IV CAPITAL— THE MOTHER OF LABOUR. 187 



the labourer; that the possessor of capital is a rob- 

 ber who preys on the workman and appropriates to 

 himself that which he has had no share in pro- 

 ducing. 



On the contrary, capital and labour are, neces- 

 sarily, close allies; capital is never a product of 

 human labour alone; it exists apart from human 

 labour; it is the necessary antecedent of labour; 

 and it furnishes the materials on which labour is 

 employed. The only indispensable form of capital 

 — vital capital — cannot be produced by human la- 

 bour. All that man can do is to favour its for- 

 mation by the real producers. There is no in- 

 trinsic relation between the amount of labour be- 

 stowed on an article and its value in exchange. 

 The claim of labour to the total result of opera- 

 tions which are rendered possible only by capital 

 is simply an a priori iniquity. 



