DESTRUCTION OF CAPITAL 45 



has been destroyed. It is true that the artisan 

 has also, to some slight extent, worn out his 

 clothing, and has incurred liabilities for house- 

 rent and the keep of his family. These may be 

 considered included in the term " food," and need 

 not be again referred to. In addition to these 

 two capitals the artisan has destroyed a third. 

 Stuff from the store of the employer, and forming 

 a part of his capital, has been handed over to the 

 artisan. The artisan has, with others, done work 

 on that stuff, and has destroyed it, as capital of 

 one kind, by converting it into capital of another 

 kind. 



Thus, in the course of a day's work the artisan 

 destroys three capitals : his own capital, his food, 

 and some raw material. But these three capitals 

 are replaced by three others. First, the artisan 

 has made a new article of greater value than the 

 stuff destroyed : that is, in the words of Proposi- 

 tion A, he has helped to " increase values." 

 Second, the artisan has restored his own strength 

 and skill. His strength has again become what 

 it was before ; however little his skill is in- 

 creased in the course of a day, it is for a 

 considerable time always slowly increasing, and 

 such increase is due to his work on the capital 

 he has destroyed. Third, the artisan receives for 

 his work a certain amount of wages. A part of 

 his wages he gives to the retailers of goods, in 

 exchange for food. Thus the baker, the grocer, 

 the butcher, the coal merchant, and others receive 

 money, with which to replace in their stocks the 

 food destroyed by the artisan. And as they buy 



