Thatitshouldbenecessary, atthistimeofday, tosetforthsuchelementarytruthsasthesemaywellseemstrange; butnoonewhoconsultsthatinterestingmuseumofpoliticaldelusions, "ProgressandPoverty,"someofthetreasuresofwhichIhavealreadybroughttolight, willdoubtthefact, ifhebestowsproperattentionuponthefirstbookofthatwidely-readwork.Atpage15itisthuswritten:
"ThepropositionIshallendeavourtoproveis: thatwages, insteadofbeingdrawnfromcapital, are, inreality, drawnfromtheproductofthelabourforwhichtheyarepaid."
Againatpage18:—
"Ineverycaseinwhichlabourisexchangedforcommodities, productionreallyprecedesenjoyment...wagesaretheearnings—thatistosay, themakings—oflabour—nottheadvancesofcapital."
Andthepropositionwhichtheauthorendeavourstodisproveisthehithertogenerallyaccepteddoctrine
..."thatlabourismaintainedandpaidoutofexistingcapital, beforetheproductwhichconstitutestheultimateobjectissecured" (p.16).
Thedoctrinerespectingtherelationofcapitalandwages, whichisthusopposedin "ProgressandPoverty," isthatillustratedintheforegoingpages;thetruthofwhich, Iconceive, ;and, evenatthecostofgoingoncemoreoversomeofthegroundtraversedinthisessayandthaton "NaturalandPoliticalRights,"[6]Iproposetoshowthattheerrorlieswith "ProgressandPoverty"; inwhichwork,sofaraspoliticalscienceisconcerned, thepovertyis,tomyeye, muchmoreapparentthantheprogress.
