第 7 节
作者:一意孤行      更新:2021-10-16 18:41      字数:9322
  power。'5'
  '5' Vol。 i; pp。 237; 238。
  In the last week of June; 1863; all the London daily papers published
  a   paragraph   with   the   ‘‘sensational''   heading;   ‘‘Death   from   simple   over…
  work。'' It dealt with the death of the milliner; Mary Anne Walkley; 20 years
  of   age;   employed      in   a  highly   respectable     dressmaking       establishment;
  exploited   by  a   lady  with the   pleasant name   of   Elise。 The   old;   often…told
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  story was once more recounted。 This girl worked; on an average; 16 1/2
  hours; during the season often 30 hours; without a break; whilst her failing
  labor…power was revived by occasional supplies of sherry; port; or coffee。
  It was just now the height of the season。 It was necessary to conjure up in
  the twinkling of an eye the gorgeous dresses for the noble ladies bidden to
  the ball   in   honor   of   the   newly…   imported   Princess of Wales。   Mary Anne
  Walkley had worked without intermission for 26 1/2 hours; with 60 other
  girls;   30   in   one   room;   that   only   afforded   1/3   of   the   cubic   feet   of   air
  required for them。 At night; they slept in pairs in one of the stifling holes
  into which the bedroom was divided by partitions of board。 And this was
  one of the best millinery establishments in London。 Mary Anne Walkley
  fell   ill   on   the   Friday;   died   on   Sunday;   without;   to   the   astonishment   of
  Madame Elise; having previously completed the work in hand。 The doctor;
  Mr。  Keys;  called   too   late   to the   death   bed;   duly  bore   witness before   the
  coroner's jury that ‘‘Mary Anne Walkley had died from long hours of work
  in   an   over…   crowded   workroom;   and   a   too   small   and   badly   ventilated
  bedroom。''   In   order   to   give   the   doctor   a   lesson   in   good   manners;   the
  coroner's jury thereupon brought in a verdict that ‘‘the deceased had died
  of    apoplexy;     but   there   was    reason    to   fear   that  her   death    had    been
  accelerated by over…work in an over…crowded workroom; &c。'' ‘‘Our white
  slaves;''   cried   the   ‘‘Morning   Star;''   the   organ   of   the   free…traders;   Cobden
  and Bright; ‘‘our white slaves; who are toiled into the grave; for the most
  part silently pine and die。'''6'
  '6' Vol。 i; pp。 239; 240。
  Edward VI: A statue of the first year of his reign; 1547; ordains that if
  anyone refuses to work; he shall be condemned as a slave to the person
  who   has   denounced   him   as   an   idler。   The   master   shall   feed   his   slave   on
  bread and water; weak broth and such refuse meat as he thinks fit。 He has
  the right to force him to do any work; no matter how disgusting; with whip
  and chains。 If the slave is absent a fortnight; he is condemned to slavery
  for life and is to be branded on forehead or back with the letter S; if he
  runs away thrice; he is to be executed as a felon。 The master can sell him;
  bequeath   him;   let   him  out   on   hire   as   a   slave;   just   as   any  other   personal
  chattel or   cattle。  If   the slaves   attempt   anything   against   the   masters;  they
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  are also to be executed。 Justices of the peace; on information; are to hunt
  the rascals down。 If it happens that a vagabond has been idling about for
  three days; he is to be taken to his birthplace; branded with a redhot iron
  with the letter V on the breast and be set to work; in chains; in the streets
  or at some other labor。 If the vagabond gives a false birthplace; he is then
  to   become      the   slave    for  life  of   this  place;    of  its  inhabitants;     or   its
  corporation; and to be branded with an S。 All persons have the right to take
  away the children of the vagabonds and to keep them as apprentices; the
  young men until the 24th year; the girls until the 20th。 If they run away;
  they are to become up to this age the slaves of their masters; who can put
  them in irons; whip them; &c。; if they like。 Every master may put an iron
  ring   around   the   neck;   arms   or   legs   of   his   slave;   by   which   to   know   him
  more   easily   and   to   be   more   certain   of   him。   The   last   part   of   this   statute
  provides   that   certain   poor   people   may   be   employed   by   a   place   or   by
  persons;   who   are   willing   to   give   them   food   and   drink   and   to   find   them
  work。 This kind of parish…slaves was kept up in England until far into the
  19th century under the name of ‘‘roundsmen。'''7'
  '7' Vol。 i; pp。 758; 759。
  Page after page and chapter after chapter of facts of this nature; each
  brought   up   to   illustrate   some   fatalistic   theory   which   Marx   professes   to
  have proved by exact reasoning; cannot but stir into fury any passionate
  working…class reader; and into unbearable shame any possessor of capital
  in whom generosity and justice are not wholly extinct。
  Almost      at  the   end   of   the  volume;      in  a  very   brief   chapter;    called
  ‘‘Historical      Tendency       of  Capitalist     Accumulation;''       Marx     allows    one
  moment's glimpse of the hope that lies beyond the present horror:
  As     soon     as   this    process     of    transformation        has    sufficiently
  decomposed the old society from top to bottom; as soon as the laborers are
  turned into proletarians; their means of labor into capital; as soon as the
  capitalist   mode   of   production   stands   on   its   own        feet;   then   the   further
  socialization   of   labor   and   further   transformation   of   the   land   and   other
  means   of   production   into   so…   cially   exploited   and;   therefore;   common
  means      of   production;     as   well   as   the  further    expropriation      of   private
  proprietors; takes a new form。 That which is now to be expropriated is no
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  longer the laborer working for himself; but the capitalist exploiting many
  laborers。      This   expropriation       is  accomplished        by    the   action    of   the
  immanent   laws   of   capitalistic   production   itself;   by   the   centralization   of
  capital。     One     capitalist   always      kills   many;     and    in   hand    with    this
  centralization;   or   this   expropriation   of   many   capitalists   by  few;   develop;
  on an ever extending scale; the co…operative form of the labor…process; the
  conscious   technical   application   of   science;   the   methodical   cultivation   of
  the soil; the transformation of the instruments of labor into instruments of
  labor only usable in common; the economizing of all means of production
  by their use as the means of production of combined; socialized labor; the
  entanglement of all peoples in the net of the world…market; and with this;
  the    international     character    of   the   capitalistic   regime。     Along    with    the
  constantly diminishing number of the magnates of capital; who usurp and
  monopolize   all   advantages   of   this   process   of   transformation;   grows   the
  mass   of   misery;   oppression;   slavery;   degradation;   exploitation;   but   with
  this; too; grows the revolt of the working… class; a class always increasing
  in numbers; and disciplined; united; organized by the very mechanism of
  the    process     of  capitalist    production      itself。  The    monopoly       of  capital
  becomes a fetter upon the mode of production; which has sprung up and
  flourished      along    with;   and    under    it。  Centralization      of  the   means     of
  production   and   socialization   of   labor   at   last   reach   a   point   where   they
  become incompatible with their capitalist integument。 This integument is
  burst    asunder。     The    knell    of   capitalist   private    property     sounds。     The
  expropriators are expropriated;'8'
  '8' Vol。 i pp。 788; 789。
  That is all。 Hardly another word from beginning to end is allowed to
  relieve   the   gloom;   and   in   this   relentless   pressure   upon   the   mind   of   the
  reader lies a great part of the power which this book has acquired。
  Two     questions     are   raised   by   Marx's    work:    First;   Are   his   laws   of
  historical development true? Second; Is Socialism desirable? The second
  of   these   questions   is   quite   independent   of   the   first。   Marx   professes   to
  prove that   Socialism  must   come;   but   scarcely  concerns   himself to   argue
  that when it come