[231] Mr. Gould's general conclusion, from his comparison of American and European production, is "that higher daily wages in America _do not mean a correspondingly enhanced labour-cost to the manufacturers_" (_Contemporary Review_, Jan. 1893). This he holds to be partly due to superior mechanical agencies, which owe their existence to high wages, partly to superior physical force in the workers. But Mr. Gould's evidence and his conclusion here stated, taken as testimony to the "economy of high wages," are insufficient, for they only show that high wages are attended by increased output of labour, not by an increase _correspondent_ to this higher wage. [232] Ure's _Philosophy of Manufactures_, pp. 367-369. Dr. Ure regarded mechanical inventions as the means whereby capital should keep labour in subjection. In describing how the "self-acting mule" came into use he adds triumphantly: "This invention comprises the great doctrine already propounded, that when capital enlists science in her service the refractory hand of labour will always be taught docility" (p. 368). [233] "No. 64 Consular Report" (quoted Schoenhof, p. 209). [234] Schoenhof, p. 216. [235] _Der Grossbetrieb_, p. 167. [236] _Vide supra_, p. 269. These wages, however, are the average of all the labour employed in the weaving-sheds, not of "weavers" alone. [237] E.R.L. Gould, _Contemporary Review_, January 1893. CHAPTER XI. SOME EFFECTS OF MODERN INDUSTRY UPON THE WORKERS AS CONSUMERS. § 1. _How far the different Working Classes gain from the Fall of Prices._ § 2. _Part of the Economy of Machine-production compensated by the growing Work of Distribution._ § 3. _The Lowest Class of Workers gains least from Machine-production._ § 1. In considering the effect of machine-production upon a body of workers engaged in some particular industry we are not confined to tracing the effects of improvements in the arts and methods of that single branch of production. As consumers they share in the improvements introduced into other industries reflected in a fall of retail prices. Insomuch as all English workers consume bread they are benefited by the establishment of a new American railway or the invention of new milling machinery which lowers the price of bread; as all consume boots the advantage which the introduction of boot-making machinery confers upon the workers is not confined to the higher wages which may be paid to some operatives in the boot factory, but is extended to all the workers who can buy cheaper boots. How far do methods of modern capitalist production tend to benefit the labourer in his capacity as consumer?