wouldhavetobeturnedinto\"productive\"ones。
Takingthemasawhole，thegeneralmovementsofwagesareexclusivelyregulatedbytheexpansionandcontractionoftheindustrialreservearmy，andtheseagaincorrespondtotheperiodicchangesoftheindustrialcycle。
Theyare，therefore，notdeterminedbythevariationsoftheabsolutenumberoftheworkingpopulation，butbythevaryingproportionsinwhichtheworking—classisdividedintoactiveandreservearmy，bytheincreaseordiminutionintherelativeamountofthesurplus—population，bytheextenttowhichitisnowabsorbed，nowsetfree。ForModernIndustrywithitsdecennialcyclesandperiodicphases，which，moreover，asaccumulationadvances，arecomplicatedbyirregularoscillationsfollowingeachothermoreandmorequickly。thatwouldindeedbeabeautifullaw，whichpretendstomaketheactionofcapitaldependentontheabsolutevariationofthepopulation，insteadofregulatingthedemandandsupplyoflabourbythealternateexpansionandcontractionofcapital，thelabour—marketnowappearingrelativelyunder—full，becausecapitalisexpanding，nowagainover—full，becauseitiscontracting。Yetthisisthedogmaoftheeconomists。Accordingtothem，wagesriseinconsequenceofaccumulationofcapital。Thehigherwagesstimulatetheworkingpopulationtomorerapidmultiplication，andthisgoesonuntilthelabour—marketbecomestoofull，andthereforecapital，relativelytothesupplyoflabour，becomesinsufficient。
Wagesfall，andnowwehavethereverseofthemedal。Theworkingpopulationislittlebylittledecimatedastheresultofthefallinwages，sothatcapitalisagaininexcessrelativelytothem，or，asothersexplainit，fallingwagesandthecorrespondingincreaseintheexploitationofthelaboureragainacceleratesaccumulation，whilst，atthesametime，thelowerwagesholdtheincreaseoftheworking—classincheck。Thencomesagainthetime，whenthesupplyoflabourislessthanthedemand，wagesrise，andsoon。Abeautifulmodeofmotionthisfordevelopedcapitalistproduction！Before，inconsequenceoftheriseofwages，anypositiveincreaseofthepopulationreallyfitforworkcouldoccur，thetimewouldhavebeenpassedagainandagain，duringwhichtheindustrialcampaignmusthavebeencarriedthrough，thebattlefoughtandwon。
Between1849and1859，ariseofwagespracticallyinsignificant，thoughaccompaniedbyfallingpricesofcorn，tookplaceintheEnglishagriculturaldistricts。InWiltshire，e。g。，theweeklywagesrosefrom7s。to8s。;inDorsetshirefrom7s。or8s。，to9s。，&c。Thiswastheresultofanunusualexodusoftheagriculturalsurplus—populationcausedbythedemandsofwar，thevastextensionofrailroads，factories，mines，&c。