66

THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  UNEMPLOYED

the  people.  If  modern  machinery  and  methods  of  production ­
  have  raised  twentyfold  the  producing-power,  the
consumption  of  the  community  has  increased  at  a  lower
ratio.  We  therefore  find  that  the  several  agents  of  production ­
  exist  in  excess;  full  and  continuous  use  cannot
be  found  for  them.  This  is  no  theory,  but  a  just  summary ­
  of  the  phenomena  of  modern  industry.  Why  such
excess  of  wealth-producing  power  is  possible  may  remain
an  open  question,  but  of  the  fact  there  can  be  no  dispute. ­
  It  is  not  a  case  of  improper  application  of  productive ­
  power,  an  excess  in  certain  trades,  or  at  certain  times,
balanced  by  a  deficiency  in  other  trades  or  other  times.
It  is  a  normal  and  general  condition  of  excess.  The
rate  of  production  of  commodities  actually  maintained  in
the  years  1871-4  could  have  been  continued  during  the
ten  years  which  followed,  if  the  demand  had  not  slackened; ­
  and  the  fact  that  it  was  not  so  continued  is  a  clear
admission  of  a  grave  excess  of  productive  power  under
normal  conditions  of  national  life.
§  9.  Wasteful  Multiplication  of  Distributors.
This  excess  of  general  producing-power  is  far  from
being  adequately  represented  by  the  average  unemployment ­
  or  under-employment  of  capital  and  labour  in  the
extractive  and  manufacturing  industries.  “  Unemployment”
is  only  one  form  of  the  waste.  Another  is  the  socially
useless  multiplication  of  middle-men  and  other  distributors,
and  of  the  capital  engaged  in  distributive  businesses.
Unable  to  find  remunerative  employment  in  “productive”
industries,  an  increasing  proportion  of  capital  and  labour
is  engaged  in  the  work  of  distribution.  This  movement
is  unmistakably  attested  by  the  Statistics  of  Occupations