第102章

Third， the fact that labour is felt to be a burden has the effect of curtailing somewhat the supply of labour as a whole. If labour were not burdensome and exhausting； more labour would be expended than is. And thus the use value of labour is， as we have already suggested， indirectly affected， by being placed at a slightly higher level on account of the diminished supply.

Services of equal utility， but of different degrees of hardship， are so regulated in regard to value that the more troublesome labour is more highly appraised. But this result can only ensue when the supply is really diminished. Wherever the fear of toil and danger does not have an actively deterrent effect， or where it is overcome by the presence of other motives to such an extent that the supply remains undiminished， the value of labour does not increase. Experience shows that the most wearisome， wearing， and least healthy of employments are valued least highly， because they are the most easily accessible to the great majority， and are consequently the most amply supplied. In the communistic state it would not， in all probability， be in any wise different.

The great majority of the citizens will always be suited for the coarsest kind of work only， and those kinds of work are at once the most burdensome and the simplest. And while the communistic state would be plentifully supplied with this sort of labour， so that it could be employed down to the smallest possible return in utility， the better labour powers， in virtue of their more limited number， would require to be economised and have careful consideration given to their employment， just as happens to-day.

Utility and not toil would， in general， afford the standard for the valuation of personal services.

But we are not finished with our consideration of the labour theory. Its greatest errors relate to the valuation which it gives to capital as an element in cost.(2*)NOTES：

1. It is not at all impossible that， at one and the same place， there may be a lack of labour in certain departments -- e.g.

skilled labour -- while there is superfluity in the available supply in others -- e.g. common hand labour. In such a case the services of the former are estimated by utility， and the latter by amount of hardship. Under primitive economic conditions the "supply of labour power" is frequency too large； not until there has been a considerable advance in civilisation does it become the rule that labour is insufficient. Further， even the labour power of one and the same individual may be too small as regards certain requirements of labour， and at the same time too great as regards others. It happens almost invariably that labourers whose capacity for performing some particular form of service is not sufficient to meet the economic demand for such services， have always sufficient capacity remaining to meet the trifling necessity for labour in their own private lives. With this is connected the fact that labour power is never entirely worn out；after performing the labour of his particular vocation， man refreshes and restores his energy best by light and distracting employments. Even in a country where the economic demand for labour is entirely insufficient， there are not lacking occasions in which labour may be estimated according to the amount of hardship involved. Every individual is continually finding such occasions； and every one thus learns from his own experience the fundamental motif of the labour theory.

2. See Ursprung des Werthes， p. 103， and also B鰄m-Bawerk's Werth， p. 42， and， on the opposite side， Sax， chapter 45. Sax， starting from the correct proposition that only those goods should be produced whose utility outweighs the burden of labour they involve， appears to me to go rather far in the conclusions he draws， when he says： "If the Unlust connected with the want in question (i.e. the Unlust which originates from the want not being satisfied) is less than that of the burden of labour， then the desire for the good will be a passive one. The want itself ceases to be felt." Only in so far as the desire is "active" does the expected product receive a value in thought. That， as I have said， seems to me to go too far. In considering whether a thing should be made or not， the value， as derived from the expected utility， will be estimated undiminished； and， at the same time， the expected toil will be weighed as a thing by itself. If Ihunger but am too lazy to work， I still continue to feel the hunger， and thus estimate the value of food according to the measure of my hunger； only it may happen that the presentation of this value is not sufficient to overcome my laziness.