FERDINAND LASSALLE. 
55 
seeking work. The supply of labourers being diminished, their 
wages would be raised by competition among employers, and 
in this way would soon be brought up again to the normal 
rate. Periods of prosperity and of commercial crisis, which 
constantly occur in trade, produce these oscillations ; but the 
“ iron law ” always brings the labourer’s recompense down to 
the minimum upon which it is possible for him to live. This 
minimum may, indeed, be modified in consequence of the 
progress of industry. The standard of life of a working man, 
and the wants which he deems absolutely necessary, have 
certainly changed. Thus, in the Middle Ages, he wore no 
underclothes and went barefoot, while to-day a shirt and a pair 
of shoes are deemed indispensable. He uses more manufac 
tured articles, but eats less animal food. It is a question, then, 
of the minimum of any given epoch, which will be that below 
which the labourer would cease to marry and have children, or 
be able to rear them. 
“ The iron law ” of wages is simply a particular application 
of the general law which governs the prices of goods, and 
which is one of the commonplaces of Political Economy. In 
this connection a distinction must be made as to three classes 
of objects. In the first place, there are certain articles which 
cannot be reproduced at will, such as antique statues, the pic 
tures of the old masters, and natural curiosities. The price of 
these articles is determined, not by the cost of production 
because they cannot be reproduced, but by what amateurs 
choose to give for them. Other articles, again, may be multi 
plied within certain limits, but with increasing difficulty. In 
this case it is the cost of production of those obtained under 
the most difficult conditions which determines the general price. 
Such, for example, are agricultural products. Finally, there is 
a third kind of article which may be multiplied almost at will, 
such as manufactured articles. The price of these will be 
governed by the cost of producing them under the most favour 
able circumstances, that is, with the least outlay. Labour, 
viewed as an article of merchandise, belongs clearly to this 
t ird category, for the number of hands increases generally in 
proportion to the demand. The price of labour, that is to say,