WHAT IS CAPITAL?
Lassalle, Ferdinand
WHAT IS CAPITAL? By FERDINAND LASSALLE "Capital is the octopus which sucks up the entire surplus of the worker, leaving: him only the bare necessaries of existence." -LASSALLE LET us take the...
...Ulrich of Lich-tenstein in the 13th century, describing a reception by his wife, says she was clothed ih aVgarment of silk and gold trimmed with ermine: eight women waited on her, all well clothed...
...and that, as all the world knows, is the distinguishing characteristic of Capital...
...Labor Paid and Not Paid "We have learned from the great English economists that the consumer pays for the work of man, aad not for the forces of Nature, but we have also learned that this payment for the work of man reaches the wrong quarter...
...In the midst of this sacro-saint group, high above its fellow-mortlfiers of the flesh, supreme ascetic and martyr, stands the Holy House of Rothschild...
...Its tone is ' on the lofty plane of human broth-i eVroed and its message transmutes | the travail of all mankind into the ' gold of hope, lovt and inspiration...
...The sermon Is not theological or ! dogmatir...
...The poems they interpret and move into fervor- are often heart cries wrung from the pathos and agonies of a persecuted race, the dreams of Jewish genius, the flaming passions of the rebel...
...Office Hours, 9 a. m.-6 p. m. Sat., 9 a. ni.-1 p. m. Closed on Sundays and Holiday...
...find no chance to lay out your bow and arrow at interest...
...You *ee all the three definitions are fulfilled...
...Over to the left a grey bearded toiler rises— unbidden and unencouraged-r-and huskily sing* a verse, and the audience join in the refrain...
...Now let us take a look at the condition of civilised antiquity...
...Here we already have a certain amount of division of labor and greater wealth, however small it may be in comparison with ours of today...
...The pastor asked me to say a few words to his flock...
...but Capital is grasping the advantages of the social law of Nature, constantly appropriating the produce of the labor of others, and has turned the power of work into private property...
...Doubtless the truth is that these are they, not the others, who secretly keep mistresses, and ewn villas aad country houses where they indulge ia frightful orgies...
...What is more, it is a product which is continually jised for,further production...
...Hss conscience, then, died out from smong us ? Has shame taken refuge with the brutes...
...It is true that he drew interest from part of his wealth, but this was devoted to procure those luxuries which were not purchased in his own country...
...where labor, duties and burdens were so acrurately defined that there was no possibility' of change...
...this is followed by a girl in the front row, and again another old veteran takes the lead, or the "Pastor" rises and sings one, followed by a woman from the rear of the hail, and always the crowd in unison echoes the refrain...
...and the rest of Ms 6nt leeb.li tekoet, or, what U more pltaiant, admirers and lovers...
...More often it is a review of current events, the various happenings in the political, economic and social affairs of the world abroad and in our country, State and city...
...Lo not entertain the common, •jcrude notion that in those days people lived on the produce of the fields alone...
...So you see that this bow and arrow, after all, is an instrument of Labor, but it is not Capital...
...Ulrich, in describing a lady's wardrobe, counts up twelve dresses, ten caps adorned with flearls, three mantles of white velvet, and a saddle white with silver...
...Fictions of Bourgoi* Economy But the profit of Capital is the reward of abstinence...
...If you take a Shah" of Persia in olden, times, to whom belonged the country over which he ruled to the full extent of his will together with all the wealth and people in it, would you say that this man was "a great capitalist...
...Was this man a capitalist...
...But mark you this: in the assumed historical conditions in which you are placed you cannot possibly do any such thing...
...or, if in a gold-bearing region, he may even hand you—just think of it!—a great nugget of gold...
...I was thinking, and I am itill thinking, ts it really possible f I wonder I Or must we reconcile ourselves to the sorry fact that there wai but one Bob Ingenoll, one Hugh Pentecost, and there t's but one Gene Debt, one John IIa a nts Holmet, and one Char-nry Vladi...
...If they onrr get the spirit of this wonderful institution as I got it they will see how inadequate and nine I spensive are their terms, "Forum" and "Lecture...
...The congregation sits enthralled...
...Yet it would be flying in the fare of corn-man >en»a lo call that Red Indian a capitalist...
...The phtt-1 osophy and idealism of Socialism I eddies through every topic of'hu-' man interest and in these "ser- j mons" of Vladeck an impassioned ery rises out of a sphere of exploitation, injustice and sordidness...
...Here, then, aptly comes the statement that the independent productivity of Capital, its breeding, as Shylock aays, its profit-making apart from Labor, is possible only under a system of division of labor, and is the consequence of that division of labor...
...the masses are bound with the chains of the ever increasing products of industry and virtually receive in return for their labor no more than the Indian did nader favorable circumstances before civilization commenced...
...her bedroom had a hundred lights, the mattress was covered with velvet and the sheets were of silk...
...Although I had often heard about the work of this pastor and his devoted congregation this was the first opportunity 1 had of meeting and hearing them...
...For addresses of Branch Secretaries, write to our main office...
...Very likely this In- I dian, if your bow and arrow suits him, will do a bargain with you He will give you in exchange, say, a deer he has killed, or some furs...
...now the instrument is alone productive...
...A handful of individuals have appropriated this social law of Nature, and used it for their individual benefit...
...It is generally some precocious child or probably an unpolished genius whom the "Pastor" has found in some poor worker's home, and the youngster is given an opportunity to display his talents before a huge, appreciative and sympathetic audience...
...As I left the hall with the "Pastor" he wished to impress upon me that he believed some of our speakers could easily duplicate this work of his in other parts of our city...
...And then some...
...But that may convey no true impression unless you understand that the Yiddish that flows from the lips of Vladeck is as liquid and as entrancing as the English off the tongue of Debs...
...I had difficulty in finding words for my address, for my emotions overwhelmed me...
...The lady had twelve pages all clothed in white, and her herses were usovered with cloths of velvet...
...The bow and arrow will serve to shoot game...
...Capital has not appropriated the sun, out it has possessed itself of the division of labor and its constantly increasing productivity...
...You ran grasp now and I advise you to hold fast to it—that there are historical conditions in which there are instruments of Labor, in which you may even barter or exchange, but in which, nevertheless, there ib no capital...
...This is distinctive of the Middle'Ages...
...the work of man is paid for, but the worker is not paid, and has to be content with the necessary means of existence, that being all that Capital will allow him...
...Is there Only One Pastor...
...Membership 44,000...
...But | you have no possibility whatever of i making profit out of these articles where you are...
...Just a word more...
...Nobody, too, can deny that it is the result of expended labor...
...not, of course, that childish definition of Bastiat's that Capital ia "the saved portion of a man's in...
...or the one which i.> universally given by all economists, that "Capital it hoarded Labor...
...A song leader sits at the piano, a hymn number is announced, the congregation open their booklets to the mentioned page, and without any urging the melody rings forth...
...And it should be known by our non-Jewish Comrades t,hat the "Pastor" (what an ideal pastor...
...The vehicle of his expression is the Yiddish, tongue1...
...articles of value and wealth, but not capital...
...Then down the centre of the hall a young man rises, and in a clear.voice sings another verse...
...Production was then well developed, comfort wss great, the means of enjoyment were numerous, varied and refined...
...The law is, so to say, a social law of Nature...
...Simons Stylites, who, perched on their columns, with withered features and arms and body thrust forward, hold out a plate to the passes-by that thay may receive the wages of their privations...
...The bow and arrow are unquestionably an instrument of Labor...
...Some Historical Comparisons Let us contrast the commencement of this historirsl analysis with the end...
...Although the language used is Yiddish and the audience exclusively so, the racial in-terests, problems and sufferings of...
...Like greedy beggars they come for more...
...Slave and Feudal Eeenonif Just the same with the ancient owners of property...
...Even if he had superfluous money and interest he could not capitalize and increase them by employing them in the production carried on in his own country...
...Yet it is religious in the highest serular sense...
...They feed the people, as they oil their machines, to keep Ahem in good working order, and the food of the people is only an item in the cost of production...
...This "Forum" is as urlike and above the average forum as the Rockies are to theii foothills...
...You see, therefore, that somehow/ fk other all these definitions must be incorrect...
...Then 1 ran easily show you that that bow and arrow is not Capital, neither is the Red Indian a capitalist...
...Contemplate the owner of the soil in the Middle Ages, the noble seigneur with his castles and halls, serfs and subjects, villages and towns...
...Sometimes the theme is some new play or a book...
...To hear tht m at it is worth r pilgrimage to Brooklyn any winter's Sunday morning...
...But if, as I am afraid would be the case, you were to get tired in struggling through the forest with your moccasins on after the game, you wil...
...Generally, a few minutes after the hour there is only standing room for the late comers...
...Mis share of the result of the social production romes to him, not because the instruments of Labor belong to him, but because the laborer himself belongs to him...
...Division of labor is the source of all fortunes...
...They have nouT~been feasting so Svery winter's...
...Sunday morgfog'Tor the last six years, and were it prfysi-cally possible they would crowd this ten pie for six hundred more...
...The tunes are merry, gay, sad, serious, lofty or challenging, as befits their texts...
...Is this man a capitalist any more than the Red Indian ? Not at all...
...Formerly Labor was productive...
...How could I have hitherto blundered on this point as I have...
...Or perhaps you will say—and the man who would say this would say anything—"Yes, the bow and arrow ^•Capital, and the Indian is con setjfratly a capitalist...
...In order to make these goods productive—interest or profit bearing—you must just betake yourself to other countries where matter* stand on a very different, in short, on a European footing...
...Established 1872...
...Some Comrades may quarrel with mo for the use of the terms, "Pastor," "Sermons" and "Congregation," but I am not facetious...
...But, Joking apart—for it is ne longer possible to Jest about this, and the bitterest irony involuntary breaks Into epen revolt!—-u is time, it is high time, to drown the squeaking pipe of these eunuchs by the deep voice of a fully-developed man...
...his position rested upon value in use, or, what is the same thing, upon services, aiid"'had nothing to do with exchange value or money...
...The only economical law which forms a parallel with a law of nature is that production can only become more productive and cheaper by division of labor...
...LASSALLE LET us take the definitifiry of Capital which has hitherto passed muster...
...Not only so, but now, with the things for which you have baAered away your bow and arrow —your game, your furs, your fine nugget of gold—you are a deal worse off than you were with the bow and arrow, which would at least enable you to keep yourself—if you shot straight...
...The beauty of these folk tunes sung so naturally and so feelingly by these later generations of the folk that gave them birth is a thing of indescribable loveliness...
...The congregation meets every Sunday morning during the winter months at the Amalgamated Temple in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn...
...It will—since it is an instrument of Labor—also help you to carry on your work of providing for your own subsistence...
...The congregation sings spontaneously...
...The slave, by whose agency he allows the labor to be done, is rurfy another sort of tool for him, and the tool only another kind of slave...
...What debauched rasrals, what impure rakes, the workers must be, since they manifestly receive no reward of abstinence...
...The "Pastor" it none other than our eloquent ami beloved Comrade, B. Chantey Vladeck...
...But assuming, under the impression that it was* merely because your bow and arrow was hoarded labor in the form of bow and arrow that you could not make it do duty as capital—assuming, I say, that you wished to exchange it, and went, for this purpose, to barter with your original Indian...
...But you can see, in this case, that the ancient owner of property was the combined possessor of landed property, slaves, and all the products of Labor, as well as all the instruments of Labor...
...This absence of separation and distinction has for its result that we have here masters, but not capitalists...
...the worker has become the dead, unproductive instrument, while the instrument now alone is productive...
...It was a system of particular services to be rendered, a system of rights due to one man from another man, and these rights included the performance of particular acts of slavery of particular products...
...The devotion, spirit, appreciation and behavior of the crowd that gathers there every Sunday forenoon can be described only by the word, "Congregation" in its noblest sense...
...I nursed this plea in my mind...
...Pastor "Best" Attraction In the early years of this "Forum" the occasional visits of prominent actors and artists of the Jewish stage was an added attraction...
...Nowadays, the congregation has still another outlet for its emotions and this affected me most...
...o ¦ they are just gems of wit, humor and laughter garnered by a g-.nial folk...
...The pastor is usually prompt in his appearance and withou^nstiy flourish, immediately begins - his sermon...
...the | pr serving of vhat is really worth ! while of bygone civilizations, has I enriched our human culture with I priceless treasures that shame the | dross of every age...
...The thrill they gave me still vilJrates through my nerves whenever my mind feasts on that*bcca-sion...
...Occasionally an artist is still presented, but he or she is yet fsr from stardom...
...By no meaiu), and I will prove this as clearlyyof the Middle Ages as I did of ancient times...
...and through division of labor, the system of exchange values and free competition, this result is rapidly brought about, viz.: the separation of the instruments or tools from the worker becomes complete, the productivity of Labor is appropriated by the holders of the tools, and the reward of the worker is reduced to that which will keep him alive whilst he works...
...Krooklyn Office open only Monday* and Thursdays, from 0:30 to 8:30 p. m., Labor Lyceum, 949-957 Willoughby Ave...
...His other time is consumed ir his mighty labors as business, managajr of the greatest Socialist dsily on this side of the Atlantic, the Jewish Daily Forward...
...Age of Fo*M*rMBeadage In the Middle Afls slavery did not exist, and the serfdom which took its place gradually softened down to a system of Dersonal bond-' age, running thi oughunany degrees and stages, until it became a patchwork of services...
...They were instrumental in drawing the cows], but their generous contributions are needed but seldom now...
...The .instrument of production which has keen snatched from the worker, whirh has changed parts with the worker, is Capital...
...After all, the sun was made by no man, and is the property of no man...
...Phone Lenox 3569...
...The "Pastor" has coL leeted and has had printed in a neat little hymn book a choice collection of Jevlstl folk songs and revolutionary hyaina...
...The person to whom belong, as of lawful possession, not only the instruments of Labor, but the very laborer himself, cannot be a capitalist...
...Li fact, there is no better attraction now than the "Pastor" himself...
...I* this man a capitalist...
...To rescue these jewels from a rapidly disappearing age and environment and to enshrine them in the bosoms of later generations is indeed a noble ! task...
...His services are uncompensated, financially speaking...
...The actual living man was no longer regarded as private property, but particular acts to be performed by him were so regarded...
...but the other definition that "Capital is the instruinent of I^iboi...
...That is the real truth of our present society...
...Most assuredly not...
...Character of Capital To make this quite clear, imagine yourself for a moment out in the woods with just such a bow and arrow...
...Kuropean millionaires* are ascetics, Indian penitents, modern St...
...Thejiassing on of the lore, I song and beauty of other days...
...This gave the Middle Ages their special feature...
...the Jewish people are treated only j as one incident in the maelstrom of t be struggles and strivings of all mankind in the quest for a saner, j cleaner and more humane civilization the world over...
...Comrade Vladeck has taught—or perhaps I should say—encouraged and inspired them to sing...
...Like the ancient prtphets of his race, he raises h^volce against the iniquities of his age and pleads for brotherhood, understanding and peace...
...Thus a sorial state of prbperty has arisen in whirh each rails that "his" which is not t'ic produrt of his labor...
...You | see why I speak of them as a con-| gregatjon—they are so vastly dif-[ ferent from the usual "Forum" crowd...
...The Congregation Enthralled A little more about the "Pastor...
...A SOCIALIST CONGREGATION A Unique Series of Sunday Meetings Where Socialism is the Gospel—the Congregation and its Pastor By AUGUST CLAESSENS ASUNDAY or two ago I was invited to,address a Brooklyn congregation...
...of America, who is out hunting for his subsistence with his bow and arrow...
...The congregation voted a ten-cent admission fee, but the management found that only half that sum was required...
...The expenses of the institution are voluntarily met...
...The feudal lord could consume, or keep for future consumption, all the means of enjoyment which the age placed at his command, but he could not employ them in such a way that they increased...
...Just as well might these individuals appropriate the force of gravity, the power ef steam, and the warmth of the sun...
...gives his Sunday mornings freely to this work...
...Now look at this Red Indian in the primeval forest...
...No Capital ia Antiquity Following, then, upon these ex^l planations whirh all readers of Socialist economy know well, we ran say that, although we have here instruments of Labor, tfcfre is yet no capital because there is no division of labor, since the instruments of La bo i—the means of production on a very small Kale—are in the hands of the laborer himself or at his command, or, in th* other words, Labor alone is itself productive...
...In the primitive state of individual, isolated labor with which we commenced, the instrument or tool—the bow and arrow of the Indian—was in the hands of the worker, and thus work alone was productive...
...for everything was so neatly and regularly arranged, so stable ar.d immoveable, in this system of services...
...Is it possible, when the profit of Capital is due to what we have teen, when Capital is the octopus which sucks up the entire surplus of the toil and sweat of the worker, leaving him only what are the bare necessaries of existence—is it possible that anyone can still have the coursge to speak in the presence of the workers of the profit on Capital as the reward of the abstinence ef capitalists who mortify themselves ? Yes, there are those who still have the hardihood to flout the workers, to insult these luckless proletarians, with these jnsrs./with these monstrous sarcasm...
...Under the system of division of labor, work and production became social, although the distribution of the result of the work remained individualistic...
...Msin office for New York and vicinity at 241 East 84th St...
...Was however, the owner of all these fmi: things—was the lord of the Middle Ages a capitalist...
...Truly a happy phrase...
...come," for that is manifestly j too absurd and ridiculous...
...Glance at another period of culture...
...All the eloquence of a language, all the delights of rhetoric and the music of words, all the folk lore, legends, humor, pathos and poetry that culture, learning and feeling can conjure flow with infinite grace, charm and conviction from the personality of Vladeck...
...At eleven o'clock the hall is filled with several hundred people...
...U his bow and arrow Capital...
...Workmen's Furniture Fire Insurance Society INCORPORATED New York and Vielnity and 49 Branches in the United State...
...You can trace this farther if you bear in mind the determining characteristics of the ancient economy...
...or, if you like, a third, that "Capital consist* of products which are continually applied to further produclion...
Vol. 2 • April 1925 • No. 16
