Cap'it<d <uid Labour. Work and Wages 57 



who can do the former well. Sometimes we know that 

 hand- work is more valuable than head-work, and then 

 of course it is better paid. 



When we try to find out the value of a man's 

 work we must also take into account the expense and 

 trouble he has been put to in learning how to do it. 

 An engineer has gained his skill after years of study 

 and at a great cost. He therefore commands a high 

 salary for his services which many employers require, 

 but which few men can give. The agricultural labourer, 

 on the other hand, is doing what thousands of other 

 strong men are able to do ; and, as the demand for his 

 labour is great and the supply of labourers is also 

 great, he gets less wages than the engineer. The 

 price of labour depends on the laws of supply and 

 demand, and not upon whether the work can be done 

 with the hand or the head. 



The money given by a master for his servant's 

 labour is called wages. The labourer tries to get as 

 much as possible in exchange for his labour, and the 

 employer tries to obtain labour as cheaply as possible. 

 Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but employers 

 and workmen may be considered as the buyers and 

 sellers of a commodity. Employers want labour, and 

 workmen want to sell it. If there is a great demand 

 for labour, employers will raise wages to keep their 

 labourers, and if there is little demand for labour, the 

 wages of the labourers will go down. In other words 

 we say that wages are controlled largely by competition ; 

 and as competition has never acted very powerfully 

 among agricultural labourers their wages have been low. 



A farmer, like all employers, must have capital to 

 carry on his business. This capital is the result of 



