資本論 CHAPTER 14: DIVISION OF LABOUR AND MANUFACTURE003

20\"The

master

manufacturer,

by

dividing

the

work

to

be

executed

into

different

processes,

each

requiring

different

degrees

of

skill

or

of

force,

can

purchase

exactly

that

precise

quantity

of

both

which

is

necessary

for

each

process;

whereas,if

the

whole

work

were

executed

by

one

workman,

that

person

must

possess

sufficient

skill

to

perform

the

most

difficult,and

sufficient

strength

to

execute

the

most

laborious

of

the

operations

into

which

the

article

is

divided.\"

(Ch.

Babbage,

l.c.,ch.

xix.)

21For

instance,

abnormal

development

of

some

muscles,curvature

of

bones,

&c.

22The

question

put

by

one

of

the

Inquiry

Commissioners,How

the

young

persons

are

kept

steadily

to

their

work,

is

very

correctly

answered

by

Mr.

Wm.

Marshall,

the

general

manager

of

a

glass

manufactory:

\"They

cannot

well

neglect

their

work;when

they

once

begin,

they

must

go

on;

they

are

just

the

same

as

parts

of

a

machine.\"

(\"Children's

Empl.

Comm.,\"

4th

Rep.,1865,

p.

247.)

23Dr.

Ure,

in

his

apotheosis

of

Modern

Mechanical

Industry,brings

out

the

peculiar

character

of

manufacture

more

sharply

than

previous

economists,

who

had

not

his

polemical

interest

in

the

matter,

and

more

sharply

even

than

his

contemporaries

Babbage,

e.g.,

who,

though

much

his

superior

as

a

mathematician

and

mechanician,

treated

mechanical

industry

from

the

standpoint

of

manufacture

alone.

Ure

says,

\"This

appropriation

...

to

each,

a

workman

of

appropriate

value

and

cost

was

naturally

assigned,

forms

the

very

essence

of

division

of

labour.\"

On

the

other

hand,

he

describes

this

division

as\"adaptation

of

labour

to

the

different

talents

of

men,\"

and

lastly,characterises

the

whole

manufacturing

system

as

\"a

system

for

the

division

or

gradation

of

labour,\"

as

\"the

division

of

labour

into

degrees

of

skill,\"

&c.

(Ure,

l.c.,

pp.

19-23

passim.)

24\"Each

handicraftsman

being

...

enabled

to

perfect

himself

by

practice

in

one

point,

became

...

a

cheaper

workman.\"

(Ure,

l.c.,

p.

19.)

25\"Division

of

labour

proceeds

from

the

separation

of

professions

the

most

widely

different

to

that

division,

where

several

labourers

divide

between

them

the

preparation

of

one

and

the

same

product,

as

in

manufacture.\"

(Storch:

\"Cours

d'Econ.

Pol.,\"

Paris

Edn.

t.

I.,

p.

173.)

\"Nous

rencontrons

chez

les

peuples

parvenus

à

un

certain

degré

de

civilisation

trois

genres

de

divisions

d'industrie:

la

première,

que

nous

nommerons

générale,

amène

la

distinction

des

producteurs

en

agriculteurs,

manufacturiers

et

commerants,

elle

se

rapporte

aux

trois

principales

branches

d'industrie

nationale;

la

seconde

qu'on

pourrait

appeler

spéciale,

est

la

division

de

chaque

genre

d'industrie

en

espèces

...

la

troisième

division

d'industrie,

celle

enfin

qu'on

devrait

qualifier

de

division

de

la

besogne

on

de

travail

proprement

dit,

est

celle

qui

s'établit

dans

les

arts

et

les

métiers

séparés

...

qui

s'établit

dans

la

plupart

des

manufactures

et

des

ateliers.\"

[Among

peoples

which

have

reached

a

certain

level

of

civilisation,

we

meet

with

three

kinds

of

division

of

labour:

the

first,

which

we

shall

call

general,

brings

about

the

division

of

the

producers

into

agriculturalists,

manufacturers,and

traders,

it

corresponds

to

the

three

main

branches

of

the

nation's

labour;

the

second,

which

one

could

call

particular,

is

the

division

of

labour

of

each

branch

into

species.

...

The

third

division

of

labour,

which

one

could

designate

as

a

division

of

tasks,

or

of

labour

properly

so

called,

is

that

which

grows

up

in

the

individual

crafts

and

trades

...

which

is

established

in

the

majority

of

the

manufactories

and

workshops]

(Skarbek,

l.c.,pp.

84,

85.)

26Note

to

the

third

edition.

Subsequent

very

searching

study

of

the

primitive

condition

of

man,

led

the

author

to

the

conclusion,

that

it

was

not

the

family

that

originally

developed

into

the

tribe,

but

that,

on

the

contrary,

the

tribe

was

the

primitive

and

spontaneously

developed

form

of

human

association,

on

the

basis

of

blood

relationship,

and

that

out

of

the

first

incipient

loosening

of

the

tribal

bonds,

the

many

and

various

forms

of

the

family

were

afterwards

developed.

[F.

E.]

27Sir

James

Steuart

is

the

economist

who

has

handled

this

subject

best.

How

little

his

book,

which

appeared

ten

years

before

the

\"Wealth

of

Nations,\"

is

known,

even

at

the

present

time,

may

be

judged

from

the

fact

that

the

admirers

of

Malthus

do

not

even

know

that

the

first

edition

of

the

latter's

work

on

population

contains,

except

in

the

purely

declamatory

part,very

little

but

extracts

from

Steuart,

and

in

a

less

degree,

from

Wallace

and

Townsend.

28\"There

is

a

certain

density

of

population

which

is

convenient,both

for

social

intercourse,

and

for

that

combination

of

powers

by

which

the

produce

of

labour

is

increased.\"

(James

Mill,

l.c.,p.

50.)

\"As

the

number

of

labourers

increases,

the

productive

power

of

society

augments

in

the

compound

ratio

of

that

increase,

multiplied

by

the

effects

of

the

division

of

labour.\"(Th.

Hodgskin,

l.c.,

pp.

125,

126.)

29In

consequence

of

the

great

demand

for

cotton

after

1861,the

production

of

cotton,

in

some

thickly

populated

districts

of

India,

was

extended

at

the

expense

of

rice

cultivation.

In

consequence

there

arose

local

famines,

the

defective

means

of

communication

not

permitting

the

failure

of

rice

in

one

district

to

be

compensated

by

importation

from

another.

30Thus

the

fabrication

of

shuttles

formed

as

early

as

the

17th

century,

a

special

branch

of

industry

in

Holland.

31Whether

the

woollen

manufacture

of

England

is

not

divided

into

several

parts

or

branches

appropriated

to

particular

places,

where

they

are

only

or

principally

manufactured;fine

cloths

in

Somersetshire,

coarse

in

Yorkshire,

long

ells

at

Exeter,

soies

at

Sudbury,

crapes

at

Norwich,

linseys

at

Kendal,blankets

at

Whitney,

and

so

forth.\"

(Berkeley:

\"The

Querist,\"1751,

§

520.)

32A.

Ferguson:

\"History

of

Civil

Society.\"

Edinburgh,

1767;Part

iv,

sect.

ii.,

p.

285.

33In

manufacture

proper,

he

says,

the

division

of

labour

appears

to

be

greater,

because

\"those

employed

in

every

different

branch

of

the

work

can

often

be

collected

into

the

same

workhouse,

and

placed

at

once

under

the

view

of

the

spectator.

In

those

great

manufactures,

(!)

on

the

contrary,which

are

destined

to

supply

the

great

wants

of

the

great

body

of

the

people,

every

different

branch

of

the

work

employs

so

great

a

number

of

workmen,

that

it

is

impossible

to

collect

them

all

into

the

same

workhouse

...

the

division

is

not

near

so

obvious.\"

(A.

Smith:

\"Wealth

of

Nations,\"

bk.

i,

ch.

i.)

The

celebrated

passage

in

the

same

chapter

that

begins

with

the

words,

\"Observe

the

accommodation

of

the

most

common

artificer

or

day-labourer

in

a

civilised

and

thriving

country,\"&c.,

and

then

proceeds

to

depict

what

an

enormous

number

and

variety

of

industries

contribute

to

the

satisfaction

of

the

wants

of

an

ordinary

labourer,

is

copied

almost

word

for

word

from

B.

de

Mandeville's

Remarks

to

his

\"Fable

of

the

Bees,or

Private

Vices,

Publick

Benefits.\"

(First

ed.,

without

the

remarks,

1706;

with

the

remarks,

1714.)

34\"There

is

no

longer

anything

which

we

can

call

the

natural

reward

of

individual

labour.

Each

labourer

produces

only

some

part

of

a

whole,

and

each

part,

having

no

value

or

utility

in

itself,

there

is

nothing

on

which

the

labourer

can

seize,and

say:

It

is

my

product,

this

I

will

keep

to

myself.\"

(\"Labour

Defended

against

the

Claims

of

Capital.\"

Lond.,

1825,

p.

25.)

The

author

of

this

admirable

work

is

the

Th.

Hodgskin

I

have

already

cited.

35This

distinction

between

division

of

labour

in

society

and

in

manufacture,

was

practically

illustrated

to

the

Yankees.

One

of

the

new

taxes

devised

at

Washington

during

the

civil

war,was

the

duty

of

6%

\"on

all

industrial

products.\"

Question:

What

is

an

industrial

product

Answer

of

the

legislature:

A

thing

is

produced

\"when

it

is

made,\"

and

it

is

made

when

it

is

ready

for

sale.

Now,

for

one

example

out

of

many.

The

New

York

and

Philadelphia

manufacturers

had

previously

been

in

the

habit

of

\"making\"

umbrellas

with

all

their

belongings.

But

since

an

umbrella

is

a

mixtum

compositum

of

very

heterogeneous

parts,by

degrees

these

parts

became

the

products

of

various

separate

industries,

carried

on

independently

in

different

places.

They

entered

as

separate

commodities

into

the

umbrella

manufactory,where

they

were

fitted

together.

The

Yankees

have

given

to

articles

thus

fitted

together,

the

name

of

\"assembled

articles,\"a

name

they

deserve,

for

being

an

assemblage

of

taxes.

Thus

the

umbrella

\"assembles,\"

first,

6%

on

the

price

of

each

of

its

elements,

and

a

further

6%

on

its

own

total

price.

36\"On

peut...

établir

en

règle

générale,

que

moins

l'autoritépréside

à

la

division

du

travail

dans

l'intérieur

de

la

société,plus

la

division

du

travail

se

développe

dans

l'intérieur

de

l'atelier,

et

plus

elle

y

est

soumise

à

l'autorité

d'un

seul.

Ainsi

l'autorité

dans

l'atelier

et

celle

dans

la

société,

par

rapport

à

la

division

du

travail,

sont

en

raison

inverse

l'une

de

l'autre.

\"[It

can

...

be

laid

down

as

a

general

rule

that

the

less

authority

presides

over

the

division

of

labour

inside

society,

the

more

the

division

of

labour

develops

inside

the

workshop,

and

the

more

it

is

subjected

there

to

the

authority

of

a

single

person.

Thus

authority

in

the

workshop

and

authority

in

society

in

relation

to

the

division

of

labour,

are

in

inverse

ratio

to

each

other]

(Karl

Marx,

\"Misère,\"

&c.,

pp.

130-131.)

37Lieut.-Col.

Mark

Wilks:

\"Historical

Sketches

of

the

South

of

India.\"

Lond.,

1810-17,

v.

I.,

pp.

118-20.

A

good

description

of

the

various

forms

of

the

Indian

communities

is

to

be

found

in

George

Campbell's

\"Modern

India.\"

Lond.,

1852.

38\"Under

this

simple

form

...

the

inhabitants

of

the

country

have

lived

from

time

immemorial.

The

boundaries

of

the

villages

have

been

but

seldom

altered;

and

though

the

villages

themselves

have

been

sometimes

injured,

and

even

desolated

by

war,

famine,

and

disease,

the

same

name,

the

same

limits,the

same

interests,

and

even

the

same

families,

have

continued

for

ages.

The

inhabitants

give

themselves

no

trouble

about

the

breaking

up

and

division

of

kingdoms;

while

the

village

remains

entire,

they

care

not

to

what

power

it

is

transferred,or

to

what

sovereign

it

devolves;

its

internal

economy

remains

unchanged.\"

(Th.

Stamford

Raffles,

late

Lieut.

Gov.

of

Java:\"The

History

of

Java.\"

Lond.,

1817,

Vol.

I.,

p.

285.)

39\"It

is

not

sufficient

that

the

capital\"

(the

writer

should

have

said

the

necessary

means

of

subsistence

and

of

production)

\"required

for

the

subdivision

of

handicrafts

should

be

in

readiness

in

the

society:

it

must

also

be

accumulated

in

the

hands

of

the

employers

in

sufficiently

large

quantities

to

enable

them

to

conduct

their

operations

on

a

large

scale....The

more

the

division

increases,

the

more

does

the

constant

employment

of

a

given

number

of

labourers

require

a

greater

outlay

of

capital

in

tools,

raw

material,

&c.\"

(Storch:

\"Cours

d'Econ.

Polit.\"

Paris

Ed.,

t.

I.,

pp.

250,

251.)

\"La

concentration

des

instruments

de

production

et

la

division

du

travail

sont

aussi

inséparables

l'une

de

l'autre

que

le

sont,

dans

le

régime

politique,

la

concentration

des

pouvoirs

publics

et

la

division

des

intérêts

privés.\"

[The

concentration

of

the

instruments

of

production

and

the

division

of

labour

are

as

inseparable

one

from

the

other,

as

are,

in

the

political

sphere,

the

concentration

of

public

powers

and

the

division

of

private

interests.]

(Karl

Marx,

l.c.,

p.

134.)

40Dugald

Stewart

calls

manufacturing

labourers

\"living

automatons

...

employed

in

the

details

of

the

work.\"

(I.

c.,

p.318.)

41In

corals,

each

individual

is,

in

fact,

the

stomach

of

the

whole

group;

but

it

supplies

the

group

with

nourishment,instead

of,

like

the

Roman

patrician,

withdrawing

it.

42\"L'ouvrier

qui

porte

dans

ses

bras

tout

un

métier,

peut

aller

partout

exercer

son

industrie

et

trouver

des

moyens

de

subsister:

l'autre

(the

manufacturing

labourer)

n'est

qu'un

accessoire

qui,

séparé

de

ses

confrères,

n'a

plus

ni

capacité,ni

indépendance,

et

qui

se

trouve

force

d'accepter

la

loi

qu'on

juge

à

propos

de

lui

imposer.\"

[The

worker

who

is

the

master

of

a

whole

craft

can

work

and

find

the

means

of

subsistence

anywhere;

the

other

(the

manufacturing

labourer)

is

only

an

appendage

who,

when

he

is

separated

from

his

fellows,possesses

neither

capability

nor

independence,

and

finds

himself

forced

to

accept

any

law

it

is

thought

fit

to

impose](Storch,

l.c.,

Petersb.

edit.,

1815,

t.

I.,

p.

204.)

43A.

Ferguson,

l.c.,

p.

281:

\"The

former

may

have

gained

what

the

other

has

lost.\"

44\"The

man

of

knowledge

and

the

productive

labourer

come

to

be

widely

divided

from

each

other,

and

knowledge,instead

of

remaining

the

handmaid

of

labour

in

the

hand

of

the

labourer

to

increase

his

productive

powers

...

has

almost

everywhere

arrayed

itself

against

labour

...

systematically

deluding

and

leading

them

(the

labourers)

astray

in

order

to

render

their

muscular

powers

entirely

mechanical

and

obedient.\"

(W.

Thompson:

\"An

Inquiry

into

the

Principles

of

the

Distribution

of

Wealth.\"

London,

1824,

p.

274.)

45A.

Ferguson,

l.c.,

p.

280.

46J.

D.

Tuckett:

\"A

History

of

the

Past

and

Present

State

of

the

Labouring

Population.\"

Lond.,

1846.

47A.

Smith:

\"Wealth

of

Nations,\"

Bk.

v.,

ch.

i,

art.

ii.

Being

a

pupil

of

A.

Ferguson

who

showed

the

disadvantageous

effects

of

division

of

labour,

Adam

Smith

was

perfectly

clear

on

this

point.

In

the

introduction

to

his

work,

where

he

ex

professo

praises

division

of

labour,

he

indicates

only

in

a

cursory

manner

that

it

is

the

source

of

social

inequalities.

It

is

not

till

the

5th

Book,

on

the

Revenue

of

the

State,

that

he

reproduces

Ferguson.

In

my

\"Misère

de

la

Philosophie,\"

I

have

sufficiently

explained

the

historical

connexion

between

Ferguson,

A.Smith,

Lemontey,

and

Say,

as

regards

their

criticisms

of

Division

of

Labour,

and

have

shown,

for

the

first

time,

that

Division

of

Labour

as

practised

in

manufactures,

is

a

specific

form

of

the

capitalist

mode

of

production.

48Ferguson

had

already

said,

l.c.,

p.

281:

\"And

thinking

itself,

in

this

age

of

separations,

may

become

a

peculiar

craft.\"

49G.

Garnier,

vol.

V.

of

his

translation

of

A.

Smith,

pp.

4-5.

50Ramazzini,

professor

of

practical

medicine

at

Padua,published

in

1713

his

work

\"De

morbis

artificum,\"

which

was

translated

into

French

1781,

reprinted

1841

in

the\"Encyclopédie

des

Sciences

Médicales.

7me

Dis.

Auteurs

Classiques.\"

The

period

of

Modern

Mechanical

Industry

has,

of

course,

very

much

enlarged

his

catalogue

of

labour's

diseases.See

\"Hygiène

physique

et

morale

de

l'ouvrier

dans

les

grandes

villes

en

général

et

dans

la

ville

de

Lyon

en

particulier.

Par

le

Dr.

A.

L.

Fonteret,

Paris,

1858,\"

and

\"Die

Krankheiten,

welche

verschiednen

Stnden,

Altern

und

Geschlechtern

eigenthümlich

sind.

6

Vols.

Ulm,

1860,\"

and

others.

In

1854

the

Society

of

Arts

appointed

a

Commission

of

Inquiry

into

industrial

pathology.

The

list

of

documents

collected

by

this

commission

is

to

be

seen

in

the

catalogue

of

the

\"Twickenham

Economic

Museum.\"

Very

important

are

the

official

\"Reports

on

Public

Health.\"

See

also

Eduard

Reich,

M.

D.

\"Ueber

die

Entartung

des

Menschen,\"

Erlangen,

1868.

51(D.

Urquhart:

\"Familiar

Words.\"

Lond.,

1855,

p.

119.)

Hegel

held

very

heretical

views

on

division

of

labour.

In

his\"Rechtsphilosophie\"

he

says:

\"By

well

educated

men

we

understand

in

the

first

instance,

those

who

can

do

everything

that

others

do.\"

52The

simple

belief

in

the

inventive

genius

exercised

a

priori

by

the

individual

capitalist

in

division

of

labour,

exists

now-a-days

only

among

German

professors,

of

the

stamp

of

Herr

Roscher,

who,

to

recompense

the

capitalist

from

whose

Jovian

head

division

of

labour

sprang

ready

formed,

dedicates

to

him

\"various

wages\"

(diverse

Arbeitslhne).

The

more

or

less

extensive

application

of

division

of

labour

depends

on

length

of

purse,

not

on

greatness

of

genius.

53The

older

writers,

like

Petty

and

the

anonymous

author

of\"Advantages

of

the

East

India

Trade,\"

bring

out

the

capitalist

character

of

division

of

labour

as

applied

in

manufacture

more

than

A.

Smith

does.

54Amongst

the

moderns

may

be

excepted

a

few

writers

of

the

18th

century,

like

Beccaria

and

James

Harris,

who

with

regard

to

division

of

labour

almost

entirely

follow

the

ancients.

Thus,

Beccaria:

\"Ciascuno

prova

coll'esperienza,

che

applicando

la

mano

e

l'ingegno

sempre

allo

stesso

genere

di

opere

e

di

produtte,

egli

più

facili,

più

abbondanti

e

migliori

ne

traca

risultati,

di

quello

che

se

ciascuno

isolatamente

le

cose

tutte

a

se

necessarie

soltanto

facesse....

Dividendosi

in

tal

maniera

per

la

comune

e

privata

utilità

gli

uomini

in

varie

classi

e

condizioni.\"

[Everyone

knows

from

experience

that

if

the

hands

and

the

intelligence

are

always

applied

to

the

same

kind

of

work

and

the

same

products,

these

will

be

produced

more

easily,

in

greater

abundance,

and

in

higher

quality,than

if

each

individual

makes

for

himself

all

the

things

he

needs

...

In

this

way,

men

are

divided

up

into

various

classes

and

conditions,

to

their

own

advantage

and

to

that

of

the

commodity.](Cesare

Beccaria:

\"Elementi

di

Econ:

Pubblica,\"ed.

Custodi,

Parte

Moderna,

t.

xi,

p.

29.)

James

Harris,afterwards

Earl

of

Malmesbury,

celebrated

for

the

\"Diaries\"

of

his

embassy

at

St.

Petersburg,

says

in

a

note

to

his

\"Dialogue

Concerning

Happiness,\"

Lond.,

1741,

reprinted

afterwards

in\"Three

Treatises,

3

Ed.,

Lond.,

1772:

\"The

whole

argument

to

prove

society

natural

(i.e.,

by

division

of

employments)

...

is

taken

from

the

second

book

of

Plato's

Republic.\"

55Thus,

in

the

Odyssey

xiv.,

228,

[\"Allo

gar

talloisin

aner

epiterpetai

ergoi\"

For

different

men

take

joy

in

different

works]

and

Archilochus

in

Sextus

Empiricus,

[\"alloallw

ep

ergo

kardihn

iainetai.\"

men

differ

as

to

things

cheer

their

hearts]

56[\"Poll

hpistaio

erga,

cacw

d

hpistano

panta.

\"He

could

do

many

works,

but

all

of

them

badly

–

Homer]Every

Athenian

considered

himself

superior

as

a

producer

of

commodities

to

a

Spartan;

for

the

latter

in

time

of

war

had

men

enough

at

his

disposal

but

could

not

command

money,as

Thucydides

makes

Pericles

say

in

the

speech

inciting

the

Athenians

to

the

Peloponnesian

war:

[\"swmasi

te

etoimoteroi

oi

autonrgoi

twn

anthrwpwn

h

crhmasi

polemein\"

people

producing

for

their

own

consumption

will

rather

let

war

have

their

bodies

than

their

money]

(Thuc.:

1,

I.c.

41.)

Nevertheless,

even

with

regard

to

material

production,[autarceia

self-sufficiency],

as

opposed

to

division

of

labour

remained

their

ideal,

[\"parwn

gar

to,

eu,

para

toutwn

cai

to

autares.\"

For

with

the

latter

there

is

well-being,

but

with

the

former

there

is

independence.]

It

should

be

mentioned

here

that

at

the

date

of

the

fall

of

the

30

Tyrants

there

were

still

not

5,000

Athenians

without

landed

property.

57With

Plato,

division

of

labour

within

the

community

is

a

development

from

the

multifarious

requirements,

and

the

limited

capacities

of

individuals.

The

main

point

with

him

is,

that

the

labourer

must

adapt

himself

to

the

work,

not

the

work

to

the

labourer;

which

latter

is

unavoidable,

if

he

carries

on

several

trades

at

once,

thus

making

one

or

the

other

of

them

subordinate.

[\"Ou

gar

ethelei

to

prattomenon

ten

tou

prattonioV

scholen

perimenein,

all

anagke

ton

prattonta

to

prattomeno

epakoloothein

me

en

parergou

merei.

Anagke.

Ek

de

touton

pleio

te

ekasta

gignetai

kai

kallion

kai

raon,

otan

eiV

en

kaia

physin

kai

en

kairo

scholen

ton

allon

agon,

pratte.\"]

[For

the

workman

must

wait

upon

the

work;

it

will

not

wait

upon

his

leisure

and

allow

itself

to

be

done

in

a

spare

moment.

—

Yes,

he

must,—

So

the

conclusion

is

that

more

will

be

produced

of

every

thing

and

the

work

will

be

more

easily

and

better

done,

when

every

man

is

set

free

from

all

other

occupations

to

do,

at

the

right

time,the

one

thing

for

which

he

is

naturally

fitted.]

(Rep.

1.

2.

Ed.Baiter,

Orelli,

&c.)

So

in

Thucydides,

l.c.,

c.

142:

\"Seafaring

is

an

art

like

any

other,

and

cannot,

as

circumstances

require,be

carried

on

as

a

subsidiary

occupation;

nay,

other

subsidiary

occupations

cannot

be

carried

on

alongside

of

this

one.\"

If

the

work,

says

Plato,

has

to

wait

for

the

labourer,

the

critical

point

in

the

process

is

missed

and

the

article

spoiled,

\"ergou

cairondiollutai.\"

[If

someone

lets

slip

...]

The

same

Platonic

idea

is

found

recurring

in

the

protest

of

the

English

bleachers

against

the

clause

in

the

Factory

Act

that

provides

fixed

mealtimes

for

all

operatives.

Their

business

cannot

wait

the

convenience

of

the

workmen,

for

\"in

the

various

operations

of

singeing,washing,

bleaching,

mangling,

calendering,

and

dyeing,none

of

them

can

be

stopped

at

a

given

moment

without

risk

of

damage

...

to

enforce

the

same

dinner

hour

for

all

the

workpeople

might

occasionally

subject

valuable

goods

to

the

risk

of

danger

by

incomplete

operations.\"

Le

platonisme

où

vat-il

se

nicher!

[Where

will

Platonism

be

found

next!]

58Xenophon

says,

it

is

not

only

an

honour

to

receive

food

from

the

table

of

the

King

of

Persia,

but

such

food

is

much

more

tasty

than

other

food.

\"And

there

is

nothing

wonderful

in

this,

for

as

the

other

arts

are

brought

to

special

perfection

in

the

great

towns,

so

the

royal

food

is

prepared

in

a

special

way.

For

in

the

small

towns

the

same

man

makes

bedsteads,doors,

ploughs,

and

tables:

often,

too,

he

builds

houses

into

the

bargain,

and

is

quite

content

if

he

finds

custom

sufficient

for

his

sustenance.

It

is

altogether

impossible

for

a

man

who

does

so

many

things

to

do

them

all

well.

But

in

the

great

towns,where

each

can

find

many

buyers,

one

trade

is

sufficient

to

maintain

the

man

who

carries

it

on.

Nay,

there

is

often

not

even

need

of

one

complete

trade,

but

one

man

makes

shoes

for

men,

another

for

women.

Here

and

there

one

man

gets

a

living

by

sewing,

another

by

cutting

out

shoes;

one

does

nothing

but

cut

out

clothes,

another

nothing

but

sew

the

pieces

together.

It

follows

necessarily

then,

that

he

who

does

the

simplest

kind

of

work,

undoubtedly

does

it

better

than

anyone

else.

So

it

is

with

the

art

of

cooking.\"

(Xen.

Cyrop.

I.

viii.,

c.

2.)

Xenophon

here

lays

stress

exclusively

upon

the

excellence

to

be

attained

in

use-value,

although

he

well

knows

that

the

gradations

of

the

division

of

labour

depend

on

the

extent

of

the

market.

59He

(Busiris)

divided

them

all

into

special

castes

...commanded

that

the

same

individuals

should

always

carry

on

the

same

trade,

for

he

knew

that

they

who

change

their

occupations

become

skilled

in

none;

but

that

those

who

constantly

stick

to

one

occupation

bring

it

to

the

highest

perfection.

In

truth,

we

shall

also

find

that

in

relation

to

the

arts

and

handicrafts,

they

have

outstripped

their

rivals

more

than

a

master

does

a

bungler;

and

the

contrivances

for

maintaining

the

monarchy

and

the

other

institutions

of

their

State

are

so

admirable

that

the

most

celebrated

philosophers

who

treat

of

this

subject

praise

the

constitution

of

the

Egyptian

State

above

all

others.

(Isocrates,

Busiris,

c.

8.)

60Cf.

Diodorus

Siculus.

61Ure,

l.c.,

p.

20.

62This

is

more

the

case

in

England

than

in

France,

and

more

in

France

than

in

Holland.