Part 11 (1/2)
There may, however, be acquisition, which is a very different thing.
If, in the exchange, one man is able to give what cost him little labour for what has cost the other much, he ”acquires” a certain quant.i.ty of the produce of the other's labour. And precisely what he acquires, the other loses. In mercantile language, the person who thus acquires is commonly said to have ”made a profit;” and I believe that many of our merchants are seriously under the impression that it is possible for everybody, somehow, to make a profit in this manner.
Whereas, by the unfortunate const.i.tution of the world we live in, the laws both of matter and motion have quite rigorously forbidden universal acquisition of this kind. Profit, or material gain, is attainable only by construction or by discovery; not by exchange.
Whenever material gain follows exchange, for every _plus_ there is a precisely equal _minus_.
Unhappily for the progress of the science of Political Economy, the plus quant.i.ties, or--if I may be allowed to coin an awkward plural--the pluses, make a very positive and venerable appearance in the world, so that every one is eager to learn the science which produces results so magnificent; whereas the minuses have, on the other hand, a tendency to retire into back streets, and other places of shade,--or even to get themselves wholly and finally put out of sight in graves: which renders the algebra of this science peculiar, and difficultly legible; a large number of its negative signs being written by the account-keeper in a kind of red ink, which starvation thins, and makes strangely pale, or even quite invisible ink, for the present.
The science of Exchange, or, as I hear it has been proposed to call it, of ”Catallactics,” considered as one of gain, is, therefore, simply nugatory; but considered as one of acquisition, it is a very curious science, differing in its data and basis from every other science known. Thus:--If I can exchange a needle with a savage for a diamond, my power of doing so depends either on the savage's ignorance of social arrangements in Europe, or on his want of power to take advantage of them, by selling the diamond to any one else for more needles. If, farther, I make the bargain as completely advantageous to myself as possible, by giving to the savage a needle with no eye in it (reaching, thus, a sufficiently satisfactory type of the perfect operation of catallactic science), the advantage to me in the entire transaction depends wholly upon the ignorance, powerlessness, or heedlessness of the person dealt with. Do away with these, and catallactic advantage becomes impossible. So far, therefore as the science of exchange relates to the advantage of one of the exchanging persons only, it is founded on the ignorance or incapacity of the opposite person. Where these vanish, it also vanishes. It is therefore a science founded on nescience, and an art founded on artlessness. But all other sciences and arts, except this, have for their object the doing away with their opposite nescience and artlessness. _This_ science, alone of sciences, must, by all available means, promulgate and prolong its opposite nescience; otherwise the science itself is impossible. It is, therefore, peculiarly and alone, the science of darkness; probably a b.a.s.t.a.r.d science--not by any means a _divina scientia_, but one begotten of another father, that father who, advising his children to turn stones into bread, is himself employed in turning bread into stones, and who, if you ask a fish of him (fish not being producible on his estate), can but give you a serpent.
The general law, then, respecting just or economical exchange, is simply this:--There must be advantage on both sides (or if only advantage on one, at least no disadvantage on the other) to the persons exchanging; and just payment for his time, intelligence, and labour, to any intermediate person effecting the transaction (commonly called a merchant): and whatever advantage there is on either side, and whatever pay is given to the intermediate person, should be thoroughly known to all concerned. All attempt at concealment implies some practice of the opposite, or undivine science, founded on nescience. Whence another saying of the Jew merchant's--”As a nail between the stone joints, so doth sin stick fast between buying and selling.” Which peculiar riveting of stone and timber, in men's dealing with each other, is again set forth in the house which was to be destroyed--timber and stones together--when Zechariah's roll (more probably ”curved sword”) flew over it: ”the curse that goeth forth over all the earth upon every one that stealeth and holdeth himself guiltless,” instantly followed by the vision of the Great Measure;--the measure ”of the injustice of them in all the earth”
([Greek: aute he adikia auton en pase te ge]), with the weight of lead for its lid, and the woman, the spirit of wickedness, within it;--that is to say, Wickedness hidden by Dulness, and formalized, outwardly, into ponderously established cruelty. ”It shall be set upon its own base in the land on Babel.”[53]
[53] Zech. v. 11. See note on the pa.s.sage, at pp. 191-2.
I have hitherto carefully restricted myself, in speaking of exchange, to the use of the term ”advantage;” but that term includes two ideas: the advantage, namely, of getting what we _need_, and that of getting what we _wish for_. Three-fourths of the demands existing in the world are romantic; founded on visions, idealisms, hopes, and affections; and the regulation of the purse is, in its essence, regulation of the imagination and the heart. Hence, the right discussion of the nature of price is a very high metaphysical and psychical problem; sometimes to be solved only in a pa.s.sionate manner, as by David in his counting the price of the water of the well by the gate of Bethlehem; but its first conditions are the following:--The price of anything is the quant.i.ty of labour given by the person desiring it, in order to obtain possession of it. This price depends on four variable quant.i.ties. _A_.
The quant.i.ty of wish the purchaser has for the thing; opposed to [Greek: a], the quant.i.ty of wish the seller has to keep it. _B_. The quant.i.ty of labour the purchaser can afford, to obtain the thing; opposed to [Greek: b], the quant.i.ty of labour the seller can afford, to keep it. These quant.i.ties are operative only in excess; _i.e._, the quant.i.ty of wish (_A_) means the quant.i.ty of wish for this thing, above wish for other things; and the quant.i.ty of work (_B_) means the quant.i.ty which can be spared to get this thing from the quant.i.ty needed to get other things.
Phenomena of price, therefore, are intensely complex, curious, and interesting--too complex, however, to be examined yet; every one of them, when traced far enough, showing itself at last as a part of the bargain of the Poor of the Flock (or ”flock of slaughter”), ”If ye think good, give ME my price, and if not, forbear”--Zech. xi. 12; but as the price of everything is to be calculated finally in labour, it is necessary to define the nature of that standard.
Labour is the contest of the life of man with an opposite:--the term ”life” including his intellect, soul, and physical power, contending with question, difficulty, trial, or material force.
Labour is of a higher or lower order, as it includes more or fewer of the elements of life: and labour of good quality, in any kind, includes always as much intellect and feeling as will fully and harmoniously regulate the physical force.
In speaking of the value and price of labour, it is necessary always to understand labour of a given rank and quality, as we should speak of gold or silver of a given standard. Bad (that is, heartless, inexperienced, or senseless) labour cannot be valued; it is like gold of uncertain alloy, or flawed iron.[54]
[54] Labour which is entirely good of its kind, that is to say, effective, or efficient, the Greeks called ”weighable,”
or [Greek: axios], translated usually ”worthy,” and because thus substantial and true, they called its price [Greek: time], the ”honourable estimate” of it (honorarium): this word being founded on their conception of true labour as a divine thing, to be honoured with the kind of honour given to the G.o.ds; whereas the price of false labour, or of that which led away from life, was to be, not honour, but vengeance; for which they reserved another word, attributing the exaction of such price to a peculiar G.o.ddess called Tisiphone, the ”requiter (or quittance-taker) of death;”
a person versed in the highest branches of arithmetic, and punctual in her habits; with whom accounts current have been opened also in modern days.
The quality and kind of labour being given, its value, like that of all other valuable things, is invariable. But the quant.i.ty of it which must be given for other things is variable: and in estimating this variation, the price of other things must always be counted by the quant.i.ty of labour; not the price of labour by the quant.i.ty of other things.
Thus, if we want to plant an apple sapling in rocky ground, it may take two hours' work; in soft ground, perhaps only half an hour. Grant the soil equally good for the tree in each case. Then the value of the sapling planted by two hours' work is nowise greater than that of the sapling planted in half an hour. One will bear no more fruit than the other. Also, one half-hour of work is as valuable as another half-hour; nevertheless the one sapling has cost four such pieces of work, the other only one. Now the proper statement of this fact is, not that the labour on the hard ground is cheaper than on the soft; but that the tree is dearer. The exchange value may, or may not, afterwards depend on this fact. If other people have plenty of soft ground to plant in, they will take no cognizance of our two hours'
labour, in the price they will offer for the plant on the rock. And if, through want of sufficient botanical science, we have planted an upas-tree instead of an apple, the exchange value will be a negative quant.i.ty; still less proportionate to the labour expended.
What is commonly called cheapness of labour, signifies, therefore, in reality, that many obstacles have to be overcome by it; so that much labour is required to produce a small result. But this should never be spoken of as cheapness of labour, but as dearness of the object wrought for. It would be just as rational to say that walking was cheap, because we had ten miles to walk home to our dinner, as that labour was cheap, because we had to work ten hours to earn it.
The last word which we have to define is ”Production.”
I have hitherto spoken of all labour as profitable; because it is impossible to consider under one head the quality or value of labour, and its aim. But labour of the best quality may be various in aim. It may be either constructive (”gathering,” from con and struo), as agriculture; nugatory, as jewel-cutting; or destructive (”scattering,”
from de and struo), as war. It is not, however, always easy to prove labour, apparently nugatory, to be actually so;[55] generally, the formula holds good, ”he that gathereth not, scattereth;” thus, the jeweller's art is probably very harmful in its ministering to a clumsy and inelegant pride. So that, finally, I believe nearly all labour may be shortly divided into positive and negative labour: positive, that which produces life; negative, that which produces death; the most directly negative labour being murder, and the most directly positive, the bearing and rearing of children: so that in the precise degree in which murder is hateful, on the negative side of idleness, in that exact degree child-rearing is admirable, on the positive side of idleness. For which reason, and because of the honour that there is in rearing[56] children, while the wife is said to be as the vine (for cheering), the children are as the olive-branch, for praise; nor for praise only, but for peace (because large families can only be reared in times of peace): though since, in their spreading and voyaging in various directions, they distribute strength, they are, to the home strength, as arrows in the hand of the giant--striking here and there, far away.
[55] The most accurately nugatory labour is, perhaps, that of which not enough is given to answer a purpose effectually, and which, therefore, has all to be done over again. Also, labour which fails of effect through non-cooperation. The cure of a little village near Bellinzona, to whom I had expressed wonder that the peasants allowed the Ticino to flood their fields, told me that they would not join to build an effectual embankment high up the valley, because everybody said ”that would help his neighbours as much as himself.” So every proprietor built a bit of low embankment about his own field; and the Ticino, as soon as it had a mind, swept away and swallowed all up together.
[56] Observe, I say, ”rearing,” not ”begetting.” The praise is in the seventh season, not in [Greek: sporetos], nor in [Greek: phytalia], but in [Greek: opora]. It is strange that men always praise enthusiastically any person who, by a momentary exertion, saves a life; but praise very hesitatingly a person who, by exertion and self-denial prolonged through years, creates one. We give the crown ”ob civem servatum,”--why not ”ob civem natum”? Born, I mean, to the full, in soul as well as body. England has oak enough, I think, for both chaplets.
Labour being thus various in its result, the prosperity of any nation is in exact proportion to the quant.i.ty of labour which it spends in obtaining and employing means of life. Observe,--I say, obtaining and employing; that is to say, not merely wisely producing, but wisely distributing and consuming. Economists usually speak as if there were no good in consumption absolute.[57] So far from this being so, consumption absolute is the end, crown, and perfection of production; and wise consumption is a far more difficult art than wise production.
Twenty people can gain money for one who can use it; and the vital question, for individual and for nation, is, never ”how much do they make?” but ”to what purpose do they spend?”
[57] When Mr. Mill speaks of productive consumption, he only means consumption which results in increase of capital, or material wealth. See I. iii. 4, and I. iii. 5.