ÁTA/ÍL MARX. 
35 
ns st on th,s pent : ,t .s the essence of the matter. A little 
tatience in foUowing these discussions, sometimes dry enough 
f™ L K r f"" 'hat they concern the ver^ 
They are the produce of equal efforts during the same period • 
have they the ^me value? No; the roebuck will feed me 
fr : :: 
a .otde, Ä :^f % 
former has not required twice as much labour as the latter 
that IS to say ordinarily and always, less labour. Butter sells 
at eighteenpence per pound, and yet it is the almost spun- 
taneous product of the grass that the cow grazes. Thus we 
sometimes obtain for the same amount of effort very unequal 
values, and sometimes equal values for unequal quantities of 
labour. Value, then, is not in proportion to labour. 
Beyond question, labour is an essential element of value 
but wherever scarcity, that is to say natural or social monopoly’ 
dlZnT^'""' “ ""''-hibour is not the sole 
In reality, value springs from utility. We estimate things 
according to the advantages that they obtain for us. An 
The word '^alui^" rtt%ok^c%c!^la%r.Cl%r'' 
osely, we shall see that rarity is only a form of utility. The 
useful ir "" uT' more 
' """ 1)« “a possession. If, on the other hand, I