Had we left the conditions of the problem the same in the second instance as in the first, that is, one-half the labor was necessary and one-half surplus, we would have had in the second instance with even a somewhat lower composition of capital than that assumed by us, say of eighteen thousand constant and two thousand variable,—a rate of interest of only ten per cent. instead of fifteen per cent. This would show the tendency in its purity. But it would not show the actual facts of capitalistic development. Our example does that—in outline, of course. For, with the higher composition of capital, and the greater productivity of labor which it represents, grows the surplus part of the value produced, grows the rate of exploitation of labor. And this quite irrespective of the fact whether the workingmen are receiving poorer pay or not, or whether the standard of living is becoming lower or not. They may even receive in real wages, that is, in products, more than they received before, and still the rate of exploitation will grow. For with the productivity of labor commodities become cheaper, so that for the same amount of money received by them as wages the workingmen may buy a larger amount of the products produced by them, and yet this amount will necessarily become constantly smaller in proportion to the amount retained by the capitalist as surplus-product. In our example we have allowed for the cheapening effect of the productivity of labor on commodities, otherwise the increase in the value of the product would have to be more than twice with such a high composition of capital. The products consumed by them being cheaper, the workingmen of John Brown, Jr., will get more products for their ten dollars per week than did their forefathers who worked for John Brown, Sr., and yet their share of the product produced will be one-half of that of their forefathers, and the rate of exploitation of labor will have increased threefold since the times of John Brown, Sr. This is what actually happens in the course of the development of capitalist production.
