172 CAPITAL— THE MOTHER OF LABOUR, iv 



is devoted to the aid of production" (p. 28); and 

 yet again it is said to be 



wealth in course of exchange* understanding exchange 

 to include, not merely the passing from hand to hand, 

 but also such transmutations as occur when the repro- 

 ductive or transforming forces of nature are utilised for 

 the increase of wealth (p. 32). 



But if too much pondering over the possible 

 sense and scope of these definitions should weary 

 the reader, he will be relieved by the following 

 acknowledgment : — 



Nor is the definition of capital I have suggested of 

 any importance (p. 33). 



The author informs us, in fact, that he is " not 

 writing a text-book," thereby intimating his opin- 

 ion that it is less important to be clear and accu- 

 rate when you are trying to bring about a political 

 revolution than when a merely academic interest 

 attaches to the subject treated. But he is not 

 busy about anything so serious as a text-book: no, 

 he " is only attempting to discover the laws which 

 control a great social problem " — a mode of ex- 

 pression which indicates perhaps the high-water 

 mark of intellectual muddlement. I have heard, 

 in my time, of "laws" which control other 

 " laws "; but this is the first occasion on which 

 " laws " which " control a problem " have come 

 under my notice. Even the disquisitions "of 

 * The italics are the author's. 



