OF INDUSTRIES. 63 



phony of conclusions arrived at, all unanimously 

 agreed upon one, namely, that of the Parlia- 

 mentary Commission, which could be summed 

 up as follows : " The manufacturing countries 

 do not find such customers as would enable them 

 to realise high profits." Profits being the basis 

 of capitalist industry, low profits explain all 

 ulterior consequences. 



Low profits induce the employers to reduce the 

 wages, or the number of workers, or the number 

 of days of employment during the week, or even- 

 tually compel them to resort to the manufacture 

 of lower kinds of goods, which, as a rule, are paid 

 worse than the higher sorts. As Adam Smith 

 said, low profits ultimately mean a reduction of 

 wages, and low wages mean a reduced consump- 

 tion by the worker. Low profits mean also a 

 somewhat reduced consumption by the em- 

 ployer ; and both together mean lower profits 

 and reduced consumption with that immense 

 class of middlemen which has grown up in 

 manufacturing countries, and that, again, means 

 a further reduction of profits for the em- 

 ployers, 



A country which manufactures to a great 

 extent for export, and therefore lives to a con- 

 siderable amount on the profits derived from her 

 foreign trade, stands very much in the same 

 position as Switzerland, which lives to a great 



