he surface of the earth
enters into their composition.

It may be said that I have taken it for granted, that money wages would
rise with a rise in the price of raw produce, but that this is by no
means a necessary consequence, as the labourer may be contented with
fewer enjoyments. It is true that the wages of labour may previously
have been at a high level, and that they may bear some reduction. If
so, the fall of profits will be checked; but it is impossible to
conceive that the money price of wages should fall, or remain stationary
with a gradually increasing price of necessaries; and therefore it may
be taken for granted that, under ordinary circumstances, no permanent
rise takes place in the price of necessaries, without occasioning, or
having been preceded by a rise in wages.

The effects produced on profits, would have been the same, or nearly the
same, if there had been any rise in the price of those other
necessaries, besides food, on which the wages of labour are expended.
The necessity which the labourer would be under of paying an increased
price for such necessaries, would oblige him to demand more wages; and
whatever increases wages, necessarily reduces profits. But suppose the
price of silks, velvets, furniture, and any other commodities, not
required by the labourer, to rise in consequence of more labour being
expended on them, would not that affect profits? certainly not: for
nothing can affect profits but a rise in wages; silks and velvets are
not consumed by the labourer, and therefore cannot raise wages.

It is to be understood that I am speaking of profits generally. I have
already remarked that the market price of a commodity may exceed its
natural or necessary price, as it may be produced in less abundance than
the new demand for it requires. This however is but a temporary effect.
The high profits on capital employed in producing that commodity will
naturally attract capital to that trade; and as soon as the requisite
funds are supplied, and the quantity of the commodity is duly increased,
its price will fall, and the profits of the trade will conform to the
general level. A fall in the general rate of profits is by no means
incompatible with a partial rise of profits in particular employments.
It is through the inequality of profits, that capital is moved from one
employment to another. Whilst then general profits are falling, and
gradually settling at a lower level in consequence of the rise