attitude of David, who urges his comrades to acknowledge the mistake.'

And yet the true-blue Marxists are unwilling to drop this theory. They realize that in dropping it they are dropping Marxism, but they do not realize that in interpreting it away they are interpreting Marxism away. The whole construction of Marx's Capital leads up to the doctrine of increasing misery. In rejecting this theory, one rejects also Marx's theory of population, his theory of wages, his theory of accumulation of capital. And if what is left be Marxism, it is Marxism with Marx left out. Not only is his theory shattered, but what rational foundation is there left for his vision and hope, his goal and inspiration-the breakdown of capitalism and the social revolution? These conceptions of Marx as well as his idea of the general crisis are based upon the progressively increasing misery of the working class."

VII

Since the Marxian System cannot without wrecking its theory disavow the doctrine of increasing misery of wage-earners, it devolves upon us to test this doctrine by the actual facts of economic life, i. e., by wage statistics. Relatively easy as it is to obtain figures of wages for long periods, their scientific utilization presents considerable difficulties. The data have invariably been gathered and controlled by different methods; the money wage of the time and the purchasing power of the wage varied greatly. The task is therefore not a grateful one, and no historical statements of wages based upon miscellaneous statistics can lay claim to mathematical exactness. And yet in spite of all the inevitable inaccuracies these statistical data suffice to establish the general tendencies beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt.

1" Spielen wir nicht Versteck, sondern erklären wir ruhig: diese Position des Programmes über die Verelendung ist ein Irrthum." Ibid., p. 138.

'So Peter Struve points out, "dass die Zusammenbruchstheorie als eine Theorie der allgemeinen Krise notwendig auf die Lehre von der fortschreitenden Verelendung resp. der sozialen Herabdrückung der arbeitenden Bevölkerung zurückführt." Peter von Struve, "Die Marx'sche Theorie der Sozialen Entwicklung." Braun's Archiv für soziale Gesetzgebung und Statistik, vol. xiv, 1899, p. 695.

A valuable supplement to the ordinary statistics of workingmen's earnings are the budgets of the wage-earner's expenditures. Although budget literature is now being traced back to Sir William Petty and his Political Arithmetic, for our purposes only material of much later date is of interest. We may start with a contemporary of the Communist Manifesto-Dr. Alexander v. Lengerke's Ländliche Arbeiterfrage, which is a very important volume. The itemized expenditures are estimates, but they are carefully and minutely considered estimates submitted at the request of the Prussian government by 185 local agricultural societies, and they all relate to the probable expenditures of peasant-families consisting of five members.

2

This investigation embraces agricultural laborers and peasants who supplement their income from farming by outside agricultural labor. 115 thalers was the average income of such families throughout Prussia in 1848; and on an average not less than 96 per cent of their budget went for the satisfaction of the elementary physical wants; food, shelter, clothing, fuel and fodder. The remaining 4 per cent was spent on "Abgaben an Staat, Kirche, Schule." Since taxes may well be estimated at about 3 per cent, it left but I per cent for nonphysical wants.3

An enquête on similar lines covering the whole of Germany was undertaken in 1872. The results were published by Professor Von der Goltz in 1875, and show an extraordinary material improvement of the living conditions of the agricul

1 Die ländliche Arbeiterfrage. Beantwortet durch die bei dem königlichen landesOekonomie-Collegium aus allen Gegenden der preussischen Monarchie eingegangenen Berichte landwirtschaftlicher Vereine über die materiellen Zustände der arbeitenden Classen auf dem platten Lande. Berlin. Im Bureau des königl. Ministeriums für landwirschaftliche Angelegenheiten 1849. The volume is rare, but there is a copy in the Library of Congress.

"Im grossen Ganzen würde sich daher der Bedarf für eine ländliche ArbeiterFamilie in der Preussischen Monarchie auf durchschnittlich 115 Rthlr stellen." v. Lengerke, Ländliche Arbeiterfrage, p. 13.

3 See also on the subject, Ernst Engels', Die Lebenskosten Belgischer ArbeiterFamilien, Dresden, 1905, p. 19.

* Die Lage der ländlichen Arbeiter im Deutschen Reich. Unter Mitwirkung von Prof. Richter, v. Langsdorff, erstattet von Dr. Th. Frh. von der Goltz, Professor an der Universität Königsberg, Berlin, 1875. (A copy in the Cornell University Library.)

tural laborers. The expenditures of a family of five were in Prussia Mk. 632.7 instead of Mk. 315.30 as in 1848, and throughout Germany the average expenditure amounted to

Mk. 717.

The great material advance of the agricultural laborer and the rise in his standard of living were reported in every part of the German Empire.

And yet, as we have previously pointed out, the Communist Manifesto must not be regarded as a rhetorical exercise of a mere demagogue. In the midst of its fiery revolutionary eloquence the Manifesto shows more regard for facts than many a learned work of its time. The manifesto is in truth but a reflection of the effects of early industrialism; it was written under the fresh impression of hunger riots of the Silesian weavers, which Heine and Hauptmann have immortalized. It is therefore especially fortunate that one of the most careful budget studies should cover the economic status of the Silesian textile workers during the period of 1865-1874. This study was make by Karl Schwedler, 3 the manager of a local

1

66

Engel, op. cit., p. 19. Geistige Bildung. Hinsichtlich dieses Punktes wird entschieden noch häufiger als in Bezug auf Sittlichkeit ein Fortschritt angegeben. . . In Bezug auf die materielle Lage. Hier wird fast allgemein eine Verbesserung der materiellen Lage der ländlichen Arbeiter constatirt, dabei freilich aber oft hervorgehoben, dass dieselben nicht wirtschaftlicher geworden seien."

Dr. v. d. Goltz goes on to show that within the last 30 years prices increased as follows: rye 25 per cent, potatoes 31 per cent, butter 48 per cent and meat 53 per cent; but wages increased in most provinces in the neighborhood of 100 per cent while many articles of consumption (especially "Colonialwaaren ") decreased in price. He also reminds us of the fact that the products which increased in price are chiefly produced by the agricultural laborers themselves on their plots of land, or they receive it as a "Naturaldeputat" from their employer. Professor von der Goltz therefore comes to the conclusion: "Nach dem Gesagten glauben wir uns ererseits hervorheben zu müssen, dass wir die in der Enquete mit so grosser Ubereinstimmung gemachte Angabe über die thatsächliche Verbesserung der materiellen Lage der ländlichen Arbeiter als eine durchaus zutreffende anerkennen." Th. von der Goltz, loc. cit., pp. 496, 497, 498.

Heine's famous poem "Die Weber," begins with these lines; "Im düstren Auge keine Thräne, Sie sitzen am Webstuhl und fletschen die Zähne: Deutschland, wir weben dein Leichentuch, Wir weben hinein den dreifachen Fluch, Wir weben, wir weben!"

Karl Schwedler, Arbeitslöhne in der Schlesischen Textil-Industrie und Unterhaltsbedarf in den letzten 10 Jahren. In the Arbeiterfreund, vol. xii, Berlin, 1875, P. 149 ff.

coöperative society (Consumverein). All the prices were taken from the actual account books, the sums spent minutely itemized, the increase in rent not overlooked: in short the study is exceptionally trustworthy. Here are the results: Schwedler's tables show that in the ten years prices advanced 35 per cent. Wages on the other hand advanced for men 60 per cent, women 29 per cent, girls 50 per cent, boys 50 per

cent.'

What percentage of these increasing wages form a surplus over the merely physical necessities of life and the allowance for its fuller development? An interesting table, which answers this question, is to be found in a recent curious Russian book by S. Solncev. Solncev used the Berlin workingmen's budgets collected in 1879, 1896 and 1900 by Berlin statisticians.

Non-physical expenditures, which practically did not exist in agricultural districts in 1848, have gradually risen from 5 per cent in 1879 to 18 per cent in 1900 in family households. In 1903 the non-physical expenditures of a Berlin workingman's family, numbering 4 persons, were already fluctuating from 18

1 Karl Schwedler, loc. cit., p. 153.

'S. Solncev, Rabachie budgeti v svyazi s teoriey "obednenia," 1907, p. 69.

to 25 per cent of the total expenditures, and those of a bachelor averaged as high as 28 per cent.'

The admirable work of Professor Ashley on The Progress of the German Working Classes will give us the reason for such an extraordinary change. Every side of Germany's economic life is discussed by Mr. Ashley, and they all testify to the gradual but steady improvement of the workingmen. In Krupp's works, for instance, the average wage has risen, between 1871-1900, 57 per cent, while, due to a special housing policy, rent actually decreased. During the same period the price of bacon increased but 2 per cent, that of beef II per cent, veal 21 per cent, that of potatoes decreased 31 per cent, that of bread decreased 27 per cent."

The annual earnings in the Hamburg shipbuilding yards show the following increase in per cent:

And this general rise took place in spite of the introduction of the ten-hour day in the middle of the eighties.3 The approximate average wage of the coal heavers in Westphalia was in

The deposits in savings banks in Saxony increased from Mk. 114.65 per head of the population in 1880 to Mk. 222.03 in 1900.5 In Prussia the number of savings bank depositors in 1875 was 2,209,101, the amount deposited 1112 millions-in

'W. J. Ashley, The Progress of the German Working Classes in the last Quarter of a Century. 1904, p. 91.

$ Ibid., p. 93.

• Ibid., p. 95.

5 Ibid.,

P. 116.