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present by the power of productive monopoly (P. 7) The legal notion of
monopoly \accaparemenf\ is strictly determined by the monopoly of specula- tion. This is to be explained by the legal code, and by the object which
Art. 419 had in view That article was promulgated at a time when
understandings between producers were not yet born. Its intention was to protect freedom of trade and to secure respect for an individualistic concep- tion of the relations of exchange. At that time isolated production on a small scale, divided by competition, was essentially individualistic, and there was nothing to fear except speculative commercial manoeuvres (P. 10).
Thus, up to the most recent economic phenomena, the order of formation and of constitution, proceeding from circulation over to production, is confirmed in a constant manner.
We have likewise shown that there is a natural order in pro- duction itself ; thus industrial production, properly speaking, is much more perfect and in reality more ancient in its social forms than agricultural production. Progress of the first has always preceded that of the second, not merely from the technical point of view, but also from the point of view of socialization. In spite of belief and even appearances to the contrary, industrial production, like agriculture, not merely requires a sufficient development of the mechanical, physical, and chemical sciences, but it also requires a development of biology. So in the coun- tries most advanced in civilization, agriculture, in contrast with manufacture, is still essentially empirical ; it has been of this character to such an extent that its tools, with few exceptions, have been but little modified for centuries. Further, the indus- trial organization has already assumed much higher social forms ; industry has been freed from the feudal regime and from paternal sbsolutism to a much greater extent than agriculture. Yet it may be objected that just as in industry the manufacture of cotton was emancipated before the manufacture of wool, pre- cisely because the former is the more recent, and was therefore established with fewer restrictions, so likewise industry as a whole is more advanced than agriculture, because it is more recent. However, in fact, we encounter a certain development of industry among all peoples, even in cases where there is no agriculture ; agriculture is a special differentiation of general industry.
