mes B. had two francs which he had gained by two workmen; but it
occurs to him that an arrangement of ropes and weights might be made
which would diminish the labour by half. Therefore he obtains the same
advantage, saves a franc, and discharges a workman.

He discharges a workman: _this is that which is seen_.

And seeing this only, it is said, "See how misery attends civilisation;
this is the way that liberty is fatal to equality. The human mind has
made a conquest, and immediately a workman is cast into the gulf of
pauperism. James B. may possibly employ the two workmen, but then he
will give them only half their wages, for they will compete with each
other, and offer themselves at the lowest price. Thus the rich are
always growing richer, and the poor, poorer. Society wants remodelling."
A very fine conclusion, and worthy of the preamble.

Happily, preamble and conclusion are both false, because, behind the
half of the phenomenon _which is seen_, lies the other half _which is
not seen_.

The franc saved by James B. is not seen, no more are the necessary
effects of this saving.

Since, in consequence of his invention, James B. spends only one franc
on hand labour in the pursuit of a determined advantage, another franc
remains to him.

If, then, there is in the world a workman with unemployed arms, there is
also in the world a capitalist with an unemployed franc. These two
elements meet and combine, and it is as clear as daylight, that between
the supply and demand of labour, and between the supply and demand of
wages, the relation is in no way changed.

The invention and the workman paid with the first franc, now perform
the work which was formerly accomplished by two workmen. The second
workman, paid with the second franc, realises a new kind of work.

What is the change, then, which has taken place? An additional national
advantage has been gained; in other words, the invention is a gratuitous
triumph--a gratuitous profit for mankind.

From the form which I have given to my demonstration, the following
inference might be drawn:--

"It is the capitalist who reaps all the advantage from machinery. The
working class, if it suffers only temporarily, never profits by it,
since, by your own showing, they displace a portion of the national
labour, without diminishing it, it is true, but also without increasing
it."

I do not pretend, in this slight treatise, to answer every objection;
the only end I have in