IV CAPITAL— THE MOTHER OF LABOUR. 177 



get are my wages. Surely no one will contend that, in 

 such a case, wages are drawn from capital. There is no 

 capital in the case (p. 34). 



Nevertheless, those who have followed what has 

 been said in the first part of this essay surely 

 neither will, nor can, have any hesitation about 

 substantially adopting the challenged contention, 

 though they may possibly have qualms as to the 

 propriety of the use of the term ^^ wages." * They 

 will have no difficulty in apprehending the fact 

 that birds' eggs and berries are stores of food- 

 stuffs, or vital capital; that the man who devotes 

 his labour to getting them does so at the expense 

 of his personal vital capital; and that, if the eggs 

 and the berries are " wages " for his work, they are 

 so because they enable him to restore to his organ- 

 ism the vital capital which he has consumed in 

 doing the work of collection. So that there is 

 really a great deal of " capital in the case." 

 Our author proceeds: — 



An absolutely naked man, thrown on an island where 

 no human being has before trod, may gather birds' eggs 

 or pick berries (p. 34). 



No doubt. But those who have followed my ar- 

 gument thus far will be aware that a man's vital 

 capital does not reside in his clothes; and, there- 



* Not merely on the grounds stated below, but on the 

 strength of Mr. George's own definition. Does the gath- 

 erer of eggs, or berries, produce them by his labour? If 

 so, what do the hens and the bushes do? 

 224 



