the manufacturer's capital in the surplus-value. The "necessary" value contained in the commodity represents the cost of its production to the manufacturer. That does not mean, however, that the manufacturer simply gets a return of what he has expended in the production of the commodity. It is not the actual expense of production that is represented in its "necessary" value, but the socially necessary expense of producing the commodity at the time the manufacturer sells it. If the actual cost of production is above that the manufacturer loses the difference; if it is below he pockets the difference as an extra profit.
The prices paid at any succeeding stage of the circulating process are fixed in the same way. Each succeeding seller gets in the price which he receives the necessary value of the commodity plus the distributive share of the surplus-value to which he and his predecessors in the process are entitled in accordance with the rules formulated above. Each of them gets his own distributive share of the surplus-value in addition to what he has paid or laid out. Provided, of course, he bought and sold at its fair price. Otherwise, one of them may get more than his due share and another less. But all of the capitalists concerned, together, get all the surplus-value produced in the process of production, and no more. Unless, indeed, the workingmen did not get their fair pay or the consumer was compelled to pay an unfair price, in which event the capitalists immediately concerned reaped an extra profit. Or the workingmen were paid too much or the consumer paid too little, in which event the capitalists immediately concerned suffered a loss.
It was assumed all through this discussion that each capitalist worked with his own capital. If any one of them did not, he had to give up all or part of his share of the surplus-value, which he received in the form of profit, to the person from whom he borrowed his capital, in the shape of interest. This does not change the matter, however, and we are not concerned with it here. We also left out of the discussion the question of rent, and the question of ad-
