Political Economy for the People

Sixthly. The five preceding modes of influencing the price of labor are substantially those laid down by Adam Smith, who first introduced them to the notice of the political economist. But there is yet another, in which the anomalous reward received for labor falls under neither of those five classes, and which can be referred only to custom. Thus, in the State of Maryland, it is usual to give large gratuitous fees to the clerk who issues marriage-licenses, while, in most of the States, extra fees are given on such occasions only to the officiating clergyman. In the city of Washington, it is the usage, on the death of a member of Congress, for each hackney-coach in the city to attend the funeral procession, for which service, instead of the ordinary fare of fifty cents, five dollars is always paid. There are also settled fees for certain professional services which are commonly very disproportionate to the time and skill exerted. As these rewards of labor exceed the ordinary average, they naturally tend to increase the number of competitors and, by a correspondent lessening of profits, restore the just equilibrium between wages and labor.

In all manufactures there are three elements which combine to determine the market value of the finished fabric. These are the raw material; the labor, and the machinery; and they occupy very different proportions in different species of manufactures. Thus, in cotton fabrics, in which the labor is performed chiefly by machinery, and is, consequently, cheaper, the raw material is by much the most valuable part.

In those of wool, the raw material is also the most costly, but the value of the labor and machinery expended approaches that of the raw material.

In those of iron, there is a very great diversity, according to the character of the fabric. In small articles such as needles, watch-springs, and the like, the cost of the raw material is insignificant; but in anchors, pieces of ordnance, and the iron bars of a railway, it exceeds that of the labor and machinery.

In manufactures of leather, the value of the labor and of the raw material are generally nearly equal.

In silk manufactures, the material, which is itself the result of much human labor and manipulation, is always an important element; but in its most costly fabrics, labor is by far the largest element, as in the Gobelin tapestry, velvets, and rich brocades.

In all manufactures of pottery and glass, the raw material is of little value, except in making porcelain; when the kaolin earth, which is found in few places, is brought from a great distance. There is a vein of this material extending through the States of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, which will doubtless one day give rise to extensive factories of its beautiful wares.

In the manufacture of books, the cost of the principal material, paper, is proportionally small; but the paper itself has been; fabricated of old rags, some pounds of which, costing but a few cents, when converted into a book, may sell, in consequence of the labor bestowed on it, for as many dollars. The very coarse paper made of oakum, or old hempen rope, is manufactured into various articles of papier maché of great beauty and cost.