[14] I shall explain this law by figures: Suppose three periods during which capital increases, labour remaining the same. Let the total production at these three periods be as 80—100—120. It will be thus divided:
| Capitalist’s share. | Labourer’s share. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Period, | 45 | 35 | 80 |
| Second Period, | 50 | 50 | 100 |
| Third Period, | 55 | 65 | 120 |
Of course these proportions are merely given for the sake of illustration.
I. NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL ORGANIZATION
[15] This Chapter was first published in the Journal des Économistes, January 1848.—Editor.
[16] Allusion to a socialist work of the day—La Reforme industrielle, ou la Phalanstère, par Ch. Fourier.—Translator.
[17] Métayage is a mode of letting farms in the south of Europe, where the landlord furnishes a proportion of the means of cultivation, and shares the produce with the cultivator, or métayer.—Translator.
[18] “It is averred that the régime of free competition demanded by an ignorant Political Economy, and intended to do away with monopolies, tends only to the general organization of monster monopolies in all departments.”—Principes du Socialisme, par M. Considérant, p. 15.
II. WANTS, EFFORTS, SATISFACTIONS
[19] This and the following chapter were inserted in the Journal des Économistes, September and December 1848.—Editor.