Soirit-~~ ~~~..~of Nntional Induslry, kc.," Edinbur h, 1777. -.In 18GO the people exproprialsf by force wcre exporled lo Canada un-der lalse prelences. Some fled lo the mounlains and neiglhouring islands.They6were followed by the police, came lo blol~swilh them and escaped.In lhe Hi hlands of Scotland," says Buchanan, Lhe commentator onAdom Smith, i884,"tiIe ancient slat0 olproparly is daily subrerled .... Thelandlord, wilhoul regnrd Lo Lhe hcredilar tenall1(a calegory used in errorbcrel, now uIIers his lnnd to Lhe higllcsl biider, who, iI lje is an imprcvcr, in-SlatlLlY adools a nt?w svstnm nf r~~llivalion.Tllc land. formcrlv ovcrsr,rrad~ .

,---.--.--.-..~ .---wit11 6n1n11'tunants or labonrcrs, \\.as peoplcd iu pm1)ortiu11I; ~~S~I~UJLICC,Lul ul~dcrtl~cnew syslcm of improved c~~lli\.alionand incrcas~:,lrcrlts, ltlelargest IIOS.I~~IL'prodllcu is ohL~incdnl LIbe Ic~st~msiiblucxpansa: and 1l1cuic-less llar~dsIIC~IIR,will1 llris view, removed, lijo populaliori is rcduccd, norLOwllal Llle Land rill mainlnin, bul Lo wltat it \viLI employ. "Tbe disposies~cdlenanls cilllcr scclr a subsislcncc ir~Llle ncighlollrin loans" &c (Da11d Ductla-Isan: .'OLservaIionson, &c.,A. Sn~iril'sWcalll~o?h.uiiods~l?dirlh;;xIv, 1814.vol. iv., p. 144.) "Tllc Scotch grandccs dis usscsccd families a: llloy would

,rub up cuppicc-~ood,nnd lhey Lrauled vilfaius 1111Lhcir pcople rm lodiailshnrascd with Qild be.dsls do, in Lheirvengcar~cc,n jungle n.ilh liccr3...hlanis barlcrcd for a flccceor a carcase of mullun, nay, hcld chcapsr ....Why. llownlucll worsc is il Limn Ihc ir8lc11llo11of Lhe hiuguls, who, wlicn Lhcy had bro-Lcn inlo Lllc llorlhern provinccs of China, propused in council Lo exlerminaletllc i~ii~abitaols,and converl the land into pasture. This proposal msny High-land proprietors have offccled in Lllcir own counlry agalnsl Lheir own coun-trymcn." (Gcorgc Er~sor:"An Inquiry Conccrr~inglhc I'opulalion of Nalions."1.01td.. 1818, pp. 215, 216.)




all their fields turned into pasturage. British soldiers enforced thiseviction, and came to blows with the inhabitants. One old \vonianwas burnt to death in the names of the hut, which she refused toleave. Thus this fine lady appropriated 794,000 acres of land that

had from time immemorial belonged to the clan. She assigned

to the expelled inhabitants about 6,000 acres on the sea-shore-2 acres per family. The 6,000 acres had until this time lain waste,and brought in no income to tlieir owners. The Duchess, in the

nobility of her heart, actually went so far as to let these at anaverage rent of 2s. 6d. per acre to the clansmen, wlio for centurieshad shed their blood for her family. The whole of the stolen clan-land she divided into 29 great sheep farms, each inhabited by asingle family. for the most part imported English farm-servants.In the year 1835 the 15,000 Gaels werealready replaced by 131,000

sheep. The remnant of the aborigines flung on the sea-shore, triedto live by catching fish. They became amphibious and lived, asau Englisll author says, half on land andlialf on water, and wiLlialonly half on both.'

But tho brave Gaels must expiate yet more bitterly theiridolatry, romantic and of the mountains, for tho "great men" ofthe clan. The smell of tlieir fish rose to 1.h~ noses of the grcat men.They scented some profit in it, and let the sea-shore to tho greatfishmongers of London. For tlie second time the Gaels were hunt-ed out. =

But, finally, part of the sheep-walks are turned into deer

preserves. Every one knows that there are no real forests inEngland. The deer in the parks of the great are demurely do-mestic cattle, fat as London aldermen. Scotland is therefore thelast refuge of the "noble passion." "In tho Highlands," says Somersin 1848, "new forests are springing up like mushrooms. Here,on one side of Gaick. you have the new forest of Glenfeshie;and there on the other yo11 have tlie new forest of Ardverikie.

' allen 14e resenl Dochess oi Sulhcrland er~terlained hln. Bceclier

Slowe, astlioress u!"IJncle Toni's Cabin," wilb great magnifiee~~cc

is Lo~idol~(p rllow her syg!pnllly lor LIte negro. slaves of llle A~naricao rcpuhlic-a sym.pathy Lli~t stia '~(ldelitly loi.got, wllb liar Icllo\v-nrislocrats, during theciv-il war, in whit\ every "noble" Englisli heort beat for tho slave-owner-l

:' garc in the Nelc York Tribunc the lacLs about tho Sutbcrland slaves. (Epi-tor~iiscd in part by Carey in "The Slave Tmdc." I'hiladclphia, 1853, pp. 203,204.) hIy article was reprinted in a Scotch newspaper, and led Lo a prclty p0-lemic belweon tho latter nud the sycophanls ol the Suthcrlonds

a l~ilcresling details on this flab trade will be found in Mr. David Urqu-harl's Porllolio, new series.- Nassau W. Senior, in his poslllumous wrk, al.

ready qliolcd, terms "tlic proceedings iii Sutlicrlai~~lsl~ire



one of tlie niost

beneficeti1 clearings since (he melnory of man:' (I. c.1

EXPROPRfATION OP AGRICULTURAL POPUL.AT1OS i31

In the same line yon have tho Black Mount, an inimense waste

also recently erected. From east to west-from the neigbbour-hood of Aberdeen to the crags of Oban-you have now a contin-uous line of forests; wvliile in other parts of the Highlands thero 1are the new forests of Loch Archaig, Glengarry, Glenmoriston, I&c. Sheep were introduced into glens which had been the seats ofcommunities of small farmers; and the latter were driven to seeksuhsisLcnce on coarser and more sterile tracks of soil. Now deerare supplanting sheep; and these are once more dispossessingthe small tenants, who will necessarily bo driven down uponstill coarser land and to more grinding penury. Deer-forests'and the people cannot co-exist. One or other of the two mustyield. Let the forests be increased in number and extent during

the next quarter of a century, as they have been in the last, andthe Gaels will perish from their native soil. . . This movementamong tlie Highland proprietors is with some a matter of nmhi-

~~~~~-..

ti011 . . . with some lovo of sport . . . while others, of a --A". roorcpractical cast, follow the trndc in deer with an eve snlelv tn nmn~

~

-~ .,.----.,.-y.",.".

For it is a fact, that a mountain range laid out in forest is, inmany cases, more profitablo to the proprietor than when lot as asheep-walk. . . . .Tho huntsman who wants a deer-forest limitshis offers by no other calculation than the extent of his purse.. ..Sufferings have been inflicted in the Highlands scarcely less severetlian those occasioned by the policy of the Norman kings. Deerhave received extended ranges, while men have been hunted lvithina narrower aud still narrowcr circle. . . . One after one the liber-ties of the people have been cloven down. ...And the oppressionsare daily on the increase. . . . The clearance and di5periionof the people is pursued by the proprietors as a settled principle,as an agricultural necessity, just as trees and brnshlvood arecleared from the wastes of America or Australia; and the oper-ation goes on in a quiet, husincs-like way, &c."2

The deer-loresls of Scotland conlain nor, a singic Lrre. Thc sheep aredrivc~ilroni, nnd Ll~cnLllo deer driven Lo, Lhe naked hills, and Lhen it iscalled a deer-loresl. No1 even Limber-planling and real fore51 culture.

Robert Somers: "Letters Irom the Highlands: or Lhe I'amine of 1847.-I.ondou, 1848, pp. 12-26 passini. Thcse lctlers originally appeared in TIe

Tirtlrr. Tllu English cconomisls ol course explained Llie famine of Llle Gaels

in 1847, by tlleir over-population. At all events, they "were pressinnon \heirluod-sopply." The "cleari~lgol eslnles," or as it is called in Gcrrnany,""~auerii-



leqcn," occurred in Germany esl~ccially afler Lho 30 years' war, and led topdasanl-revolts a latc as 1700 io l~urjachson.I1 oblaincd especially in East(;cr~nany.In rliost of LIIC t'russiaii pro\,lnccs, Frederick il.foc ilic first lime se-Clllad rig111Or pl.operly for tllc [leas:ants. Aller Llze colirjncsl of Sil~siahc forced



CAPITALIST PRODUCTION BXPnoPnIATION OF AGRICULTURAL PO~~L.ATIOS 733

The spoliation of the church's property, the fraudulent alien-ation of the State domaina. the robbery of the common lands,the usurpation of feudal and clan property, and its transforma-tion into modern private property under circumstances of reck-



CHAPTER xxvlli I.

. . :\,'* , JBLOODF LEGISLAITON AQAINS'I' TEE EXPBOPlLlATED,,iJ',j FROM THE END OF TEE 15TH CENTURY.

i 1 POROINQ DOWN OF WAGES BY ADrY OF PAltLIAMENT

The proletarlaL creaLed by the breaking up d the bands 01! . fcudal retainers and by the forcible expropriation of the people\ from the soil, this "free" proletariat could not possibly be absorbedby the nascent manufactures as tnst as it was. thrown uponf / !the ~vorld. -On the.&he.r band.-thesemen, suddenly dragged from' I , theii -wonbed moda&+ifo; could not ~-as suddenly adapt them-!1 :' sclvrs to the discipline of their new coiidition. They were turned enint~beggars, robbers,.vagabonds, partly, from 3-dination,cases fr5m-sties of circumstances. Hence at the end of

'the 15th and dtiring tliB ivllole of the 1Gtli century, ~hroughout\Vestern Europe a bloody legislation against vagaboudagc. 'rilefathers of the present working-class were chastised for their en-forced t~ansfarmation.into sagabonds and paupers. Legislationtrcated then1 as "volnntary" criminals, and assumcd that it depend-

( ed on thoir awn good \\,ill to go on working under the old condi-

-

1 tions that no ~&~er-existed;-

In England this legislation began under Henry VII.' ) Henry VIII. 1530: Beggarsold and unable Lo work receiva'i beggar's licence. On the other hand, whipping and i~nprisonment

for sturdy vagabonds. They -arc 13-be'-tied to the cart-tail and

whipped until~-the-%loob-~ams4~mntheir

bodies, then to swearan oath-tdg6~6aClFtOtGir biriiiplplace-orto where they have livedthe last three years and to "put themselves to labour." What grimirony1 In27 Henry VIII. the former statute is repeated, but strength-ened with new clauses. For the second arrest for vagabondagethe whipping is to be repeated and half the ear sliced on; but for

LEGISLATION AGAINST THE EXPROPRIATED

735

the third relapse the olfcnder is to be executed as a hardenedcriminal and enemy of the common weal.

Edward VI.: A statute of the first year of his reign, 1547,ordains that if anyone refuscs~h .lvork,. he-shall Be condcmnerl

as a~sla~ o bas denounced hiin as an idler. The f

"r to the



.rnastcr sha I fCi?h andsuch refuse meat as-Eihinks fit; He has the right- to force himto do any work, no matter how disgusting, with whip and chains.If thc slaw is absent a fortnigl~t, 11e is con~lcmncd to slavery forlife and is Lo be branded on lorellcad or back a-ith thc lcttcr S;if he rnns away thricc, he is to hc executed as a Iclon. The mastcrcan sell him, bequeath him, let him out on hirc as a slave, just

as any other p~fs6nia~TCTbr~tt~~

If the slnvesattampt any-thing against thcGaZLEE,-ih~r~-~atso

to be executed. Justicesof the peace, on information, are to hunt thc rascals down. If ithappens Lhat a vagabond has bee11 idling about for lhrec days,hc is to he taken to his birthplace, brandcd \\-it11 a rcdhot ironwith the letter V on the breast and be set to \\,ark, in chains, in

the streets or at some other labour. If the vagabond gives a falsebirthplace, he is then to become the slave for Life of this place,of its inhabitants, or its corporation, and to be branded with an

S.All persons have the right to take away Llie children of the vaga-bonds and to keep them as apprcnticcs, the young men until the24th year, the girls until thc 2Otl1. If thcy run awa)., thcy arc tobecome up to this age lhe slaves of their masters, who can putthem in irons, whip them, kc., if they like. Every rnastcr mayput an iron ring round thc ncck, arms or legs of his slave, bvwhich to know him more r:asily and to he more certain of him.'The last part of this statute provides, that certain poor people

may be employed by a place or by persons. who arc willin to-+-

give them fool1 and drink anrl to linil then~ work. This k~nd uparish-slaves was kept up in England until far into the 19thcentury under the name of "roundsmcn."

Elizabelli, 1572: Unlicensed beggars abovc 14 ).cars of age 4%;

arto be severely flogged and brandctl on the left ear unless ,.aomc onc \\.ill takc them into scrvicc for t\vo ycars; in case of n1.e~ctitio11of tllc oflence, if they are over 18, ihk) arc tr~ be cxcc- ;,-?uted, unless some one mill take thcrn into scrvicc for t\vo years;

The antllor of tl~e"Essay on 'Trade, elc.," 17iO. says. "in tlle rcig~rofEdward \'I. indeed tt..: En,~lislt seem to have set, in goad earnest, a60111en-couragillg lnsnufaetures an2 cmploying tlif poor. This nc lrarnfroll~a icln.~rk-

ablc statute which runs thus: 'That all \.nuranls shall bc bmrrded. &c."'



CAPITALIST PRODUCTIOX LEGISLATION AGAINST TtIE EXPROPRlATED

I

but lor the !bird offence the!. are Lo he executed \vitl~o~~t

mere! asfelous. Si~nilar statutcs: 18Elizabeth, c. 13, nnd a~~otlicr

of 1597.'

James I: Any one wandcril~g about i111d bcggillg is declareda rogue and a vagabond. Justices of the peace in petty sessionsare authorised to have them publicly whipped and for the firstoffence to imprison them for G montl~s, lor the second for 2>-ears. Whilst in prison tlie) are to be whipped as much andas often as the justices of l.lle peace think fit. .. Incorrigibleauil 1tange1.0~5 rogues are to be branded with an R on the lcft

shnulder and set Lo hard labour, and if thcy arc caught beggingagain, to be executed without mercy. Tlicse statutcs, legallyhinding until the beginning of the 18th century, tverc only re-pealed by 12 Anne, c. 23.

Similar laws in France, where by the middle of the 17thcentury a kingdom of vagabonds (truonds) was established in

1 Thomas blare says in his "Utopia": "Thcriorc that on covclous and

unsaliable corniaraunle and rcry lage of his nalivc conlrey maye co~npaso

aboutc and illclose marl). lllousallrfakers of to~r~~ilc

logelher wilhin one paleor bedgc, Ll~e husbandmen be lhrnsl owle o! thcir o\vne, or els rillher by co-IIC~IICand iraudc, or by \.iolcnt oppression Lhey bcpul besydes il, or by wrollg3alld iniuries thei beso wcried that thcy bc compelled Lo sell all: by one meanes,tllcrlorc, or hy other, eilher hy hooke or crookc lhey ~uuslc nccdes dc-y;trlo nwaye, poore, selye, wrclcl~cd so~~lcs, wiucs.

men, women, Ii~~sba~lds.

iall~cilcsse children, widowcs, n,oi~~ll

motl~crs\\.ilhtlleir yonge babes, nlbd

ll~cira.holc houscl~old snlal in s~~hslancc,

and im~clte in numbre, asl~usband-

rye rcquirelb many baodes. Awaye thei Lrudgc. 1 say. owle oi their knowcn

accttslomed Irouscs. fyndynge no place to rest0 in. All Llicir bousholdc stolfe.

\vl;icll ir \.cry lillle \\.uo~.Ll,c, llrougltc it miplll \vcll nllidc ll>cs;~lc

:

yrl bccyrsge



Paris. Even at the beginning of Louis XVI.'s rcign (Ordinanceof July 13th, 1777) every man in good Iioolth from 18 toEO).carsof age, if without means of subsistence and not practising a trade,is to he sent to the galleys. Of the same nature are the statute ofCharles V. for the Netherlands (October. 15373, the first edict ofthe States and Towns of Holland (March 10, 1614), the "Plakaat"

of the United Provinces (June 26, 1640), &c.

Thus were the agricultural people, firstfrom the soil, driven from their homes, turnedand lhcn whipped, branded, tortured by lawsble, into tlle discipline necessary for the wage

It is not enough that the conditions of labour are concen-trated in a inass, in the sllape of capital, at tlie one pole of sucicty,while at the other are grouped masses of men, who haye noth-ing to sell but their labour-power. Neither is it enough Lhat theyare compelled to sell it voluntaril)'. The advance of capitalist

production develops a \\.orking-class, which by education, tra-dition, habit, looks upon the conditions of that mode of produc-tion as self-evident law of Nature. The organisation of the capi-talist process of production, once fully developed, breaks do\~nall resistance. The constant generation of a relative surplus-pop-ulation keeps the law of supply and demand of labour, and there-fore keeps wages, in a rut that corresponds with the wants oicapital. The dull compulsion of economic relations completes thesubjection of tha labourer to the capitalist. Direct force, outsideeconomic conditions, is of course still used, but only exceptional-

ly. In the ordinary run of things. the labourer can be IeLt to tl~e

sn~l;tinelp thnnrte oslc, llrcy be conslmyncd Lo scll il lor n llri~~gnlira~~~l~t."natural La\\rs of production," i.e., to his dependence on capilal,

Atld \\-lien they hnus \\.andcred abrade Lyll that be spcnl. \\,bat calrt Urey then

elr doc but slcalc, and then i~~sllg

pardy be Irai~:c~l,orcls go about hcggyng.r\~dye1 lllcn also lhcy bc casle ill priso~r as \-agal,u~r~lder,

because Ll~uygonbuutc and worke 1101: ~honi no nlall uyl sel a worlic thollgl~ lllci ncucr SOwill\-noly profrc ~l~c~~~sclucs Tlromns

LlrcrLo." Of Ll~csc poor fugili\vs oi\vl~on~

31,.~;sip lltal 1l~r.ytwra lorccd lo tllicve. "7,200 gl.cn1 and petty tllicveswercpul lo dcalh."in llle rci n oi llctrry VIII. (Ilolinshcd, "Dcscriptionof Errs-l,b~,d."\.~I I p lime, "rcqocs \vcre trussed ap apacc, and

186.) l~~f:lizal~ctlr'~Il!;,l Lherr was no1 one ycar conrmonly \\herein three or lour hundred~I,,I do\>uur~tlolld ealon IIQ by tbe gallo\\-us." (Slrypc's Annals oill~e Hcior

ma-~iol, and Estahlislrn~cnl or Relicion, and other I'arioos Occurrcnccs in 11101:1nrrrlr of England durine Qncen Elizaheti~'s llappy I\oi~o." Second~:d., li25.



\ 11.2.) .+ccordill: lo tltis saruc SLrype. in Somcrsclsl~ire,in one ycar. 40 pcr-st:nj wcrc exccuted. 35 rohbers burnt in tl~e hand. 3i \vllifpr?,?nd 183 dis-cllnrgud as "incorrigible ~agabonds." Kevcrtl~elcss, 11c is c oplnlcn that Lllis

larpu !lumber of pri:cners does not comprise ere81 a fiilh of the nclual crinli-

nal;. lhsnks tc Lhc negligerice of Ll~e 'oqliccs and the foolislr compassioo of

IIW people; ihc olller counlics olJ En,"land \vcrc 11o1bcltcr oil in thisrerpccl than Somersctsl~ire, allilc some \vcrc c\.rib {verse.

a dependence springing from, and guaranteed in perpetuitx by,the conditions of production themwlves. It is othorwisc duringthe l~istoric gcnosis of capitalist production. The bourgeoisie,a1 its rise, wants and uses tho powci of the state to "regulate"

wages, i.e., to force them witbin tlle limits suitable for surplus-value making, to lengtlien the working-day and to keep the la-bourer himself in thc normal degree of dependence. This is anessential element of the so-called primitive accumulation.

The class of wage-labourers, \vhich arose in the latter half

I

I ol tlie 14th century formed then and in the lollo\.:ing cen-

1 tury only a very small part of the population, n.ell protectedin its position by the indcycndent pensant proprieta:y in tl~s

country and the guild-organisation in the to\\n. In country slidtown master and workmen stood close together socially. Thr: subor-dination of labour to capitol was ouly formal-i.e., thr: mode



739 -


of production itself had as yct no spcciiic capitalistic character.Variable capital prepoi~deratcd grcntly over constant. The demand

for wage-Labonr grew, therefore, rapidly with ovcry necuniulalio~~of capital, \vl~ilst the suppl: of wage-lubo~rr follo\vc~l bul slowly.A large part of the national product, changed later into a fundof capitalist accumulation, then still c~rtercd illto the consumption-fund of the labourer.

Legislation on wage-labour (from the first, aimed at the ex-ploitation of the labotrrer and. as it advanced, always eqnallyhostile to him),' is started in England by the Statute of La-bourers, of Edward Ill., 1349. The ordinallee of 1350 in France.issued in tho name of Icing John, corresponds with it. Englishand French legislation run parallel and arc identical in purport.

So fur as the labour-statutes aim at compulsory extension of the\\,orking-day. I do not return to them, as this poinl wns treatedearlier (Chap. X.,Sectian 5).

The Statute of Labourers was passed at llre urgent instanceof the House of Comn~ons. A Tory says narvely: "Formerly ihepoor demanded such high wages as to thrcaten industry and wealth.Next, their wages are so low as to thrcaten industry and wealthequally and perhaps more, but in anotl~cr way."% A larifl of wageswas fised by law for town and country, for piece-work and day-work. The agricultural labourers were to Iiiro lhemsclves out bytho year, the town ones "in open mnrkct." It was forbidden, underpail] of imprisonment, to pay higher wages than lhose fixed by ihe

statute, but the taking of Irigher wages was more scvcrcly punished

tlra~r tlre civina the111. [So also in Sections 18n~~d

19 of 1l1e Statuteuf .lpprcntice; of ~liiabetb, Leo days' iniprisonmcnt is decreedfor lrim that oavs t.he l~isl~er dnvs for him

\vaecs. but t\ventv-onethat receives' t6cm.l :\-statutelo£ 1360 increirscd tl~d penaltiesand autlioriscd the masters to estort Iahonr at. the legnl rate of\\ascs by corporal punishment. All c.ombin:ltions, contracts, oatlls,kc., by which lnnsons end carpenlers reciprocally bound them-scl\ses, \\,ere declared null and void. Coalition of the labourers is!rciltetl i\s a lleinous crime from the 14th century to 1825, t.hovsur of the repcll of tho la\vs against Trotles' Unions. The spiritbf the Stati~tc of Laboirrers of 1349 and of ils offsl~ools, comes out

1 "\\'lleucrcr tllc iegielalore attenlpts lo ~,e:ulatc llre dilkre~~ces be-laccil mastcri and ll~cir wo~.lrnrcn, its counsellors nre always the masters."

says .\.Smiii:. "l.'esprit dcs lois, c'cst la propril.t[.," says Linguct.

"Sopliirn~s ol Frcc T~ade." By a Rarrister. i.ond., $650, 1,. 206. Ilc adds

n~aliciuusly:"\\'c \velr ready el~or~gltto intcrrcru lor the employer, Cunoolhing no\\,he doll@ lor thc employed?"



LEGISLATION AGAINST THE EXPROPRIATED i39

clearly in the fact, lhat i~~dced

a maximurnof wages is dictated bythe State, but on no account a minimum.

In lhe 18th century, the condition of the labourers had, aswo know, become rn11c11 worso. l'hc moncy wage rose, LuL notin proportion to the depreciation of money and the correspond-ing rise in the prices of commodities. Wages, therefore, in realityfell. Nevertheless, the la\rfs for keeping them d0s.n remained inforce, togetl~er wit11 the car-clipping and branding of those "whomno one was willing to take into service." Dy the Statute of Apprcn-tices 5 Elizabctl~, c. 3, tlie justices of the peace were cmpo\vercd tofix certain wages and to modify them according to the tin~e of theyear and the pricc of commotlities. James I. est~nded these regu-lations of Labour also to weavers, spinners, and all possible cate-gories of \vorkcrs.' George 11. erlendcd the laws against conli-

tions of labourers to manufactures. In the manufacturing periodpar etcellence, the cnpitalisl mode of production had becomesuflicienlly strang to render legal regulation of wages as impracti-

cable as il was unnecessary; bul lhe ruling classes \Isere unwillingin case of necessity to be without the weapons of the old arsenal.1

Still, 8 George 11. forbatle a higher day's wage than 2s. iTd. for

journeymen tailors in and around London, excepl in cases of gen-eral mourning; still, 13 George III., c. 68, gave the regulalion of

tho wages of silk-weavers L(J the justices of thc pence; still, in1706, il required lwo judgments of lhe higher courts to decide,whelhcr lhe mandates of justices of tho paace as to wages heldgood also for non-agricultural lnbourers; still, in 1795, an acl of

' From n clause ol Statute 2 lames 1.. c. C, we see tbnt certain cloth.

makers took upon themselves to dictate, in Lheir capacity 01 joslicps 01 thepence, the ofricial Lorifl of \\.ascs in Llreir own sl~ops. In Germany, especiallynller tho 'Thirty Years' \I1nr, slalulcs lor keeping down \\a:.ts ucru eer~trill."The want ol servants and lahotlrcrs wns vcry LruuLlesomc lo the 1nndL.d pru-prielors in 1110 d' opulaled clislricts. All villagcr~wrrr forbidden lo let roonisto singlo men anawomcn; all the laller were to be reported La the authori:iejnod casl into prison if thev were un!villin@ to become serranlq . orsen ii ttls.~

--.. -. -.... ..,"

\rere employed at any ollrir work, such asUso!~ing sceds lor the peasants at

daily wa c, or e\en blly~ng and selling coru (Imperial privilcues and sallc-

tions lor (ilesia, ;..25.) ;or in the drcreesolt~~oiinall

a \vl~alecer~tl~ry c,.rmsn



~ ~

polcnlates o biller cry goes up again andBguirl about IIICsickell and impcr-linen1 rabble that wilt no1 reconcile it5ell to its hard lot, will not be conteritail11the legal vase; the individual landed proprietors are lortidden to pay

more than Lhc Slate had RscdLy a tariff. And yet the coodilions 01 remice\\.ere a1 Limes better altcr tllc \\.or tlran 100 years later: the farm ecn-antsnf..

~ ~

Silesia had. In 1652, nleat tn.ice a week. \vhilsl even in'our cenlury, dirtricip

arc known \~hcro they have it oniy three timesa year. Further, nagti alktr

the \\,or werc highcr tl~an in tlie following ccl~lurg." (C. Freytag.)



740 CAPiTALlSC PllODUCTlON

Parlianiciit oritercd that tlic wages of the Scotch niincrs shouldcontinue Lo be regolated by a statute of Elizabeth and iwo Scolcliacts of 1G61 and 1671. How completely in ihc meantime circum-stances had cliangcd, is proved by an occurrcncc unheard-of bcforc

ill the Englisl~ Lo\\-er IIousc. 111 that place, \\-licro fur iilorc tll;ul1100 years laws had been made for the maximum, beyond which\\.ages absolutely must not rise, Whitbread in 1796 proposed alcgal niinimi~m \\.ago for agricl~lturnl laboiircrs. Pit1 opposed lhis,bot conlesscd that the "conclition of tlie poor \+,as crucl." Finally,in 1813, tlic law for the regulation of wngcs wcre repealed. Theywerc an absurd nnomaly, since tlie capilalist ~.cgulalcd his factoryby his private legislation, and could by the poor-rates mnkc upthe wage of ihc agricnltural labourer to the indispensnblo mini-mum. The provisions of the labour statutes as Lo contracls bctwcennlaster and workman, as to giving notice and lhc like, which only

allow of a civil action against the contract-breaking masler, buton the contrary permit a criminal aclion against the contract-breaking workman, are to this hour (1873) in full force. The barba-rous laws against Trades' Unions fell in 1825 before bhe llirealeningbearing of the prolelarial. Despite ~liis, they fcll only iii parl. Cer-tain beautifnl fragmcnts of tbeold statute vanisllcd only in1859.Finally, the act. of Parliament of June 29, 1871, made a prclcnceof removing the last traces of Lhis class of legislation by legalrecognition of Trades' Unions. But an act of Parliament of the snmedate (an act to amend the criminal law relating lo violence, llirenls,and niolestation), re-establishcd, in point of fact, the formcrstate of things in a new shape. Dy this Pnrliamcntary cscamotagethe means \vhicli the lahoursrs could use ill a strike or lock-out

wcre wilhdrawn from the laws common lo all cilizens, and placedunder exceptional penal legislation, the interprctalion of which

fcll Lo tlie masters themselves in thcir capacily ns justices of thepeace. Two >,ears earlier, tlic same Rousc of Commons and ihe

same hlr. Gladslone in the \\-ell-known straightlor\!~ard fashionbroilght in a bill for the abolition of all esceplional penal icgis-lation against the working-class. But this \\,as never allowed togo beyond the second reading, and the matter was lhus probraelediintil at last the "great Liberal party," by an alliance wilh iheTories, found courage to turn agai~ist tl~e very prolctarint llinlhad carried it into po~vcr. Not content wit11 this lreachery, the"greal Liberal party" allowed the English judges, evcr complais-ant in the servicc of thc ruling classes, to dig up again lhe carlicr

1 la\\.s against "conspiracy," and to apply them Lo coalitions of labour-

I crs. \Ye scc that only agninst its will and under ilic pressure of the

LEGISLATION AOAINST THE EXPROPRIATED i41

inasses did the English Parliament give up the laws againstSlrikes and Tradcs' Unions, after il had itself, for 500 years,l~clJ, with ~hamelcss egoism, the position of a permanent Tradcs'

Union of the cnpitalisls against ihe lahourcrs.During llla very first storms of ll~erevolulioo, the I'rencb



bourgeoisie dared to lake away from lbe workers the righi ofassocialion bul just acquired. By a decree of June 14, ,1791,thoy declared all coalitiori of ihe worliers ns "an nltcmpt againstliberty nnd Lhc dcclaralion of the rigl~ls of man." punishable bya finc of 500 livrcs, logether with deprivation of the rights of anactive cilizcn for one year.' This law which, by means of Statecompulsion, confined the struggle between capital and labour

within limils comforlablo for capital, has outlived revolutionsand changcs of dynasties. Even the Reign of Tcrror lcft iL un-louched. It was but quite recently slruck out of the Penal Code.Nolhing is more cbaraclerisiic than llie prctexl for this boilrgeoiscoup d'dfaf. "Granting," says Chapelier, ihc reporter of the SclectCommillee on this law, "that wages ought Lo be a little higherthan ihey are, ... lhal they oughl lo be high enough for himLhaL rcccivcs hem, lo be free from that slate of absolute dcpcndencc~hlc to the wan1 of Llie ncccssaries of life, and \rhich is almostthat of slavery;" yet lhc workers must not he allowed to come toany understanding about lheir own inlerests, nor lo act in commonand thereby lessen lheir "absolute dependence, which is almost

that of slavcry;" because, forsooth, in doing lhis they injure '.thefrocdom of tlicir cidcvanl masters, tbc prcscnt entrepreneurs,"and bccansc a coalition againsl Lbc rluspotism ut the r/or,ndamm;~stcrs01 thc corporatiorrs is-glicss wllat!--is n rostoralion

of I he corporations abolished by the French constilution.?

Arlicle I. of Lhis law runs: "l.'an6antisscrnc1lL dc toulc espbcl! dc corpo-

raliolis du mkne eta1 el prolcssion 4Lanl I'unr des bases fondarncnlales dr la

constilution Iranraisc, it Cst dQfcrldu de les r6lablir de fait sous qntlqae prt-

teste et sous uclque fornle quc cc soit." ArLiclc I\'. declnres, lhal if '.dc=ci-

loycns altnc:l?s aux m6rncs profussions, arls ct rn6licrs prcnaienl ilcs dc.lih6-

raliuus, fnisaic~lt clllre ellx des convc!llior~s tcndanles ih rulu::ur do coflcr.ri ou

:I n'occordr~.cp'i un prix d6terrnini. Ic sccoors de lcur induslrie ou de Ieurs

Imrnnx, les d~lcs d6lib0rations oL con\:cntioris ... scront d;clarJej inconsli-

Inlion~iellcs, nllcntnloires 6 lo libcl.lf ct L Is declsrsliou dcs droitc de

I'l~o!onle. 6.c.": fclony, Lhureforc, as in Lilt old lnl)o~~r-statules.("H6\.olu-

lions dc Paris," Paris, 1701. t. 111, p. 523.)

a Uucl!cz ct Ilour: "IIisloiro I'arlcn~cnlairc," 1. I.,p. 19;.



No\\. that we have considered the forcihle creation of a class ofoutlawed proletarians, the bloody discipline that turned theminto wage-labourers, the disgraceful action of the State whicheniployed the police to accelerate the accumalation of capitalby increasing the degree of exploitation of labour, the questionremains: whence came the capitalists originally? For tho enpru-

priation of the agricultural population creates, directly, none hutgreat landed proprietors. As far, however, as concerns the genesis

of the farmer, we can, so to say, put our hand on it, because it isa slow process evolving through many ceuturies. The serfs, aswell as the free small proprietors, held land under very differenttenures, and werb tllerefore emancipated under very dilFcrentecollomic conditions. In England the first form of tho farlner isthe bailiff, himself a serf. His position is similar to that of the oldRoman piillicus, only in a more limited sphere of action. Duringthe second llalf of the 14th century he is replaced by a farmer,whom the landlord provides with seed, cattle and implements.

Hiscondition isnot very different from that of the peasant. Only hcexploits more wage-labour. Soon he becomes a mbtayer, a halt-farmer. He advances one part of the agricultural stock, the landlordtl~e otller. Tlle two divide the total product in proportions deter

milled b! contract. This form quickly disappears in England, togivc place to the farmer propcr, who makes his own capital bveedby employing wage-labourers, and pays a part of the surplus-prod-uct, in moncy or in kind, to the landlord as rent. So long, duringthe 15th century, as the independent peasant and the farm-lahour-er working for llirnself as wcll as for wages, enriched themselves

by their o\vu lahour, the circ~~u~stances I

of the farmer, and his

GENESlS OF THE CAPLTALIST FARMER

743

field of production, were equally mediocre. The agricultural revo-lution which commenced in tho last third of the 15th century,and continued during almost the whole of the 16th (excepting,however, its last decade), enriched him just as speedily as itimpoverished the mass of the agricultural people.' \

The usurpation of the common lands allowed him to augmentgreatly hisstock of cattle, almost willlout cost, whilst the!. yieldedhim a richer supply of manure for Llic Lillagc of the soil. To this,

was added in the 16th century, a very important element. At thattime the contracts for farms ran for a long time, often for 00 >-ears.The pmgressive tall in the value of Lho precious metals, an11 thore-fore of money, brought the farmers golden fruit. Apart from allthe other circumstances discussed ahove, it lowered wages. Aportion of the latter was now added to tlie profitsof 1hl:farm. Thecontinuous rise in tho price of corn, wool, meat, in a word of all

agricultural produce, swelled the money capital of the farmerwitllout an). action on his part, whilst the rent he paid (beingcalculated on the old value of money) diminishod in reality.=



' Harrison in his "Deseri lion oi En land:' says "allhough peradven-ture ioure ounds of old rent %e improvef to fortis, townrd tile end of histern>,if he \avo not six Or Scven yeares rent lieng hy him, flflie or a hundred

pounds, yet will 1l1c farmer Lhinke his gaines veric small."

On the influence of lbe deprecialion of money In the ifith cenl~~ry,

oa the diffcre~~l classes of society, see "A Compendious or Rriele Examina-

lion of Curlayno Ordinary Complninlv of Divers 1.11 our Countryman in Lk1ese

uur Days:' By W. S., Ce~~llo~nan.

(I.ondoll 1581.)Tile diolopuo lorrn of tt~irwork led puuplu lor a Ion6 lime Lo uscril,e iL Lo Slgnkespoarc, &!id even in li51,

il was published under 111s name. Its author is Wilvam Slafford. In one place

the knight reasons as follows:

"linlqht: You, my neighbour, lllehusbandman, you hlaislkr Jlercer, and

you Goodman Cooper, will1 olhcr nrlificcrs, may save yourselves melely well.

For as much as all Llrlngs are dcarsr Lhantlay were, so much do you al.ise

in tbe pryce of your wares and occupations that ye sell aga ne But we hare

notl~i~tg

lo sell whereby we migbt advance ye prlce there of. 1; ccunler\.;rilc

lhose LllinEs Lhat ws must buy agayne." In nraolher place the knighlasks LI,Cdoeror: "1 pray you, what be those sorts that ye mcane. And lirsl.ol tltosr lllatyc tlrlnlrc sl~uold hove no losse thert:hy?-Doclor: 1 moan all ltio,~tho1 lireby buying and selling, for as llley buy deaw, lhoy scli Lheicaflcr. Kni~.ltt:Whal is the ncxl sort that yesay would %in hy it? D.~ctor: Marry, nli iucl; a5have lakings of fearmes in lbeir omne manurance [culliralion] at Ll~r oldrent, lor wbere they pay after tha olde rate they sell after the ncil-a-Lhat is. llley paye for lbeire lande good clrcape, and sell all things g~0eing tl~ereofdcare. ICnight: What sorte is that which, ye ayde should hare ereater lujjehereby. than these men had profit? Doctor: It is all noblemen, geitla~nen, endall olhcr that live eithcr by a slinted rent or slypcnd, or do i,r,t nlallurc

~cul\i.valionl the ground, or doe occ~~py

no huy~ug and selling."



CAPITALIST PRODUCTION -:-

I rJ

Thus they grew rich at the expense both of llieir lebourers andlheir landlords. No wonder therefore, that England, aL the end

of the 1Gth century, had a class of capitalist farmers, rich, con-sidering the circumstanc~s of the time.

CFIAPTER XXX

REACTION OF THE AGlLICUL'l'Ul1AL REVOLCTION OXINDUSI'BY.CILEA'ITON OF THE 1IUBE-EARKETFOH INDUSTRIAL CAPITAL

In his "Notiorts dc Philosoplric Nalorcllc." Paris, 1838.

* A @"in1lhal Sir Jarnos Slcuarl cnlpllssiscs.



'!

741; C1l'I'PALIST PRODUCTION

dcpenJent upon home agvicullure. They were transformed intoan element of constant capital. Suppose, e.g., a part of the West-

phalian peasants, who, at the time of Frederick II., all span flax.forcibly expropriated and hunted from tlte soil; and the otherpart that remained, turned into day-labourers of large farmers.At the same time arise large establishments for flax-spinning andweaving, in which the men "set free" now work for wages. Theflax looks exactly as before. Not a fibre of it is cltaugcd, but anewsocial soul has popped into i1.s body. It forms now a part of theconstant capital of the master manufacturer. Formerly dividedamong a number of small producers, who cultivated it themselvesand \\-it11 titeir families sp~tn it in retail fashion, it is now concen-trated in the hand of one capitalist, who sets others to spin andweave it for him. The extra labour expended in flax-spinuing real-

ised itself formerly in oxtra incomo to numerous peasant families,or maybe, in Frederick 11,'s time, in taxes pour le roi de Prusse.It realises itself now in profit for a few capitalists. The spindles

,.I and looms, formerly scattered over tho face of the country, are

i now crowded tag$ba .in-afq-great labour-ba~r*clts, together: wit11 thelabourers and the raw mi6e'rlal:And _spindles, looms,raw maCePid;~~uc-tmnsf~~med~r~m iudependenl

mean5 ~otexistence for the sp~~~s_ad..weawrs.

into means for commandingthem'and sucki~~out does not per-

of them unpaid labour."Oneceive,~Ghih-iuokitFat~ihelTrgC~'man~tfactoriesand the largefarms, that they have originat,ed from the tlirowing into one ofmany sn~all centres uf production, and have been built up hy theespropriation of many small independent producers. Nevertheless,Lhe popular intoition was not at fault. In the time of Mirabeau,the lion of tltc Rcvolution, tlrcgroat manufactories were stillcalled manufactures rhunies, n~orkshops thrown inlo one, as wespeak of felds thrown into one. Saps Mirabeau: "We arc only

paying attention to the grand manufactories, in which l~untlreilsof nlcn work under a dircclor and whirl, are co~nrnonly calledma~+nfaclures re'unies. Tltose where a very large number oflabourers work, each separately and on KIS own account, archardly considered; they aro placed at an infinite distance fromthe others. This is a great error, as the latter alone make a reallyimijortant object of national prosperity. . .The large workshop

I "Ju perrnettrai,.' says the capitalist, "que vous ayez l'honneur de me

ser\.it.,h co~ldilion que vous me don~~czle peu q~tivous resle pour in peine ue;~fprends de vous coffiruanJcr." (1. 1. Rousseau: "Discours sur 1'Economie $0-



1litique?) I

. , 1-~LL ,+ -/>L'L< -:&..2~;.

2'-

REACTION OF THE AORICULTURAL REYOLUTIOS

(manufacturo rirunie) *,I! ~nrich.p~Qig&lgroneor two entre-preneurs, but.th6~~~w~iH~nly be journeymen, paid more orless, and will not have any share in-iliCsucEeis 51 the undertaking.In the discrctc workshop (manufacture &park), on tho crmtrary,.ino ono will become rich, hut~n;~ny_lahourers~~ll.be_e.omfortahle;

,

the saving and the industrio'us will lii.?iGG-6amass a liiile-c%f-

tal, to put bya little for a birth of a child, for an illness, for them

selves or their belongings. The number of saving and industrious

labourers will increase, because they will see in good conduct,

in activity, a means of essentially bettoring their condition, and

not of obtaining a small rise of wages that can never hc of any

importance for tltc IIILU~C,

and vhosc sole_ result is to place men

in the posltign to live a little ___

betik-iTut o~Ti6?ma5j;to-ita y...

The large workshops, undertaktngs of~F~M~fivTiL8p~s6iii~

whopay labourers from day to day to work tor their gain, may he ableto put these private individuals at theirease, but they viill neverbe an object worth the attention of governments. Discrete work-shops,forthe most part combined with cultivationof smallholdings.are the on1 free oqes!' The expropriation aud eviction of a part

+-

of the agrlcu tural population not only set free for industrial capi-

tal, the labourers, their means of subsistence, and material for

labour; it also created the home-market.

In fact, the events that transformed the small peasants into

wage-laboorers, and their means of subsistence and of labonr into

material elements of capital, created, at the same time, n home-

market for the latter. Formerly, the peasant family prodilced the



means of subsistence and the raw materials, which they themselves,

for tho most part, consunled. These raw materials and meanv nf

subsistcnco have now bocumu commodities; Ll~c large farurersulls

them, he finds his market in manufactores. Yarn, linen, coarse

woollen stnns-things whose raw materials l~arl lleen within

thc rcacll of every peasant f;tmily, l~ail hcc~t spllri an11 v:ovi!n l,y it

for ils own use-worc now Lranvforrned into articles of rnanufac-

ture, to which the country districts at oncc served for markets.

The many scattored customers, whom stray artisans until no\?

had found in the numerous slnall prorluceis workingon their own

account, concentrate the~nselves no\\. into one groat markel

'hiirabeau. I. c., t. Ill., pp. 20-109passim. That .\lirabe:u considers the

separatc \\-orlishops more economical ar~dproducti>.e thau ihc .'combined:,

and secs in tl~c lnttcr mcreiy arlificial exotics under government cultivation.

is cxplal~~ed

by Lllc poritiott at (Ilat time of a great part 01 tLa coniinc~>tbl

manufactures.



CAPITALIST PRODUCTION REACTION OF THEAGRICULTURAL REVOLUTIOX.provided for by industrial capital. Thus, l~nud in liaud with the population, and completes the separation between agr~culture

rpropriation of the self-supporting peasnuts, with their sepnra- and rural domestic industry, whose roots-spinning and vieav-

from their ~~~of-pm~u~~io~~,g~~~t~iii.bEsCr~ction

&QQ --. of rural ing-it tears up.' It therefore also, for the first tinre, comquers

domest~c idustijr,-the procesv of soporntion botwoen mnnufnc-Lure and agriculture. And only tho destruction of rural dumestioindustry can give the internal market of a country that extensionand conutence which the capitalist mode of production cequires.Still the manufacturing period, properly so cnlled, does not-suc-ceed in carrying out this transformalion rndicnlly and complete-ly. It will be remembered that manufacture, properly so culled.

conquers but partially tho domnin of rintionnl production, andalways rests on the handicrafts of the town and the domesticindustry of the rural districts as its ultimato basis. If it destroysthese in one form, in particular branches, at certain points, itcalls them up again elsewhere, prep-

btu--e&iw~t&inpoint. It produces, thereillagaryiK-while. following thecultiva~~~f~~tfe~ry

calline their chief occu-

pat~on~ustri~-t~-t~ts the

%Ti% they-selt-tomanu~--dktty;-~ar-thmughJhe medic&-uf-tiiiFchants.Thili~sone, though not tho chief, cause of a.phenomenon which, atfmt, puzzles the student of English history. From the last third01 the 15th century he finds continually complaints, only inter-rupted at certain intervals, about theencroachment of capitalistfarming in the country districts, and the progressive destructionof the peasantry. On the other hand, he always finds this peasantry

up again, although in diminishcdpumber, and alwaysThe chief -reason isiEngland is at oneof corn, at another chiefly a breeder ofcattle, in alternate periods, and with these the extent of peasantcultivation fluctuales. Modern Industry alone, and finally, sup-

plies, in+b@~the lasting basis ok capitalistjc agriculture.expropija_Les r~lly_~g~~u~~a~~ity

of the agriculturnl

~ ~

1"Twenty pounds ol wool convertad unobtrusively into the yearly cloth-



in801 a ispourer's family by its ownindustryin the intewnls 01 other work-&I\!$ but bring it lo market, send it Lo the lactory, tbe~rce to

mab;$s,no S~QV;llle broker, thence to lhc dealer, and you will have great commercial opera-tiom, and nomirlnl capital engaged lo the aluounlof twenty times its value ....

The .*-orliiu ci-s is thus emerjed Lo supporL a wetcbod (aclory populalion.

8-.-and

a parajitica stop keeping class, and n fictitious cummercinl, mo~~elary,

financial system. (David Urquhart. I. c., p. 120.)Cromwell's time forms an exception. So long as the Republic lasted.

the mars of the En lish eople ol all grades rose 11om the degradatiou inlon-hich Lhey Lad sun1 un&r the Tudors.

for industrial capital tho entire home-rnark~t.~

Tuckellisaware thal the modern woollen industry has sprun ailh

the introduction 01 rnachinery.f~om manulacture proper and from the f~struc-tionpl~raland domesic indlrrt3m?&~.~q~x~~-

e in-

vent~onor gods, and the occupptivYolherws~a+the loum, tae, the

di?ta!Lol~@b_rB~kFiinii.You,sevetZhi d~slaE-and Lhe plou h, the spin-

dle and thc yoke, an yuget Iactorrosand poor-houses, credit anfpanics. two

hosllle nalioas, agricu turaland commercial." (David Urquhart. I. c., p. 122.)Bul now comes Carey, and cries out upon England surolyrnryith unrcosuu,that !t kI!Y~~KLK!~LQ~KQC~~~GIIT~$~~~-~~&~

;qricp~~~i~~~on,

wl~oscgl~ufaclu~r~s~~ that in t

k~England.-He~rctc~~ds 1s aay Turhev has

tieen ruined; Liecause 'lbc owners nnd occupants oni~6avc~fi~'v~i-6e~'<p~1-

mitled by England Lo stren@honLkcmseivcs by the larm~tiou~i

that naturalalliance between the plou h and lhcloom, the hammer and the harrow::('The Slave Trade," p. 125:f~~cordin~

to him, Urduhirl himjell is one of the



chief a ents in the ruin 01 Turkey, where he had made Frcc2rade_pro qauda~n the knglish inter=stlTtest of it is the& Carey, &great Ftusopbik by &he

way, wants to prevent the process of separation by thaL.k:bj:~.-s~slelp ?f prolec-

lion which accelerates it.' .

~

Philanlhro ic En lish economisls, like hiill, Hogers, Goldwin Smith,Pawcett, kc.. an!liberafmanufacturers like John Bright bCo., ark the Er.9lish la~ldad pro rietors, as God asked Caiu alter Ahel. \Vhere are our thau-

sands of freclrofbcrs one? But whcrc do vou con~cfrom, tldcn? From thedulruclion ol those frce~oldurs. Why doo't you ask lurtl~w, where arc tllaLndepeudsnL wsauerj, spluncri, and artisans guuc?



CHAPTER XXXl

GENESIS OF Tim IND[IS'I1ItIAI~ CAI'I'l'AIdf4T

The genesis of the industrial capitalist did not proceed in sucha gradual way as that of the farmer. Doubtless many small

guild-mnslers, and yet n~orc independent sniall nrtisens, or ovcnwage-labourers, transformed themselves into small capitalists,and (by gradually exteuding exploitation of wage-labour and cor-rzsponding accumulation) into full-blown capitalists. In tho,infancy of capitalist production, things often happened as in the,? infancy of ruedimval towns, where tho question, which of the. , 8 lescaped serfs should be master and which servnnt w_as in great. ' 1a;ter date ofiheizfli'ght. The snail's

\part decided_.hy4haaarlier_o_r ._--pace-oftfG'method corresponied in no wise with the commercialrequirements~of the-new. world-mnrket that the great discoveries

of the Zfid of the 15th century created. But the middle ages hadhanded- doh two distinct forms of capital, which mature in themost different economic social formations, and which, hefore theera of the capitalist mode of production, nro considered as capi-talquand rn6me-usurer's capital and merchant's capital.

"At present, all tie-&-pgwslir5ttinto' the pos-session of the capitalist ...he pays t.he lnndowner his rent, the!~bourer his wages, the tax nnd tithe gatherer their claims, andkeeps a large, indeed the largest, and a continually augmentiiigshare, of the annual produce of lnbour for himself. The capitalist

'may now be said to be the first owner of all the wealth of thecom-,,m~nitylPDUgh Do law hns ~pnfcrredsn-him theright to this prop-erty :-?:this &-heen offected hy,Jlte.._taking3t:i6terest

on capita;-:; .and-E<aot 5 littlo~curibusthat all the law-giversof Eul,ope endeav0iired-t-o-prevent-tlii~hy slatute~,Viz., StatUtesagainst usury.. ...The power of the capitalist over all the

-~. . . ..~~ ~ ~

.

. -

~

1 lnduslrialhere in conlradistinclion to o~icultural.111 the "cnlrgociC"

sonre the faruler is nn indurlrial capihlist as nlucll as the ulanalacLurCr.

' 'The Nalural and Arlificial Rights of Property Contrasled." I.ond.,

1832, pp. 9g99. Author of tho anonynlous work: "Tb.Hndpkin?' Even as lale as 1794. the small clotlt-makers 01 1.eeds sent a depula-

tion to I'arliamcnt, will1 a pelilion lor a law to lorbid any merchanl [tom be-



Comillg a manulncturer. (Dr. Aikin, 1. c.)



C.\I'LT:\LIST I'IiODI:CTlOl\i

William ill:-~~lo~i~~~io~~Popular History

and Cl~ristiauity: A

of the TR~ ~ ~~~

of the pialivus~ by the Europeans~ ill all Lhcir Colonies."I~ondo,l,:s~s,,,. 9. ontllc trcat~ncnt of Ll~c do~cs thcre is a good conl~ila-

Cliarlcs c ~ ~ dc la LPgislatioo." 3n1c id. Brurelles. ~ ~ ~ ~ , lS37.

.-~~~il~n,us~sllldy in dctail, to scc what t~lc bourgcoisio mal(ci This sllhjcct labourcr, \\.),crcvcr it can, witllout rcstrainl, nlodel Lhc wol+d

itselland ' In Llle YCar 1866 more than a million ttindus died ol hunper in the

alter its own image.

= .rhomas stamford late Livut.Gov. of that island: "The Hi=- ruyirlcr 01 Orissaalonc. Nercrll~cless. Ihc atleolpt was to cnricll thefndinn Lrcasury by the price at which Ll~e r~eevssnries of lile were sold to

lory ol J;!va." Lolad.. 1Sli. LllU sttlrvinp [raoltle.



CAPlTALIST PRODUCTLON

-.. --.-----GENESIS OF TllB INI)US'I'IIIA~ C,~PI'II\LI~L.IasL sllilling advanced. Grnduolly it bccumu iao\.itahly the roc':p.tacle of the mclallic hoard oi the country, and the centre of grav-ity of all comu~iercial credit. What offact was produced on their

conlernporaries i)y lho sudden uprising of lhis bmod of bsnkocrats,Ruanciers, rool.icrs, llrol~c!rs, sloek-jobbers, kc., is provud by f.ha

writings of that tirrie, s,[:., by '

Ilolin~hrokl;'~.

With tho natioxal debt aruro nu international credit systelri,which often conceels one of the sources of primitive accunula-tion in this or that people. Thus t.he villainies of the Venetian

' '31 lua Tartares inondaient I'Europe ailjourd'hui; il faudrait b.en d:,

ulfairei pour leur l'airi: tntur~drece que c'esl qu'ult ilnn,rciar parl;li o.;ca'klu~~lusquiuu,"Espril dc; lair:' I.iv.. p. 33, ed. hndics, t76.J.



7Cfi CAPITALIST PllODUCTlON

thieving system formed one of tho secret bases of tho capital-

'

\vcalth of Holland to \\,horn Venice in her decadence lcnt largesulns of mo~il?y. So also was it witli Hollnnd an11 Ellglan~l.By the beginning of tho 18th century the Dutcll nlanufacturcswcre far outstripped. Holland had ceased to be the nation prcpon-derant in coiillnercc and industry. One of its mnin liues of busi-ness, therefore, from 1701-1776, is tho lending out of enormous

r amounts of capital, especially to its great rival England. Tllcsame thing is going on to-day between England and the UnitcdStates. A great deal of capital, aliich appears to-day in the UnitedStates without any certificate of birth, was yestrrday, in England.the canitalised blmhhhildren. -.'% the national debt finds its support in the pu

blic revenue,which must cover the yearly payments for interest, &c., themodern system of taxation was the necessary complement olthe system of national loans. The loans enable the governmelitto meet extraordinary expenses, without the tax-payers feelingit immediately, but they necessitate, as a consequence, increasedtaxes. On the otlier hand, the raising of taxation caused by theaccumulation of debts contracted one alter another, compelsthe government always to llavo recourse to new loans for newextraordinary expenses. Modern fiscality, whose pivot is formedby taxes on the most ncccssary means of subsistcnco (therebyincreasing their price), tli~is contains within itself the germ ofautomatic progression. Over-taxation is not an incident. but

rather a principle. In Holland, theroforo, whero this system wasfirst inaugurated, the great patriot, De Witt, has in his "Maxims".estolled it as the best system for making the wage-labourer sub-missive, frugal, industrious, and overburdened with labour. Thedestructive influence that it exercises on the condition of the wage-labourer concerns 11s less llowever, here, than the forcible expro-priation. resulting from it, of peasants, artisans, and in a word, allclements of the lower middle-class. On this there are not two opin-ions, even among the bourgeois economists. Its expropriatingefficacy is still furtlier heightened by tho system of protection,which forms onc of its integral parts.Tlie great part that the public debt, and the fiscal systemcorresponding with it, has played in tlic capitalisation of wealthand the expropriation of the masses, has led niany wrlters, likeCobbctt, Douhledap and othcrs, to seek in this, incorrectl!-, tliclundainental cause of the nlisery of the modern peoples.Tlie system of protection \\.as an artificial nieniis oi tnanufac-turing manufactnrers, of e:;!)roprialing independc~~tlabourers, of

GENESIS OF THE IXDUSTRIAL C.\PITALIST iS7

capitalising the national means of production and sabsistence. :?iforcibly abbreviating the transition from the rnemli;cval ta thdmodern mode of production. Tho European states tore on,: an-

other to pieces about tho patcnt of tl~is invcntion, and, oncc ell-tered into tho service of the surplus-value makers, did not merelylay under contribution in the pursuit of this purpose their awn



people, indirectly through protective duties, directly throughexport premiums. They also forcibly rooted out, in their (I?-pendent countries, all industry, as, e.g., Englnnd did with thoIrish woollen manufacture. On the continent of Europe, altorColbert's example, the process was much simplified. Ths prim-itive industrial capital, here, came in part directly out of t!lestate treasury. "Why," cries Mirabeau, "\vhy go so far to seek tlic

cause of the manufacturing glory of Saxony before the war?180,000,000 of debts contracted by the s~vereigns!"~

Colonial systom, public debts, heavy taxes, protection.com-mercial wars. kc., these children of the true manuIacturingperiod, incraaso gigantically during the infancy of hIodern Indus-try. The birth of the latter is heralded by a great slaughter of theinnocents. Like the royal navy, the factories were recruited bymeans of the press-gang. Blase as Sir F. M.Eden is as to the hor-rors of the expropriation of the agricultural population from thesoil, from the last third of the 15th century to his own time; withall the solf-satisfaction with which he rejoices in this process,

"essential" for establishing capitalistic agriculture and "the dueproportion between arable and pasture land" -he does not sho~.however, the same economic insight in respect to tlienecessity nfchild-stealing and child-slavery for the transformation of manu-facturing exploitation into factory exploitation, and tbe establish-

ment of the "true relation" between capital and labour-power. He

says: "It may, perhaps, be worthy the attention of tht public

to consider, whether any manufacture, which, in order to he

carried on successfully, requires that cottages and workhouses

should be ransacked for poor children; that they should be em-

ployed by turns during the greater part of the night and robbed

of that rest which, though indispensable to all, is most required

by the young; and that numbers of both sexes, of different ages

and dispositions, should be collected together in such a manner

that the contagion of examplecannot but lead to prolligac). and de-

bauchery; will add to the sum of individual or national felicity?"'



"111 the counties of Dcrbyshire, Nottinghamsl~iro, andmore particularly in Lancashire," says Fielden, "the nowly-invented n~achinery \\,as used in large factories built on thesides of stren~ns capable of turning the water-wl~eel. 'I'housa~~dsof hands wore suddenly required in these places, remote fromtowns; and Lancasl~ire, in particular, being, till then, compara-

tively thinly populated and hnrren, a popnlntion was all that sllcnow wanted. Tl~e sn~all and i~i~nble

fil~gurs of littlo children bci~lgby very far the most in request, thecustom instantly sprang up ofprocuring apprentices from the different parish workhonses ofLondon, Birmingham, and clsewl~ere. Many, many thousands ofthese little, hapless creatures \\.ere sent down into the north, beingfrom the age of 7 to ths age of 13 or 14 years old. The custom wasfor the master to clolhe his apprentices and to feed and lodge themin an "apprtnlice house" near the factory; overseers were appoinl-ed to see to the crorlrs, whosa i~rterest it was to worlc the children

ito lhe utmost, because their pay was in proportion to the quantityof \r.ork that they could exact. Cruelty was, of course, the con-sequence. . . . 111 many of the manufacturing districts, but pal-ticularly, I am afraid, in tlie guilty county to which I belong1 [Lancasl~ire] .heart-renfiing practised

, c~e&ie~e,_qlost wereopon tJ~c.unalfcndiug aud .friendless crcn~!!!.~s \vho \\.ere thus con-

signed-la-th~&a~gcq~mastc<nli~nnfg~turcrs;

tllay wero harassedto ~!le_b~&n£~~~~~~x{ess

of labo~~r

. ..wc~.floggd>tl.ercdand tortured ill the most exyiti~&~&~~en~cnt

01cyuelly; . . . lhey\rare?biiGEnJme~afiG3-tothe bono \;;hi6-ii~ged to their worlc11nd . . . oven in sollie i~istauces . ..werehh!cn Ls~wmmit sui-cidu .. . The beaul.iI111 i~~~rl run~antic valleys of Derl~ysl~iro,

Not-' tingha'mshire and Lancashire, secluded from the public eyo,becan~e the dismal solitudes of torture, and of many a murder.

iThe profits of id%iuf~c[urEiS-n~erecabrmous:butthis only wl~elted

With lhe tlevelol~ment of capitalist prutluction during theman~~faclurineperiod, the public opinion ~.iEurope llad IJSIlhc last remnant of sllame and c~)nscicnce. Tlrc nations braggzdcynically of every infamy that scrvc~l thum as u nli:un.i to capital-

istic accumulation. Head, e.g., the naive ;\nnals of Commerceof tha worthy .4. Anderson. IIere it is trun~peted forth as a tri-unipl~ of Euglisll statecraft that at the Pcace of Ltrecht, England



cxtorlu~l fror~r tl~r: Spaniarlls I)?. Ll~u Aricnto l'rosty t11c privilcgtof being all~\\~ed

t,o ply the negru-trade, unti! then onls carriedon between Africa and the Englisl~ \Vest Indics, bc2ween Africaand Spanish America as well. England thereby acquired the riahlof supplying Spanish America until 1743 ~ith4.800 negroes parly.

This threw, at the same time, an official cloak over British smug-gling. Liverpool waxed fat on the slave-trade. This \\.as itsmethodof primitive accumulation. And, even to the present da!-, Liverpoo!"respectability" is the Pindar of the slave-trade \vliich-com-pare the work of Aikin [I7951 already quoted-'.has coincidedwith that spirit of bold advanture ivhicli has chaiactcrised thelradc of Liverpool and rapidly carried it to its present state ofprosperity; has occasioned vast employment for shipping an,!sailors, and greally augmented the demand for tile manufacture.of the country" (p. 339). Liverpool employed in the slave-trade, in

1730, 15 ships; in 1751, 53; in 1760, 74; in 1550, 96; and in

1792, 132.

Wliilst the cotton industry inlroduced child-slevrry irEngland, it gave in the United Statcs a stimulus to the mans-formation of tho earlier, more or less patriarchal slavery, into asystem of conlmarcial oxploil.ntion. In lact, 1.h~ vciled :larcr:.

of ?dell," 1705. Vol. 11. Wl~enthcsleala-enxine tranp!an!ed tl~e Iacto;.ias Iror!,the conntry ?.alcrlal!s lo tlae middle 01 towns. Llhr: .'a?2i!c.!!iioui" c,irp:ui-~;i.

\ I .an m~Bllent thnt-spemed to ~ecnre

ufacturer~~~~oo~~~e..~..I to tlle<~~e+ro~1~~_v~~_an~ )m!t;?y.egan

l?os%>!ity;.qftho pcactimoi adrat is te~~~~n~gl~~~fklng!,that

is, Pavi~iglired-mtst .af_I!ands,by ~yo&i~~t.h~.~o!!ghout.i~h~

day, Ll~ey

' had an_other..s~t. ready -to go.on \vorkipg throughout the nigl~l.;the dn).-set gctt)!!g i!~to.L!!C beds tl~at ~l!ehgjgl!~.-sct had jtlst quil-Led, an&TCfke~r turu.ag2in;.the night-set gettiiig into-the. bellsthai tti~<~-sst gui! tedn~~li~l~o.r_n+gI,It-is

a -common~iraditiun: In ~anciis%irc, .~l~al..t!!o II.c_iIs rzecer gel cold,"'

\ -. ..~ .~ ~. .. ~.

1 lolin Ficlh!l,, I. e., 1q1. 5, li.(ran ilw i!:lrli,!l. illla~nies of tlla lacl

ory sys.Lcm, cl. Dr. .tikiu (1795) I. c., p. 213, and (;ishort~c: "Enquiry illlo LLr 1)ulies



th~._apyg~jtethat it ..-.-.-..- ue maker lour~d lllc child-malerial ready lo iti-irsnd, rr.i:buul hint lurc~cl

-shoul~lavesatis~~~;~~:th~~~~~oj~tl~~.. man-Lo reek slavcs lrom tlie \vorkhouscs. \Yl~en Sir R. ['eel (ia:l~er ol tho'-minis.ter 01 plausibility"), brought in his blll lor liie protec:io!r of children. in

1815, brancis ilorner, lumen 01 lhc Bullion Conmillee and ir#lirr.?.!e frir~:d

of Ricardo, said in the Ilouse olCommo~~s:

"I1 is nutorious. Iha! ailb a hack-rupt's cncc:s, n gang, il he rni'Tlrl use tlic \vurd. di ti!i.ie cllildr~,i:lrad:at,!put up to sale, and wcre adverzscd publicly as part ol lhe p!m)pcr~y..A most

slrociu~~s

inslance had hccn hrnu[,;llt hciorc Llle I2ourt oi tii~w:'' t!cncl~ti.~lyears belore, in wlricl~ a numLcr ol Lherc buys, apprciiiiccil h:? a paris12 inLon.

don to orle rnsn~~laeturrr, had been lrar.slt.~ri.cl Lo anu~1ii.r. ald i~ad t::et,found by some Litne~olcnt prrsons in aslale of absoliile famine. Ano!hv; caicmore horrible hadcome tol~isk;!o!vled~enhilc on a(['?,rlianieiliary) Cornrniitie... lhat ,101 nlarlp yuars ago, all agreerncnt laad Otcn n:dc bclwecr~a I ondin paria11nrld a 1,ancaihirc rnan~llacturr!~., i: rlipuIaltd, lI:vL vlili

LY wl~ici~ \r;,

every 20 soulid cllildre;l one idiot skould Lr takeii."



CAl'lTALIST l'lIODU(;TIOIC

01 lllc n;~gi.-s-orlivrs ill l:~~ropc ncrclcd, for ils pcdcst;rl, slavc~yi'ure and sinrplc ii~ l11~ nc~vI\~OIIO.'

!

CnAPTER XXXII

\\'l~a~

does the primitive accumulation of capital, i.e., its historl-cal genesis, resolve itself into? In so far ns it is not immediatetransformation of slaves and serfs into tuage-labouren, ardtherefore a mcro change of form, it only means the expropriationof the ilnnrediate producers, i.e., the dissolution of privalr prop-erty hased on the labour of its o\r7nor. Private propert!., as theantithesis to social, collective property. exisle only \\-here

I.he means of labour and the external conditions of labourbelong to private individuals. But according as lllcrc pri\.aleindividuals are labourers or not labourers. private property hsia difltrent character. The nurnhcrlasi sltarl;:s: lhal ir a1 f!r:tsight presents, correspond to the intcrn~sdizte singes iyin;:bet\vecn these two cxtl.c;rnes. The ppivalc propc:iy of llic Inboa;.rrin his rncnns of prodliction is tho fol~rldat.i(~n of pnl.1.: ir\rJur.!r:.,

whether agricullurnl, mauofacluring; ur both: @?it? indu=:r),again, is an essential condition for the derelopnient sfsocial production an11 1,: thr: frc~. indiviilllality of thc 1abouri.r

I~in~sclf.

Of coarse, Il~isllctty illode of prodllcI.ion c:iisls :~I~cluri.?;:rslavcrp, serf don^, and other slatcs (I: dr-pc!~denc~:. Uut I!.[lourishas, it lcts loosc itc \\hole cnc-gy, it ;~l!;tin~ ils adequateclas:ical form; only r e !he labouror it 1: pi.i:.atc GI-VE~:of his 0n.n rncans of la!~o~~rsat ill? ridasa~.t

ia aclioi~ bx hin~s~ll:of the lsnrl \\.hichIiE c.\~,l~i~atcs oi ik:. i3.i

LIT(. a~:ic:tn \:!ii:l..

._--. -_L... ."

~

11s llantlles as a t'~rtuoso. This rnorlioi prodicii;,!~ prr-525.



means of production, so also it excludes co-operatlon. divi-sion of labour within each separate process of produc-tion, the control over, and tho prodnctive ap lication ofthe forces of Nature by society, and the Lee dovelop-meut of the social productive powers. It is compatible only witha system of production, an11 a society, moving within narrow and

more cr loss primitiva bounds. To perpetuate it woold he, as Pec-qt~c~lr cer-

riglilly says, "to dcoree u!~irerval mediocrity." At. a

' 1tain,stage of develop~nent it briugs forth the matoria(agonciesfo~ rneiEXW t6r3eX%iibne!v its o\vn -

pa~ionssprin~ ujin the bosom of so~llt

the oldsocial ornan-isation fetters them and kceps tlreu~ down. It must bo annihi-

lated; it is annihilated. Its annihilation, the.tiian-01thi%na~vraua~~sed and scattered means of production into so-cially concentrated ones, of the pigmy property of the many intothe huge property of the few, tho expropriation of the great massof the people from the soil, fro>--&e-u~uTisGni, and

its own feet, then the further socialisation of labour and furthertransformation of tho land and other means of production iutosocially exploited and, therefore, common means of production,as well as the furthor expropriation of privale proprietors, tak~sa new form. That which is now to be expropriated is no longert.he labourer working for himself, but the capitalist exploitingmany labourers. This expropriation is accomplished by the action

of the immanent laws of capitalistic productibn itself, by thocent~alisation of capital. One capitalist.@iy~ilIs many. Hand

in hand with this centralisabien,.aLthis expr0pii?~tnnn~mn~capitalists by few, develop, on an ever-exten ing scalt, the ccoperative form of tho labour-process. the conscious tecbuicalapplication of scienco, the methodical cultivation of the soil, thetransformation of the instruments of labour into instruments oflabour only usable in common, the economising of all means ?fproduction by their use as the means of productionof combines,socialised labour, the entanglement of all peoples in tha net oftho ~vorld-market, and with this, the international chsracter of

tho capitalistic r8gime. Along \vith the const.lntly diminishins

fro~~e-~o~~M~n~g~~~i!!:,~.~~~@ion

oflh.mxssSilkpe~lcforms the prelude to thy!!igt~r.y gf capi-

~-. .

t+lt comprises a series Cf-6rcible mctbods, of which we havepassed in review only those that have been epoch-making as met,h-ods of the primitive accuinulation of capital. The expropriatiouof the i~~~n~ediato was

producers accon~plisbed \\.it11 mercilessVand~liem, and nnder lllc stin~ulus of passions t.11~ n~ost in-



fILi~s, i s o r ti pettiest, tl!e most meanly orli~

Ious. Sclf-ear~~od private property, that is based, so toszy, on tho fusir.g togethrr of tho isolated, indepcnd~ntlaboori~~~i!~di-:iclanl his is

\vi:l~ tl~c ro~~diiio:is oi Laboor,supple:~tcd by cai)italistic private prJperty, which rosls .,>I;~sploilntin;l of fhc ~tomi~~aliy labour of otlrcrs, i.e., ~11

lrcc

nqe-l~tbuo;.'

As silo11 as this process of Lmn.forn1atio11 has soflicisntly dr.

composed the old socict!. from lop lo Ilobton~, as soon' as tho Ia-

buururs arr turncd into prolclari;u~s, tl~rir mesns of 13b011rinto

capital, as soon as t!?e capit.;ilist ~nodc of production stands ~II.

1 "Kouj solulnes dans une coltdilio~~Lout-i;falt nou\.ello de la so.

ciste...nous 1e11do11s s&pnrer toulc espbce dc proprill6 d'nvec toute espbce

de Lra~aii." (Qismoudi: "XOUVC~UXI'ri~~cipes~'ECOII.Polit:' t. 11..

y. 434.)number of tho magnates of capital. \\.l~o usurp aud mono;iolis? al!advantages of this process of transformation, g:c\vs the n12ss

of misery, oppression, slavery, degradalion, exploitation; .butwith this too grows the revolt of the working-class, a class alrva!-sincreasing in numbers, and disciplined, united, organised by thevery mechanism of the process of capitalis? prod~ction itself.The monopoly of capital b9comcs a fetter upon the mode of p-o-duction, which has sprung up and flourished along with, and under

it. Centralisation of the means of production and $ilcialisation cilabour at last reach a point where they become incompatible withtheir capitalist integument. Thus integument is burst asundcr.The knoll of cnl~italist lrrivato property souuds. Tho expropriatoiaare expropriated.

Tho capitnlist mode gf..nppropriation, the result of the capi-talist mode of ,_ppo~~c~i~nrod.

~apjtaligtprivate property.This is the first negation of indiv_idualptivateproperly,asfomdedon thFf5bbuigf @~:~~riGtoi.

But capitalist production begets,with the inexorability of a law of Nature, its oxn negation. It isthe negation of negation. This does not re-establish private prop-erty for the producer, but gives him individual property basedon the acquisitions of the capitalist era: i.e., on co-operation

and the possession in common of the land and of the means of pro-ducliou.



I

The iransforlnation of scattcrcd privatc propcrty, arising

\ irom individual labour, into capitalist private property is, nat-I

! nrally, a process, incompambly more protrnctcd, violent, and.j diflicult, lhan the transformntion of capitalistic privatc Drop- !

ert,y, alreedy practically resting on socialised production, into

socialiccd propcity. In the former case, \ve had the expropriationof tho mass of the pcople hy a few us\~rpcrs; in the lattcr. \ve have

\.lie expropriation of a fen usurpers by tho mass of the people.'

*~. -' 'l'ltu advance of industry. rftose involnnlary prornotcr In the hoor-geoisic, rrplnces lheisolaliorl of llle labourers, due Lo compelition, by Lheir

/ re\-olulionnry CorubinsLion, due to association. The developn~enL 01 hlodern

Industry. Iherclore, cuts lrom under irs feel. the very lo~~ndalion

on w!~iclv

the bonrpoisiv produces and appropriales products. What Lhe bour;wo~sto:.

ll~rrclore, produces, above ell, are ils own ave-diggers. 11s tall and lhc vir.. Lory of the prr;!ctariat are cqrlally incvita bae... 01 all Lhe classes, tllal slar~ml

lace to lace will, the bourpeoisie lo-dny, tlic proietariaL nlooe is a n?ally rcl.0.lulionary elass. Tl~e other clnrres pcrish and disappear in Llle lace ol Alodern I~ldustry. the prolrtnriat is ilr special and essential producl ,.. Tllc lower n~id-~lle-clasws.1111. smnll rnnnulnclt~rcrs. I he shopkcepcrs. lhc arLisnn. 1l1cpensallt,,111tlnec firllt arainct tht. hotsrgroisie. lo save lro111 cxtir~clion Lllcir erislrnrcas lvacliouc ot illc middle-ciass ... they arc niactionary. lor LI1;y tuy Lo rollhack the nllrel 01 h~slory. Karl llarx tlnrl Fricdrich Engcls. Rlnnitvl;L dor

Kommunisli5rl~cn I'nrlci." \.ondon. 184%. pll. !). 11.

CHAPTER SSSllI

TliE BIOnEllN 'L'IIEOKT OF COl,~?i~~.\qy)y

Political Economy confuses on principle two very dill.trcntkinds of private on the producers'

..-~sWY&>~ICS~So\vn labour, t c other on bhe enl~loyment of the labour of

otllcK .ri-E@that Lhc lattc~o~--~~e~-~~i<i~~csis

--.



-.

oE~tho~riner,b;ltabso~ui<rows on& tomh~l~,J~\\'es~crn,Enrope, the home of Polilical Economy, theroca~ofaccumulation is more or less accomplished. Here the'Zp~alisregime has citlier directly conquered the \\-hole domain of nationa

production, or, whero econolnic conditions are lcss dcvcloped, it,at Icast, indircctly controls those strata of society \\.hich, thoughbelonging to the antiquated mode of production, continue to existside by side with it in gradual decay. To this reedy-made \vorlclof capital, tho political cconoinist applies thc notions of law andof property inherited froma pre-capitalistic !vorld wiih all the morcanxious zoal and all the greater nnction, the more loudly the factscry out in t,hc facc of his ideology. It is other\visc in the colonic;.There the capitalist regime everywhere comes into collision Iviththe resistance of thc prorluccr, wllo, as o!vncr of his 011-n conditionsof iahoor, cmploys !.hat laboor to enrich himself, inslrnd oi thecepilelist. Tho contradielion of t.llcac two diamctric311v opposeri

c!conomic systcnrs, rnn~~ifosts in a strogglc

itsclt hero pra~ticall:~bctv~eon thcm. Wllcrc tltc cnpitnlist~l~as

at his Lack ihc po\r,er of then~other-coitntry, hc tries to clear out of his way 11). force, the modesof production and appropriat,ion, based on tllc indepcnilbnt labourof thc producer. Tllc samc intcrcst, \\.hich compels the 5)-cophailtof capital, bhe political cconomict, in the mother-coontr!., to pro-claim tl~r, tbooretical it1ontil.y of thc capilali.?~ nrorle of prmrlr~cliiin1vitl1 its contmr!., tl~atSam:? irltc?cst com1;els him in til,: cu!oni~:.to mnlic a clean breast ol it, and to proclaim alr,ud LLI: antsg~nis:~:

I \Ye Lreal llcrc of rcal Colonics, virgin soils, colcnis.:d b:. tree imml-Fants. The Unitcd Statcs arc, spcalrin: cconomicall?, rlill onlr a Colon!- "IEul-opc. hides, to Ll~is calcgor) he!o~l"Iio such old F!etr(;iti.<fiiss thos:. illwhicl~Lhc aholilion of slarcry lras c~rnp1eli:ly illtcicd LLCci,i!:~;r cj~diti~xij.



76G CAPITALIST PnODUCTlON

of \he two modes of production. To this end he proves how the :development of the social productive powor of lahow, co-opera-Lion, division of labonr, uso of machinery on a large scalc, kc..are in~possible wilhout the esproprintion of tlle labourers, aud

the corresponding transforlnation of their means of production

!

;:

i'1

I

/i

i

THE YODBRK ?IIEORP OP COLC:<:3.A'CiO\; iEi

------. --.---

For the undi>rs:andil~g of thc ft~lLowir!g ~liscu\.c:ii:s ci' \\'ah-flcld, two prclin~inary remarks: UTe kno\r. that :he !nca of pro-duction nnd y~~lrsistcnce, whilc they remain thc pl..ijj?r:v r~fthcimhedisiYT~occ~., not ;,I,

arc capital. 'R-ccomeei\pit

onQ3 e. time

s anccs ~n~te~Tvc!TtKIZGrhC

saeks for artilicial means to ensure the povcrty of tho people.llere his apologetic armour crumblos off,hit by hit, like rottentouchrvood. It is the great merit of E. G. Wakefield to have dis-covered, not anything new about the Co1onios.l but to have dis-covered in the Colonies the truth as to tho conditions of capitalistpro~\ucliou in tho mot.hcr-connbry. As tho systen~ of protoelion ntits origing attempted to manofacture capitalists artificially inLbe ~not.llor-country, so fVakeficld's colonisation theory, whichEngland tried for a Limo to enforce by Acts of Parliament, at-len~j~tcd of wage-workers in the Colonies.

to eficct l,ho n~a~~ufacturol'his he calls "~).slematic colonisation."

Firs1 of all, Wakefield discovered that in t.he Colonies,prop-rty in moaey. means of snlsistence, machinos, and otherrnedzls of production, does not as ye1 stamp o man as n capitalistif l,l~crc be wn~lting tlie correlative-tho wage-worker, the othermnn wllo is compelled to sell himself of his own free-will. He dis-covered that capital is not a thing, but a social relation betweenpersons, ostallishcd by tho instrumentality of things. hlr. Peel,

i~o moans, took with him from England to Swan River, Westhostmlia. means of subsistence and of production to tho amountof 5?50,000. Rfr. Peel had tho foresight to bring with him, besides,



3,000 persons of Lhe working-class, men, women, and children.Once arrived at his destination. "Mr. Peel was left without a serv-ant to make his bed or fetch him water from the river."' Unhappy

111. Peol who provided for everytliing except the export of llnglishmodes of production to Swan River!1 \\'al<efiuld's lew glimpses on the subject of hlodero Colonisation are

lullg or~ticigaled by liiralcau Plre. Lhe yl\ysiocrat, and even lnuch earlierby E~~mlisb ceoaomists.

Later, il became a temporary necessity in the lnternntio~lili compeli-lirc jrruagls. Uut, \vl~utt.vorits niolive, the cansuqacncas remaill 1110 silulc.

' 'A oegro is a ocgro. In cerlain eircumslance~ ba becomes a slave. Amule is a lnacbinc for ~pinuing catLou. Only under curtain CircumsLonces docsit bccotue capital. Outside Lhsse circumstances, il is no rn

gold is intrin:iczliy murley. or sugar is ll~eprico of sugar

cial relalion ol prodt>cLiiltl. I1 is a l~islorical relntio~l ol

a . o i l I ill ' \ lIlr. Z Nu. SGT,. April 7. 1S48.)I E.G \\'a\:cfiuld: "l!nglat~d ard America," voi. ii., p. ad.into capital. In the interest of the so-called national wealth, he cis 5nm~~~.-fi~t

8

Eeav-lecLlon

this capitalist soul of 1 cirs IS so inXiEiXtT)TeTdZr;7R the llesdof the political economist, to their material subcia~:ce, Lhat 11echristensthe-~~e++xaru!rozrlhyare ils exact opposite. Thus iu it with WaKet~o:ri. Fbrli~er: thesplit,tinguif the means cf production into thc: intliridudl prap-erty of m;tny indopcnrlcnt lnl)o!~rcrs, working on 1ht:iu r,wn ae-count, he calls equal division of capital. It is wit11 lhu l,oliLical

i ~?cor~omist

as with the feudal juriat. The latter stuck on Lo puremonotary relations the labels supplie~l by foudpl Lax.

"If," says Wakcfi~ld, "all tho rncmhers of ti12 soci!:Ly are rap-posed to possess equal portions of capital . . . no lnan \\.auldhave a motive for accc~m~~lating us.

more capital tilan he coulr!with his own hands. This is to somc extent :he case in ncn Amori-can settlements, wl~erc a passion for owning Ian11 pruvenls thecxistcncc of a class of labo~~rers as

for hi~c." SO Irln~, thercforc,the laboilver call accumulate for himsclf-and t!ris hc can do -,so long as he remains possessor of his means of production-,

capitaliccum~~lation .;.

and the capitalistic mode oh&ction



a?cimeible. 'The class of wage-labourers, essential to these.is want~ngxow, thcn, in old Europe, was Lhe expropriation ofthe labourer from his conditions of labour, i.e., Lhe co-existenceof capital and wago-lahour, brought about? By a social contractof a quite original kind. "Mankind have adopted a . . . simple con-trivancc for promoting the accl~mulatio~~

of capital," whicl~, ofcourse, since the time of Arlam, floated in their imagination anthe sole and Anal end of their exislpncc: "they have dividcil them-selves int.0 owners of capital and owners of labour . . . .Thisdivision was the result of concert andcombinnLion."2 Inone \\.otd:the mass of mankind cxpropriatcd itself in hono~rr of tllc "accu-mulation of capital." Now, one wonld think, that this instinct ofself-ilcnying fanaticism would give itself lull fling especially inthe Colonies, tvl~ere alol~e exist the men 2nd c~~ndiiionsthatcould turn a social cont.raet from a dream LO a reality. 9ui 1r.h:-,thcn, should "systematic colonisation" be called in to replace its

opposite, spontnneous, unregulated coloi~isaii~l?? Dut-hilt-

' I c. . 17.

I. c., vol. I., p. 18.

marx primtive accumulation

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