Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1

by Wilhelm Roscher

But it is the extent of the market especially which determines the limits of the division of labor; for there is a direct and necessary relation between the division of labor and the exchange of its surplus. Hence, the division of labor may be carried farthest in the case of those products which are most easily transported from place to place, and which, at the same time, possess the utility that is most widely recognized. The smallness of the market may depend upon the scantiness of the population, or upon its scattered condition;[364] upon their [pg 194] smaller ability to pay, or upon the bad means of communication at their disposal.[365] Hence it is, that in villages, small cities, and still more on isolated farms, many branches of business are carried on by one person, which are divided among many in larger cities; and this is especially true in the case of businesses which have a chiefly local demand.[366] While, in small places, the barber is also frequently the physician, in larger ones there are dentists, oculists, accoucheurs, surgeons etc.[367]; and while, in the former, the tavern keeper is both dry goods merchant and grocer, there are, in the latter, tea merchants, cigar-dealers, dealers in mourning goods (in London childbed-linen warehouses) etc., and hotels for all the different classes of travelers. There can be a distinct class of porters, hack-men etc., only where commerce is very active.[368] And even in cities like Paris, where the costly industries that minister to luxury, that of the jeweler, for instance, admit of only a limited division of labor, this effect depends on the smallness of the market; a market, indeed, [pg 195] which geographically may extend over the whole earth, but which, in an economic sense, must always remain small, on account of the small number of customers who have the ability to pay for their products. The real wonders produced by the division of labor and the employment of machinery we must look for in the manufacture of the cheapest and commonest commodities.[369]

Section LXI.

The Division Of Labor—Means Of Increasing It.

Whoever, therefore, would increase the division of labor among the people, must, first of all, extend their market; and this is done most efficiently by improving the means of communication. Even in our day, it is over the water-highroads that the heaviest articles are carried with the least expenditure of force;[370] but where civilization is not advanced, these highroads possess still greater advantages, because of their safety, convenience and priority. And here is the explanation of the intimate connection of the beginnings of all civilizations with the existence, near the scene of such beginnings, of good natural water-roads. “Even the wildest inhabitant of the sea coast very soon obtains the idea of distance, which is altogether wanting to the inhabitant of the primeval forest. No sooner does he catch sight of the far-off island than his yearning after the distant assumes a well-defined character. Bits of wood floating past him suggest to his mind the [pg 196] best material to buoy himself up upon the water, and a fish the best form for his craft.” (Klemm.) Hence the Mediterranean sea, especially the eastern portion, with the various peoples and products of its coasts, with its numerous islands, peninsulas and bays, its easy navigation, but little influenced by the tides or by ocean currents, was the principal seat of ancient civilization.[371] The literal meaning of Attica is coast-land. (Strabo.) The colonization of a new country is wont, where possible, to begin on the coast, especially on islands near the coast; and to follow the course of rivers into the interior. Even whole continents occupy, for the most part, in the history of the world, the position assigned them by their coast-development.[372] While it is hard to determine whether, in the case of the European continent, its limbs predominate or its trunk, Africa may be said to be a trunk without members. Its islands, most of them insignificant in themselves, are almost entirely cut off from it by ocean currents. This explains why Madagascar had not, by any means, the influence on African civilization which Crete, Sicily and Britain have had on the civilization of Europe. Asia occupies, in this respect, about a middle position between Europe and Africa. The trunk of that continent bears to its members about the proportion of 670,000 to 150,000 square miles. And what is worst of all, the middle of the whole is an almost insurmountable wall between north, south, east and west Asia. Hence the tenacious peculiarity and isolated development of the Chinese, Malayan, Indian and Arabic civilizations; while the three peninsulas of southern Europe, for instance, have affected one another so largely, and in so many different ways.[373] The northern hemisphere compared with the southern, presents [pg 197] a contrast similar to that between Europe and Africa, or of the rich coast-groups of the Atlantic compared with the poor ones of the Pacific.[374] But it is most especially, large, well-watered plains that are best adapted to the construction of roads, and thus to facilitate the division of labor. And while we find, in many countries, that the mountainous regions reached a certain stage of development earlier than any others, because they were more easily protected by military force, we find, too, that even here, plains, have, for the most part, had the largest share of power and of civilization (northern Italy, northern France, the plains of Switzerland and [pg 198] north Germany). See § [36].[375] We must not, however, fail to consider the reverse side of the picture of the great highways of the world. The same reasons that raise them to the dignity of lines of commerce, make them lines of war; and even the contagion of great plagues and of the ruling vices follows, as a rule, the avenues of trade.

Section LXII.

The Reverse, Or Dark Side Of The Division Of Labor.

There are hardships often attending the highly developed division of labor, the dark and bright sides of which are most strikingly observable only in large cities. However, when it is charged with adding to the natural inequality of men, the accusation can be met only by the answer, that, without the division of labor, we should be all equally poor and equally coarse; for each one would be absorbed by the necessity of providing for his lower wants, and no one would be in a way to develop his higher faculties. Even the poorest man has more enjoyment in consequence of the division of labor, than he could have living in a state of isolation from his fellow men. The most wretched among us, the invalid without property of any kind, the father of a family with more children than he can support, would simply starve in the primeval forest.

Those socialists who never tire of preaching “association,” overlook for the most part, the great, free association which our needs, wants or tastes are ever changing, and which is given us, as of course, by the division of labor.[376] Yet the skill produced by the division of labor is unavoidably connected with a corresponding one-sidedness. The Russians, for instance, are exceedingly apt, but they rarely distinguish themselves in any thing.[377] Love of his avocation, or pride in it, is a thing unknown to the Russian workman. He shirks all continuous labor.[378] Experience has shown that the Neapolitans and Italians, in general, exhibit great skill when they work alone; but that when a great many of them work together, they become rapidly confused. The English, on the other hand, are slow to learn anything new, or to overcome unlooked for difficulties; but they have no equals as workmen in organized industries.[379] The difficulty experienced in seeking a new calling, where a high division of labor obtains, arises as much from the fact that each person here has received a more one-sided training, as from the necessity he is under of competing from the first with only consummate workers. Rousseau's school has laid too much stress on the tendency of higher civilization to diminish individual independence. Quand on sait creuser un canot, battre l'ennemi, construire une cabane, vivre de peu, faire cent lieues dans les forêts sans autre guide que le vent et le soleil, sans autre provision qu'un arc et des flêches; c'est [pg 200] alors qu'on est un homme![380] We might reply that to build a steamship or a palace, and to travel around the world are far better. (Dunoyer.) Even physically, civilized man is superior to the savage, as might be inferred from the greater average duration of life of the former. Of course, extremes should not be compared, nor should we contrast the frame of a weaver or student with that of a savage chief.[381]