Sothatwasatthebottomofthewholebusiness！AndthuswastheanonymouscampaignofHerrBrentanoinConcordiagloriouslyreflectedintheproductivelyco—operatingimaginationofCambridge。Thushestood，swordinhand，andthushebattled，inhis"masterlyconductoftheattack，"
thisSt。GeorgeoftheGermanManufacturers’Association，whilsttheinfernaldragonMarx，"indeadlyshifts，""speedily"breathedhislastathisfeet。
AllthisAriostianbattle—scene，however，onlyservestoconcealthedodgesofourSt。George。Herethereisnolongertalkof"lyinginsertion"
or"falsification，"butof"craftilyisolatedquotation。"Thewholeissuewasshifted，andSt。GeorgeandhisCambridgesquireverywellknewwhy。
EleanorMarxrepliedinthemonthlyjournalTo—day（February1884），asTheTimesrefusedtopublishherletter。Sheoncemorefocussedthedebateonthesolequestionatissue:hadMarx"lyinglyinserted"
thatsentenceornot？TothisMr。SedleyTayloransweredthat"thequestionwhetheraparticularsentencedidordidnotoccurinMr。Gladstone’sspeech"
hadbeen，inhisopinion，"ofverysubordinateimportance"intheBrentano—Marxcontroversy，"comparedtotheissuewhetherthequotationindisputewasmadewiththeintentionofconveying，orofpervertingMr。Gladstone’smeaning。"HethenadmitsthatTheTimesreportcontains"averbalcontrariety";but，ifthecontextisrightlyinterpreted，i。e。，intheGladstonianLiberalsense，itshowswhatMr。Gladstonemeanttosay。（To—day，March，1884。）ThemostcomicpointhereisthatourlittleCambridgemannowinsistsuponquotingthespeechnotfromHansard，as，accordingtotheanonymousBrentano，itis—"customary"todo，butfromTheTimesreport，whichthesameBrentanohadcharacterisedas"necessarilybungling。"Naturallyso，forinHansardthevexatioussentenceismissing。
EleanorMarxhadnodifficulty（inthesameissueofTo—day）
indissolvingallthisargumentationintothinair。EitherMr。Taylorhadreadthecontroversyof1872，inwhichcasehewasnowmakingnotonly"lyinginsertions"butalso"lying"suppressions;orhehadnotreaditandoughttoremainsilent。IneithercaseitwascertainthathedidnotdaretomaintainforamomenttheaccusationofhisfriendBrentanothatMarxhadmadea"lying"addition。Onthecontrary，Marx，itnowseems，hadnotlyinglyaddedbutsuppressedanimportantsentence。Butthissamesentenceisquotedonpage5oftheInauguralAddress，afewlinesbeforethealleged"lyinginsertion。"Andastothe"contrariety"inGladstone’sspeech，isitnotMarxhimself，whoin"Capital，"p。618（3rdedition，p。672），note105[presentedition，p。611，Note1]，refersto"thecontinualcryingcontradictionsinGladstone’sBudgetspeechesof1863and1864"？
OnlyhedoesnotpresumeàlaMr。SedleyTaylortoresolvethemintocomplacentLiberalsentiments。EleanorMarx，inconcludingherreply，finallysumsupasfollows:
"Marxhasnotsuppressedanythingworthquoting，neitherhashe’lyingly’
addedanything。Buthehasrestored，rescuedfromoblivion，aparticularsentenceofoneofMr。Gladstone’sspeeches，asentencewhichhadindubitablybeenpronounced，butwhichsomehoworotherhadfounditsway？outofHansard。"
WiththatMr。SedleyTaylortoohadhadenough，andtheresultofthiswholeprofessorialcobweb，spunoutovertwodecadesandtwogreatcountries，isthatnobodyhassincedaredtocastanyotheraspersionuponMarx’sliteraryhonesty;whilstMr。SedleyTaylor，nodoubt，willhereafterputaslittleconfidenceintheliterarywarbulletinsofHerrBrentanoasHerrBrentanowillinthepapalinfallibilityofHansard。FrederickEngelsLondon。
June25。1890Footnotes[1]IntheEnglisheditionof1887thisadditionwasmadebyEngelshimself。？Ed。
[2]Inthepresenteditiontheyareputintosquarebracketsandmarkedwiththeinitials[3]Marxwasnotmistakeninthetitleofthebookbutinthepage。Heputdown36insteadof37。（Seep。p。560—61ofthepresentedition。）？Ed。
LetterfromMarxtoEngelsKarlMarxCapitalVolumeOneLETTERTOFREDERICKENGELS
"16August18672a。m。
"DearFred，"Havejustfinishedcorrectingthelastsheet（49th）
ofthebook……So，thisvolumeisfinished。Ioweittoyoualonethatitwaspossible！Withoutyourself—sacrificeformeIcouldnotpossiblyhavemanagedtheimmenselabourdemandedbythe3volumes。
Iembraceyou，fullofthanks！……
"Salut，mydear，valuedfriend。
"K。Marx。"
ChapterOneKarlMarxCapitalVolumeOnePartI:
CommoditiesandMoneyCHAPTERONE:
COMMODITIES
ContentsSection1—TheTwoFactorsofaCommodity:
Use—ValueandValueSection2—TheTwo—foldCharacteroftheLabourEmbodiedinCommoditiesSection3—TheFormofValueorExchange—ValueA。ElementaryorAccidentalFormofValue1。TheTwoPolesoftheExpressionofValue:RelativeFormandEquivalentForm2。TheRelativeFormofValuea。TheNatureandImportofthisFormb。QuantitativeDeterminationofRelativeValue3。TheEquivalentFormofValue4。TheElementaryFormofValueConsideredasaWholeB。TotalorExpandedFormofValue1。TheExpandedRelativeFormofValue2。TheParticularEquivalentForm3。DefectsoftheTotalorExpandedFormofValueC。TheGeneralFormofValue1。TheAlteredCharacteroftheFormofValue2。TheInterdependentDevelopmentoftheRelativeFormofValue，andoftheEquivalentForm3。TransitionfromtheGeneralFormofValuetotheMoney—FormD。TheMoney—FormSection4—TheFetishismofCommoditiesandtheSecretthereofSECTION1THETWOFACTORSOFACOMMODITY:
USE—VALUEANDVALUE
（THESUBSTANCEOFVALUEANDTHEMAGNITUDEOFVALUE）
Thewealthofthosesocietiesinwhichthecapitalistmodeofproductionprevails，presentsitselfas"animmenseaccumulationofcommodities，"[1]itsunitbeingasinglecommodity。Ourinvestigationmustthereforebeginwiththeanalysisofacommodity。
Acommodityis，inthefirstplace，anobjectoutsideus，athingthatbyitspropertiessatisfieshumanwantsofsomesortoranother。Thenatureofsuchwants，whether，forinstance，theyspringfromthestomachorfromfancy，makesnodifference。[2]Neitherarewehereconcernedtoknowhowtheobjectsatisfiesthesewants，whetherdirectlyasmeansofsubsistence，orindirectlyasmeansofproduction。
Everyusefulthing，asiron，paper，&c。，maybelookedatfromthetwopointsofviewofqualityandquantity。Itisanassemblageofmanyproperties，andmaythereforebeofuseinvariousways。Todiscoverthevarioususesofthingsistheworkofhistory。[3]Soalsoistheestablishmentofsocially—recognizedstandardsofmeasureforthequantitiesoftheseusefulobjects。Thediversityofthesemeasureshasitsoriginpartlyinthediversenatureoftheobjectstobemeasured，partlyinconvention。
Theutilityofathingmakesitause—value。[4]Butthisutilityisnotathingofair。Beinglimitedbythephysicalpropertiesofthecommodity，ithasnoexistenceapartfromthatcommodity。Acommodity，suchasiron，corn，oradiamond，istherefore，sofarasitisamaterialthing，ause—value，somethinguseful。Thispropertyofacommodityisindependentoftheamountoflabourrequiredtoappropriateitsusefulqualities。Whentreatingofuse—value，wealwaysassumetobedealingwithdefinitequantities，suchasdozensofwatches，yardsoflinen，ortonsofiron。Theuse—valuesofcommoditiesfurnishthematerialforaspecialstudy，thatofthecommercialknowledgeofcommodities。[5]Use—valuesbecomearealityonlybyuseorconsumption:theyalsoconstitutethesubstanceofallwealth，whatevermaybethesocialformofthatwealth。
Intheformofsocietyweareabouttoconsider，theyare，inaddition，thematerialdepositoriesofexchange—value。
Exchange—value，atfirstsight，presentsitselfasaquantitativerelation，astheproportioninwhichvaluesinuseofonesortareexchangedforthoseofanothersort，[6]arelationconstantlychangingwithtimeandplace。Henceexchange—valueappearstobesomethingaccidentalandpurelyrelative，andconsequentlyanintrinsicvalue，i。e。，anexchange—valuethatisinseparablyconnectedwith，inherentincommodities，seemsacontradictioninterms。[7]Letusconsiderthematteralittlemoreclosely。
Agivencommodity，e。g。，aquarterofwheatisexchangedforxblacking，ysilk，orzgold，&c。？inshort，forothercommoditiesinthemostdifferentproportions。Insteadofoneexchange—value，thewheathas，therefore，agreatmany。Butsincexblacking，ysilk，orzgold&c。，eachrepresentstheexchange—valueofonequarterofwheat，xblacking，ysilk，zgold，&c。，must，asexchange—values，bereplaceablebyeachother，orequaltoeachother。Therefore，first:thevalidexchange—valuesofagivencommodityexpresssomethingequal;secondly，exchange—value，generally，isonlythemodeofexpression，thephenomenalform，ofsomethingcontainedinit，yetdistinguishablefromit。
Letustaketwocommodities，e。g。，cornandiron。Theproportionsinwhichtheyareexchangeable，whateverthoseproportionsmaybe，canalwaysberepresentedbyanequationinwhichagivenquantityofcornisequatedtosomequantityofiron:e。g。，1quartercorn=xcwt。
iron。Whatdoesthisequationtellus？Ittellsusthatintwodifferentthings？in1quarterofcornandxcwt。ofiron，thereexistsinequalquantitiessomethingcommontoboth。Thetwothingsmustthereforebeequaltoathird，whichinitselfisneithertheonenortheother。Eachofthem，sofarasitisexchange—value，mustthereforebereducibletothisthird。
Asimplegeometricalillustrationwillmakethisclear。Inordertocalculateandcomparetheareasofrectilinearfigures，wedecomposethemintotriangles。Buttheareaofthetriangleitselfisexpressedbysomethingtotallydifferentfromitsvisiblefigure，namely，byhalftheproductofthebasemultipliedbythealtitude。Inthesamewaytheexchange—valuesofcommoditiesmustbecapableofbeingexpressedintermsofsomethingcommontothemall，ofwhichthingtheyrepresentagreaterorlessquantity。
Thiscommon"something"cannotbeeitherageometrical，achemical，oranyothernaturalpropertyofcommodities。Suchpropertiesclaimourattentiononlyinsofarastheyaffecttheutilityofthosecommodities，makethemuse—values。Buttheexchangeofcommoditiesisevidentlyanactcharacterisedbyatotalabstractionfromuse—value。Thenoneuse—valueisjustasgoodasanother，providedonlyitbepresentinsufficientquantity。
Or，asoldBarbonsays，"onesortofwaresareasgoodasanother，ifthevaluesbeequal。Thereisnodifferenceordistinctioninthingsofequalvalue……Anhundredpounds’worthofleadoriron，isofasgreatvalueasonehundredpounds’worthofsilverorgold。"[8]Asuse—values，commoditiesare，aboveall，ofdifferentqualities，butasexchange—valuestheyaremerelydifferentquantities，andconsequentlydonotcontainanatomofuse—value。
Ifthenweleaveoutofconsiderationtheuse—valueofcommodities，theyhaveonlyonecommonpropertyleft，thatofbeingproductsoflabour。
Buteventheproductoflabouritselfhasundergoneachangeinourhands。
Ifwemakeabstractionfromitsuse—value，wemakeabstractionatthesametimefromthematerialelementsandshapesthatmaketheproductause—value;
weseeinitnolongeratable，ahouse，yarn，oranyotherusefulthing。
Itsexistenceasamaterialthingisputoutofsight。Neithercanitanylongerberegardedastheproductofthelabourofthejoiner，themason，thespinner，orofanyotherdefinitekindofproductivelabour。Alongwiththeusefulqualitiesoftheproductsthemselves，weputoutofsightboththeusefulcharacterofthevariouskindsoflabourembodiedinthem，andtheconcreteformsofthatlabour;thereisnothingleftbutwhatiscommontothemall;allarereducedtooneandthesamesortoflabour，humanlabourintheabstract。
Letusnowconsidertheresidueofeachoftheseproducts;itconsistsofthesameunsubstantialrealityineach，amerecongelationofhomogeneoushumanlabour，oflabour—powerexpendedwithoutregardtothemodeofitsexpenditure。Allthatthesethingsnowtellusis，thathumanlabour—powerhasbeenexpendedintheirproduction，thathumanlabourisembodiedinthem。Whenlookedatascrystalsofthissocialsubstance，commontothemall，theyare？Values。
Wehaveseenthatwhencommoditiesareexchanged，theirexchange—valuemanifestsitselfassomethingtotallyindependentoftheiruse—value。Butifweabstractfromtheiruse—value，thereremainstheirValueasdefinedabove。Therefore，thecommonsubstancethatmanifestsitselfintheexchange—valueofcommodities，whenevertheyareexchanged，istheirvalue。Theprogressofourinvestigationwillshowthatexchange—valueistheonlyforminwhichthevalueofcommoditiescanmanifestitselforbeexpressed。Forthepresent，however，wehavetoconsiderthenatureofvalueindependentlyofthis，itsform。
Ause—value，orusefularticle，therefore，hasvalueonlybecausehumanlabourintheabstracthasbeenembodiedormaterialisedinit。How，then，isthemagnitudeofthisvaluetobemeasured？Plainly，bythequantityofthevalue—creatingsubstance，thelabour，containedinthearticle。
Thequantityoflabour，however，ismeasuredbyitsduration，andlabour—timeinitsturnfindsitsstandardinweeks，days，andhours。
Somepeoplemightthinkthatifthevalueofacommodityisdeterminedbythequantityoflabourspentonit，themoreidleandunskilfulthelabourer，themorevaluablewouldhiscommoditybe，becausemoretimewouldberequiredinitsproduction。Thelabour，however，thatformsthesubstanceofvalue，ishomogeneoushumanlabour，expenditureofoneuniformlabour—power。
Thetotallabour—powerofsociety，whichisembodiedinthesumtotalofthevaluesofallcommoditiesproducedbythatsociety，countshereasonehomogeneousmassofhumanlabour—power，composedthoughitbeofinnumerableindividualunits。Eachoftheseunitsisthesameasanyother，sofarasithasthecharacteroftheaveragelabour—powerofsociety，andtakeseffectassuch;thatis，sofarasitrequiresforproducingacommodity，nomoretimethanisneededonanaverage，nomorethanissociallynecessary。
Thelabour—timesociallynecessaryisthatrequiredtoproduceanarticleunderthenormalconditionsofproduction，andwiththeaveragedegreeofskillandintensityprevalentatthetime。Theintroductionofpower—loomsintoEnglandprobablyreducedbyone—halfthelabourrequiredtoweaveagivenquantityofyarnintocloth。Thehand—loomweavers，asamatteroffact，continuedtorequirethesametimeasbefore;butforallthat，theproductofonehouroftheirlabourrepresentedafterthechangeonlyhalfanhour’ssociallabour，andconsequentlyfelltoone—halfitsformervalue。
Weseethenthatthatwhichdeterminesthemagnitudeofthevalueofanyarticleistheamountoflaboursociallynecessary，orthelabour—timesociallynecessaryforitsproduction。[9]Eachindividualcommodity，inthisconnexion，istobeconsideredasanaveragesampleofitsclass。[10]Commodities，therefore，inwhichequalquantitiesoflabourareembodied，orwhichcanbeproducedinthesametime，havethesamevalue。Thevalueofonecommodityistothevalueofanyother，asthelabour—timenecessaryfortheproductionoftheoneistothatnecessaryfortheproductionoftheother。"Asvalues，allcommoditiesareonlydefinitemassesofcongealedlabour—time。"[11]
Thevalueofacommoditywouldthereforeremainconstant，ifthelabour—timerequiredforitsproductionalsoremainedconstant。Butthelatterchangeswitheveryvariationintheproductivenessoflabour。Thisproductivenessisdeterminedbyvariouscircumstances，amongstothers，bytheaverageamountofskilloftheworkmen，thestateofscience，andthedegreeofitspracticalapplication，thesocialorganisationofproduction，theextentandcapabilitiesofthemeansofproduction，andbyphysicalconditions。
Forexample，thesameamountoflabourinfavourableseasonsisembodiedin8bushelsofcorn，andinunfavourable，onlyinfour。Thesamelabourextractsfromrichminesmoremetalthanfrompoormines。Diamondsareofveryrareoccurrenceontheearth’ssurface，andhencetheirdiscoverycosts，onanaverage，agreatdealoflabour—time。Consequentlymuchlabourisrepresentedinasmallcompass。Jacobdoubtswhethergoldhaseverbeenpaidforatitsfullvalue。Thisappliesstillmoretodiamonds。AccordingtoEschwege，thetotalproduceoftheBraziliandiamondminesfortheeightyyears，endingin1823，hadnotrealisedthepriceofoneand—a—halfyears’
averageproduceofthesugarandcoffeeplantationsofthesamecountry，althoughthediamondscostmuchmorelabour，andthereforerepresentedmorevalue。Withrichermines，thesamequantityoflabourwouldembodyitselfinmorediamonds，andtheirvaluewouldfall。Ifwecouldsucceedatasmallexpenditureoflabour，inconvertingcarbonintodiamonds，theirvaluemightfallbelowthatofbricks。Ingeneral，thegreatertheproductivenessoflabour，thelessisthelabour—timerequiredfortheproductionofanarticle，thelessistheamountoflabourcrystallisedinthatarticle，andthelessisitsvalue;andviceversâ，thelesstheproductivenessoflabour，thegreateristhelabour—timerequiredfortheproductionofanarticle，andthegreaterisitsvalue。Thevalueofacommodity，therefore，variesdirectlyasthequantity，andinverselyastheproductiveness，ofthelabourincorporatedinit。
Athingcanbeause—value，withouthavingvalue。Thisisthecasewheneveritsutilitytomanisnotduetolabour。Suchareair，virginsoil，naturalmeadows，&c。Athingcanbeuseful，andtheproductofhumanlabour，withoutbeingacommodity。Whoeverdirectlysatisfieshiswantswiththeproduceofhisownlabour，creates，indeed，use—values，butnotcommodities。
Inordertoproducethelatter，hemustnotonlyproduceuse—values，butuse—valuesforothers，socialuse—values。（Andnotonlyforothers，withoutmore。Themediaevalpeasantproducedquit—rent—cornforhisfeudallordandtithe—cornforhisparson。Butneitherthequit—rent—cornnorthetithe—cornbecamecommoditiesbyreasonofthefactthattheyhadbeenproducedforothers。Tobecomeacommodityaproductmustbetransferredtoanother，whomitwillserveasause—value，bymeansofanexchange。）[12]Lastlynothingcanhavevalue，withoutbeinganobjectofutility。Ifthethingisuseless，soisthelabourcontainedinit;thelabourdoesnotcountaslabour，andthereforecreatesnovalue。
SECTION2THETWO—FOLDCHARACTEROF
THELABOUREMBODIEDINCOMMODITIES
Atfirstsightacommoditypresenteditselftousasacomplexoftwothings—use—valueandexchange—value。Lateron，wesawalsothatlabour，too，possessesthesametwo—foldnature;for，sofarasitfindsexpressioninvalue，itdoesnotpossessthesamecharacteristicsthatbelongtoitasacreatorofuse—values。Iwasthefirsttopointoutandtoexaminecriticallythistwo—foldnatureofthelabourcontainedincommodities。
AsthispointisthepivotonwhichaclearcomprehensionofPoliticalEconomyturns，wemustgomoreintodetail。
Letustaketwocommoditiessuchasacoatand10yardsoflinen，andlettheformerbedoublethevalueofthelatter，sothat，if10yardsoflinen=W，thecoat=2W。
Thecoatisause—valuethatsatisfiesaparticularwant。Itsexistenceistheresultofaspecialsortofproductiveactivity，thenatureofwhichisdeterminedbyitsaim，modeofoperation，subject，means，andresult。
Thelabour，whoseutilityisthusrepresentedbythevalueinuseofitsproduct，orwhichmanifestsitselfbymakingitsproductause—value，wecallusefullabourInthisconnexionweconsideronlyitsusefuleffect。
Asthecoatandthelinenaretwoqualitativelydifferentuse—values，soalsoarethetwoformsoflabourthatproducethem，tailoringandweaving。
Werethesetwoobjectsnotqualitativelydifferent，notproducedrespectivelybylabourofdifferentquality，theycouldnotstandtoeachotherintherelationofcommodities。Coatsarenotexchangedforcoats，oneuse—valueisnotexchangedforanotherofthesamekind。
Toallthedifferentvarietiesofvaluesinusetherecorrespondasmanydifferentkindsofusefullabour，classifiedaccordingtotheorder，genus，species，andvarietytowhichtheybelonginthesocialdivisionoflabour。Thisdivisionoflabourisanecessaryconditionfortheproductionofcommodities，butitdoesnotfollow，conversely，thattheproductionofcommoditiesisanecessaryconditionforthedivisionoflabour。IntheprimitiveIndiancommunitythereissocialdivisionoflabour，withoutproductionofcommodities。Or，totakeanexamplenearerhome，ineveryfactorythelabourisdividedaccordingtoasystem，butthisdivisionisnotbroughtaboutbytheoperativesmutuallyexchangingtheirindividualproducts。Onlysuchproductscanbecomecommoditieswithregardtoeachother，asresultfromdifferentkindsoflabour，eachkindbeingcarriedonindependentlyandfortheaccountofprivateindividuals。
Toresume，then:Intheuse—valueofeachcommoditythereiscontainedusefullabour，i。e。，productiveactivityofadefinitekindandexercisedwithadefiniteaim。Use—valuescannotconfronteachotherascommodities，unlesstheusefullabourembodiedinthemisqualitativelydifferentineachofthem。Inacommunity，theproduceofwhichingeneraltakestheformofcommodities，i。e。，inacommunityofcommodityproducers，thisqualitativedifferencebetweentheusefulformsoflabourthatarecarriedonindependentlyofindividualproducers，eachontheirownaccount，developsintoacomplexsystem，asocialdivisionoflabour。
Anyhow，whetherthecoatbewornbythetailororbyhiscustomer，ineithercaseitoperatesasause—value。Noristherelationbetweenthecoatandthelabourthatproduceditalteredbythecircumstancethattailoringmayhavebecomeaspecialtrade，anindependentbranchofthesocialdivisionoflabour。Whereverthewantofclothingforcedthemtoit，thehumanracemadeclothesforthousandsofyears，withoutasinglemanbecomingatailor。
Butcoatsandlinen，likeeveryotherelementofmaterialwealththatisnotthespontaneousproduceofNature，mustinvariablyowetheirexistencetoaspecialproductiveactivity，exercisedwithadefiniteaim，anactivitythatappropriatesparticularnature—givenmaterialstoparticularhumanwants。Sofarthereforeaslabourisacreatorofuse—value，isusefullabour，itisanecessarycondition，independentofallformsofsociety，fortheexistenceofthehumanrace;itisaneternalnature—imposednecessity，withoutwhichtherecanbenomaterialexchangesbetweenmanandNature，andthereforenolife。
Theuse—values，coat，linen，&c。，i。e。，thebodiesofcommodities，arecombinationsoftwoelements？matterandlabour。Ifwetakeawaytheusefullabourexpendeduponthem，amaterialsubstratumisalwaysleft，whichisfurnishedbyNaturewithoutthehelpofman。ThelattercanworkonlyasNaturedoes，thatisbychangingtheformofmatter;[13]Naymore，inthisworkofchangingtheformheisconstantlyhelpedbynaturalforces。Wesee，then，thatlabourisnottheonlysourceofmaterialwealth，ofuse—valuesproducedbylabour。AsWilliamPettyputsit，labourisitsfatherandtheearthitsmother。
Letusnowpassfromthecommodityconsideredasause—valuetothevalueofcommodities。
Byourassumption，thecoatisworthtwiceasmuchasthelinen。Butthisisamerequantitativedifference，whichforthepresentdoesnotconcernus。Webearinmind，however，thatifthevalueofthecoatisdoublethatof10yds。oflinen，20yds。oflinenmusthavethesamevalueasonecoat。Sofarastheyarevalues，thecoatandthelinenarethingsofalikesubstance，objectiveexpressionsofessentiallyidenticallabour。
Buttailoringandweavingare，qualitatively，differentkindsoflabour。
Thereare，however，statesofsocietyinwhichoneandthesamemandoestailoringandweavingalternately，inwhichcasethesetwoformsoflabouraremeremodificationsofthelabourofthesameindividual，andnospecialandfixedfunctionsofdifferentpersons，justasthecoatwhichourtailormakesoneday，andthetrouserswhichhemakesanotherday，implyonlyavariationinthelabourofoneandthesameindividual。Moreover，weseeataglancethat，inourcapitalistsociety，agivenportionofhumanlabouris，inaccordancewiththevaryingdemand，atonetimesuppliedintheformoftailoring，atanotherintheformofweaving。Thischangemaypossiblynottakeplacewithoutfriction，buttakeplaceitmust。
Productiveactivity，ifweleaveoutofsightitsspecialform，viz。，theusefulcharacterofthelabour，isnothingbuttheexpenditureofhumanlabour—power。Tailoringandweaving，thoughqualitativelydifferentproductiveactivities，areeachaproductiveexpenditureofhumanbrains，nerves，andmuscles，andinthissensearehumanlabour。Theyarebuttwodifferentmodesofexpendinghumanlabour—power。Ofcourse，thislabour—power，whichremainsthesameunderallitsmodifications，musthaveattainedacertainpitchofdevelopmentbeforeitcanbeexpendedinamultiplicityofmodes。
Butthevalueofacommodityrepresentshumanlabourintheabstract，theexpenditureofhumanlabouringeneral。Andjustasinsociety，ageneralorabankerplaysagreatpart，butmereman，ontheotherhand，averyshabbypart，[14]soherewithmerehumanlabour。Itistheexpenditureofsimplelabour—power，i。e。，ofthelabour—powerwhich，onanaverage，apartfromanyspecialdevelopment，existsintheorganismofeveryordinaryindividual。Simpleaveragelabour，itistrue，variesincharacterindifferentcountriesandatdifferenttimes，butinaparticularsocietyitisgiven。Skilledlabourcountsonlyassimplelabourintensified，orrather，asmultipliedsimplelabour，agivenquantityofskilledbeingconsideredequaltoagreaterquantityofsimplelabour。Experienceshowsthatthisreductionisconstantlybeingmade。Acommoditymaybetheproductofthemostskilledlabour，butitsvalue，byequatingittotheproductofsimpleunskilledlabour，representsadefinitequantityofthelatterlabouralone。[15]Thedifferentproportionsinwhichdifferentsortsoflabourarereducedtounskilledlabourastheirstandard。areestablishedbyasocialprocessthatgoesonbehindthebacksoftheproducers，and，consequently，appeartobefixedbycustom。Forsimplicity’ssakeweshallhenceforthaccounteverykindoflabourtobeunskilled，simplelabour;bythiswedonomorethansaveourselvesthetroubleofmakingthereduction。
Justas，therefore，inviewingthecoatandlinenasvalues，weabstractfromtheirdifferentuse—values，soitiswiththelabourrepresentedbythosevalues:wedisregardthedifferencebetweenitsusefulforms，weavingandtailoring。Astheuse—values，coatandlinen，arecombinationsofspecialproductiveactivitieswithclothandyarn，whilethevalues，coatandlinen，are，ontheotherhand，merehomogeneouscongelationsofundifferentiatedlabour，sothelabourembodiedintheselattervaluesdoesnotcountbyvirtueofitsproductiverelationtoclothandyarn，butonlyasbeingexpenditureofhumanlabour—power。Tailoringandweavingarenecessaryfactorsinthecreationoftheuse—values，coatandlinen，preciselybecausethesetwokindsoflabourareofdifferentqualities;butonlyinsofarasabstractionismadefromtheirspecialqualities，onlyinsofarasbothpossessthesamequalityofbeinghumanlabour，dotailoringandweavingformthesubstanceofthevaluesofthesamearticles。
Coatsandlinen，however，arenotmerelyvalues，butvaluesofdefinitemagnitude，andaccordingtoourassumption，thecoatisworthtwiceasmuchasthetenyardsoflinen。Whencethisdifferenceintheirvalues？
Itisowingtothefactthatthelinencontainsonlyhalfasmuchlabourasthecoat，andconsequently，thatintheproductionofthelatter，labour—powermusthavebeenexpendedduringtwicethetimenecessaryfortheproductionoftheformer。
While，therefore，withreferencetouse—value，thelabourcontainedinacommoditycountsonlyqualitatively，withreferencetovalueitcountsonlyquantitatively，andmustfirstbereducedtohumanlabourpureandsimple。Intheformercase，itisaquestionofHowandWhat，inthelatterofHowmuch？Howlongatime？Sincethemagnitudeofthevalueofacommodityrepresentsonlythequantityoflabourembodiedinit，itfollowsthatallcommodities，whentakenincertainproportions，mustbeequalinvalue。
Iftheproductivepowerofallthedifferentsortsofusefullabourrequiredfortheproductionofacoatremainsunchanged，thesumofthevaluesofthecoatsproducedincreaseswiththeirnumber。Ifonecoatrepresentsxdays’labour，twocoatsrepresent2xdays’labour，andsoon。Butassumethatthedurationofthelabournecessaryforheproductionofacoatbecomesdoubledorhalved。Inthefirstcaseonecoatisworthasmuchastwocoatswerebefore;inthesecondcase，twocoatsareonlyworthasmuchasonewasbefore，althoughinbothcasesonecoatrendersthesameserviceasbefore。andtheusefullabourembodiedinitremainsofthesamequality。
Butthequantityoflabourspentonitsproductionhasaltered。
Anincreaseinthequantityofuse—valuesisanincreaseofmaterialwealth。Withtwocoatstwomencanbeclothed，withonecoatonlyoneman。
Nevertheless，anincreasedquantityofmaterialwealthmaycorrespondtoasimultaneousfallinthemagnitudeofitsvalue。Thisantagonisticmovementhasitsorigininthetwo—foldcharacteroflabour。Productivepowerhasreference，ofcourse，onlytolabourofsomeusefulconcreteform，theefficacyofanyspecialproductiveactivityduringagiventimebeingdependentonitsproductiveness。Usefullabourbecomes，therefore，amoreorlessabundantsourceofproducts，inproportiontotheriseorfallofitsproductiveness。