Page:Karl Marx - Wage Labor and Capital - tr. J. L. Joynes (1900).pdf/47

 armies of laborers furnished with more gigantic implements of war.

The one capitalist can only succeed in driving the other off the field and taking possession of his capital by selling his wares at a cheaper rate. In order to sell more cheaply without ruining himself he must produce more cheaply, that is, he must increase as much as possible the productiveness of labor. But the most effective way of making labor more productive is by means of a more complete division of labor, by the more extended use and continual improvement of machinery. The larger the army of workmen, among whom the labor is divided, and the more gigantic the scale on which machinery is introduced, the more does the relative cost of production decline, and the more fruitful is the labor. Thus arises a universal rivalry among capitalists with the object of increasing the division of labor and machinery, and keeping up the utmost possible progressive rate of exploitation.

Now, if by means of a greater subdivision of labor, by the employment and improvement of new machines, or by the more skillful and profitable use of the forces of nature, a capitalist has discovered the means of producing a larger amount of commodities than his competitors with the same amount of labor, whether it be stored-up labor or direct—if he can, for instance, spin a complete yard of cotton in the time which it takes his competitors to spin half a yard—how will this capitalist proceed to act?

He might go on selling half a yard at its former