The Laborer and His Hire (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. MONOPOLY AND WAGES. Whatever detracts from the returns to labor as a decrease of money wages or decrease in value-of-pro- ducts wages, is in effect a tax on labor for the benefit of those who pay wages and those who by virtue of superior advantages are able to produce at prices ruinous to weak competitors. In any decrease of net returns for production they who control production will suffer least; the disadvantaged factor will be compelled to bear the heaviest portion of decrease. All disadvantages connected with private monopolization of opportunities in any industrial department will accrue to wage earners. The fact of monopolization makes it so to the degree of monopolization prevailing. When private ownership of natural resources prevails, they who control the resources will not permit their development except upon terms entirely satisfactory to the controllers. This control gives them the power of postponing or arresting development, except upon their terms. It gives them power to regulate wages in the degree to which these industries stand in proportion to the entire industrial wage rate. When the natural forces to production are subject to private control it gives rise to a distinct and peculiar function of capital which will array capital against labor so long as this private control is continued. In a just and healthy state of industry capital and labor work amicably for mutual profit and helpfulness. In the perversion that follows private control of resources this wise course is destroyed. In this way: The man whocontrols a rich mineral deposit hires other men to do the work necessary to placing the products of that field on the markets. To consider the development of this industry in the most profitable way to labor we will assume that production in t...