MARCH 5, 1903.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
"SURPLUS VALUE"
) nature in producing the thing him-
Belf. instead of procuring it in ex
change. - He does not desire-it because
some other man expended his energy
.. of rather mo uiay
Editnr Indenendeht: In the Jan
durinK a whole ten hours in produc-
In? It but because its possession will
uarynJmberScomrad". o- SAVE him (the prospective Posses
nary uuxuuci vi uo vv; , . nnr tnra nf his nwn ener-
SmrM. 11 CooDer Sauare. New York
appeared an article-under the head of
"How I Became a Socialist," by Rev.
T. McGrady. Mr. McGrady begins by
saying that he is an "honest man,"
and farther along in his article seems
to assume that only those who are
' "born socialists" are not criminally
inclined. He recounts in very beau
tiful phraseology how he wandered
nraScUlUKj UUW UC naiiuvivu i - ... . i
from "free silver" to single tax. ana as uu ZZIZ7 rZ
from single tax to his present social
- x ....... i. - -
is Lie leuueuueo.
"For more than a year," he writes,
"my ideas were hazy and indistinct,
yet I knew all the time that there was
something radically wrong with the
Industrial system. In my bewildered
brain, ..competition was essential to
progress, and still I could not fail to
see that competition reduced wages.
How is this? I asked.: Competition
diminishes wages, but at the same
time it diminishes the price of com
modities, and the toiler gets the ben
efit of the reduction. I had not yet
grasped," he continues, "the idea that
labor power is a merchandise, and
that the tendency of increased produc
tivity is to reduce wages "and enhance
surplus Value." '
Those last two words from the
above quotation from the reverend
gentleman's article are the ones that
stuck in my throat when I came ' to
them. What is the meaning of "sur
plus value?" Can some socialist tell
me? I cannot agree with the Maxian
theory that "crystallized labor" is
value. I can readily see that "crys
tallized labor," or labor stored in ma
terial things, is wealth,' but'wealth"
and "value" are two different terms in
economics. W. H. Ashby, in his
work, "Money and the Taxing Pow
er" says, "It has been demonstrated
that value is not in the things which
constitute wealth, but is a valued
quantity of that force of demand
which arises from the expenditure of
energy in efforts to overcome adverse
possession of those things, under a
system which guarantees that posses
sion and prohibits the use of vio
lence . . . it is an estimate, or valua
tion of the quantity of the force of
demand for that wealth." , To use a
definition often given in The Indepen
dent, value -is ."human estimation
placed upon desirable things capable
tf being exchanged, the supply of
which is limited." : In . other words,
value is an idea. Now then, if value
is an idea, what is meant by "sur
plus value?" Can there be such a
thing as surplus ideas in the "valua
tion of the quantity of the force of de
mand for wealth?" Can some social
ist explain? E. SEIDEL.
' Redmond, Wash.
(In a nutshell, Captain Ashby's
theory of value is this: Man in his
efforts to get a living is Obliged to
expend his energies to overcome the
adverse forces of nature. The result
.is a supply of wealth. Under some
sort of government , he is guaranteed
the exclusive individual possession of
the supply of wealth which comes in
to his hands as the result of expend
ing his energies in overcoming na
ture's adverse forces.
idven Droduct than' he deems neces
sary for. his own uses, he casts about
to find another individual who has a
surplus of some other product- Find
ing him', - the two I producers expend
some energy each In trying, to over
come lawfully1 the r adverse possession
of the. other. This is the simplest
form. In the . complexities of ex
change, the resultant of all the energy
expended in 'trying to overcome the
adverse possession of another to ob
tain or retain the supply of wealth
is. the unseen, but none the less real,
force of demand. Just as that which
wa call weight' is rnothing more than
the quantity of the force of gravita
eav has weieht: so ; that which we
call value is, nothing more than. the
quantity of the force of demand act-
W. A. TTtrlrnlr Dnnp-las NaTi? TTia
M"""'" J I " "J .3) 1 - '
Sntr nnnVi Viq rViioit Ifenmo TVirHrin nf Tnrteneinflonf la oil rltrht Wo tyii.Ci-
3 AA f- ULJU bU-' UUj-V W.At.-' X AUl.ljf V W I. A A A AA . 1 T V ,kUUAJ
the supply of wealth), which we -say hold our organization together, as it
A r 1 , mi JiffAH.MAA' 1 A. 1 J a J A. 1
alas value. me . piny uiucieuue iu is sure tu uts ueeueu in tue near xu-
gy, say for a period of twelve hours.
..And herein Ashby and Marx differ
widely.
Value, according to Marx, is di
vided Into ."use-value" (the substance
of value )and plain, every-day "val
ue" (the magnitude of value). He
uses the term "exchange value', and
admits that, "at first sight (it) pre
sents itself as a quantitative relation,
use of one sort are exenangea ior
those of another sort, a relation con
stantly changing with time and place.
Hence,. exchange value appears to be
something accidental and purely rel
ative, and consequently an intrinsic
value, that is, an exchange value that
is inseparably connected with, inher
ent in commodities, seems a contra
diction of terms." He then proceeds
to cover up this- reasonable appear
ance with a mass of formulas tending
to prove that that which we call
black is "not black at all, and if not
indeed white, is at least slate-color.
Value, according to Marx, is simply
the cost in hours of "social labor.,'
Somehow the labor-power used up in
producing the thing is "crystallized"
in it and that i3 its value exchange
value. Which, of course, would make
value intrinsic, or in the thing. Cur
iously enough Marx admits that these
"crystals" of social labor very readily
lose some of their virtue when by im
proved methods a similar product can
be produced in a small number of so
cial labor hours. All this is done by
Marx to ignore the supply of desirable
things as being a factor in the equa
tion which gives rise to value and
thereby makes his "surplus value"
idea at all tenable. With Marx , ev
ery purchaser Is busily engaged in
quiring how many social labor-hours
were required to produce the" thing
he contemplates purchasing but
there is no look ahead to see how
the possession of the thing may save
him some labor-power.
His famous "surplus value" theory
is based upon a state of society in
which, (like at the present time) men
offer and sell their own energy (labor
power) in exchange for other commod
ities. The ."value" of that labor pow
er, he says, is the "crystallized social
labor" which it cost; and its "use
value" to the purchaser (employer) is
known by the "value" of the commod
ities produced as the result of using
that labor power. Now, he urges, the
employer gives full value for the labor-power
he buys for the "value,"
according to Marx, is what it will
cost to keep up the laborer's energy.
But in using that labor-power, when
ever the laborer works beyond the
number of hours necessary to main
tain or reproduce his working capac
ity, the products produced-, in the
hours beyond are "surplus
values." He attempts to show
by formulas that profits secured in
exchange of commodities, other than
labor power, result in no "surplus val
ues'but simply in a change in the
ownership of wealth. As that is the
objectionable feature of the wage-sysr
tem, it is difficult to see where the
difference comes in,
mVw n th, Avt he has more of a Bo! led down, his tbeory amounts to
.r----..--.. . fc
is: mat tne laborer is roDDea oi
the major portion of the fruits of his
labor. And populists are willing to
concede this, even if they deny the
soundness of the reasoning by which
Marx arrives at his conclusion. Ed.
Ind.)
Wm. C. Berg, Braldentown, Fla.: I
wrote for your sample copies to see if
you stood for socialism. You do not
You'd lose nothing if you did. When
you do, I will try and help you. (There
i3 where you are mistaken, Bro. Berg;
We'd lose our self-respect if we stood
for something and did not believe in
it. If we ever do believe in socialism
tion acting upon the object, which we whether kangaroo or S. L. P.
we'll "stand for it." Ed. Ind.)
ture. They way things look now the
is that for the force "of gravitation we Cleveland-Hill democrats will take
have physical, appliances . for measur- charge of the democratic party here-
ing it, while for the force of demand after and then we will have no use
there is no physical appliance, but for it I am a Bryan man, but will
the quantity of the force acting upon a not follow Cleveland, Hill or any oth-
given object-' must; be , estimated or er gold-bug.
"valued." ' : ' - ,
The incentive for trying to over- G. W. Beauchamp, Wichita, Kas.:
come the adverse possession of an- I am much pleased by the style, in
other is lhat by or through; the new which you go after the plutes, (Pluto,
Tirisoacalnn tTio. row nneecccnr Virtrida wlin cite oa nilar mror iha ratrinna rf
to-' save himself the- expenditure of the inferno, through which the river
come of his own energyr which, other- Styx is supposed to flow). Go after
wise, he would be obliged to expend them with a sharp stick and prod
In overcoming .the adverse forces of them hard.
g OUR SPECIAL , ;
I MARCH COMBINATION
jv We Pay the Freight. w
hi - . tfi
w We will deliver the following $10.00 combination to any town in , v
m the state of Nebraska, freight prepaid by ny tim during the !
Iv month of March, 1903. Reference: First National Bank or The In- tffo
!: dependent ' iv
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Jv MibaChoice Prunes 1.00 ki
JJJ 25 bars Good Laundry Soap 1.00 M
W 2 lbs High Grade Japan Tea.... ................ ...T. 1.00 y
10 lbs High Urade I'eaberry Uoliee .uu , srs
C lbs Fancy Bright Apricots.;..........' .75 jt
4 lbs Fancy Muer Peaches..... 0 J
4 lbs Fancy 4 Crown Large Raisins .... .50 fljf
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IV 3pkgs. 10 centsoda..,. .25
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? 3 pkgs 10 cent Gloss Starch .25 V
K 1 lb Pure Black Tepper .25 V
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