consume all their profits there would be no capitalists in the modern sense of the word, there would be no accumulation of capital. In order that capital should accumulate the capitalist must not, under any circumstances, consume all his profits. The capitalist who does, ceases to be a capitalist and succumbs in the competition with his fellow capitalists. In other words, modern capitalism presupposes the saving habit of capitalists, that is to say, that part of the profits of the individual capitalists must not be consumed but saved in order to increase the already existing capital.
As a matter of fact, this saving habit, of which the apologists of capitalism make such a virtue, is really enforced upon the capitalists. It is a sine qua non of capitalism itself. The very statement that improved machinery has been introduced in any industry already implies the fact that the capitalists of that industry have "saved" enough out of their share of the product manufactured by the old mode of production to be able to manufacture the new machinery or buy it from its manufacturers, and thereby increase the capital employed in their business. The same reason for "saving" which existed before the introduction of the new and improved machinery and which caused its introduction, namely, the competition of the market, which compels each capitalist to accumulate capital out of his profits, continues to exist and cause the further accumulation of capital and the further introduction of new and improved machinery. He cannot, therefore, consume all of his share in the manufactured product. It is evident, therefore, that neither the workingman nor the capitalist can consume the whole of the increased product of manufacture? Who, then, will buy it up?
