4e ON CAPITAL 



In all these sources or conditions of capital, 

 there is one characteristic the presence of which 

 is essential, and that is the execution of work, 

 to increase the value of some article by turning 

 it into another, or by moving some article into 

 a new place where it is more useful. In the 

 case of the workman this is self-evident ; as 

 when he is converting a piece of iron into a 

 horse-shoe ; or is putting the shoe on a horse's 

 hoof, where it is still more valuable ; or when 

 he is planting potatoes, which will yield tenfold ; 

 or grinding wheat into flour, or baking flour 

 into bread ; or doing work of some kind to 

 fashion raw material into a finished and valuable 

 article. 



This also holds good in the case of an employer. 

 All his operations, whether as farmer, ship- 

 builder, or organiser of any kind, are directed 

 to produce articles of greater value, using his 

 own capital and the labour of workmen as the 

 means. In the case of lines of transport the 

 characteristic is easy to trace. Coal at the pit's 

 mouth is worth so much ; moved to London it is 

 worth more, by the amount of capital spent in 

 the removal. The distributor of articles in detail 

 buys large quantities to suit the convenience of 

 employers, and sells in retail to suit the wants 

 of his customers ; and in doing this he has to 

 expend labour-capital and that capital which sets 

 labour to work. 



The same characteristic is to be found in all 

 the operations of the farmer : it is only by work 

 done on the land that it is made fit for cultivation ; 



