INDUSTRIAL REDISTRIBUTION. 295 



A pair of shoes is of the same value to the individ- 

 ual and to society, in their wear and use, whether 

 made by one man or by two ; or whether made yes- 

 terday or to-day ; and worth the same compensation, 

 either in kind or in money, which is only the repre- 

 sentative of that which we call kind. So is a bushel 

 of wheat, or a sack of potatoes, or a yard of cloth. It 

 is the product that bears the intrinsic value, in minis- 

 tering to the wants and comforts of society and to the 

 volume of trade, and in exact proportion to its use, 

 only, does it perform those functions. Manifestly, 

 then, the only standard by which the value of wages 

 can be measured is by the product, and in proportion 

 to that amount should it be compensated. 



But what are the facts in this relation ? A care- 

 ful examination will show that the workingmen are 

 compensated in inverse ratio to the amount of product 

 produced or real service rendered. Eighteen years ago 

 24,151 persons were paid a greater amount for produc- 

 ing 175,875,934 yards of cotton cloth than were 31,707 

 persons ten years afterwards for the production of 

 874,780,874 yards, or nearly five times greater pro- 

 duct. So in boots and shoes. In 1865, 52,821 per- 

 sons were paid at least three times as much for mak- 

 ing 31,870,581 pairs as was paid to 48,090 persons in 

 1875 for making 59,762,866 pairs. So in woolen 

 goods ; so in building ; so in agriculture ; so in 

 everything. 



Ever since machinery came into use in general pro- 

 duction there has been a constant, but gradual, de- 

 crease in the amount paid to labor for a given quan- 

 tity of any production, and in the amount of labor 



