article is reduced. During the period of transition the "average" amount of labor expended in the production of the article will be considerably above the amount necessary for its production by means of the new tools and considerably below that of the old, for the average is made up of the articles produced by means of both the old and the new tools in so far as they are being used. The value of the commodities produced, however, will not be measured by the average expenditure of labor, but either by that of the old or that of the new method. If the new method has not yet been sufficiently perfected, so that it can not as yet supply the needs of society, or is the subject of a monopoly, then the valuation will be in accordance with the old method; if it has been so perfected, and is free for use, then in accordance with the new method. If, between the time of the production of an article and its valuation in the market, the new tools have attained the required degree of efficiency, or the monopoly has been broken, the value of this article, whether produced by the old or the new method, will change from the valuation in accordance with the old method, which was socially necessary at the time of production, to that in accordance with the new method, which is that now socially necessary.
In other words, the value of a commodity is determined by the amount of labor which society will necessarily have to expend for its production when it requires it; that is to say, by the amount of labor socially necessary for its reproduction.
We have seen before that the value of a commodity is determined by the amount of labor which society will necessarily have to expend for its reproduction. This applies to all commodities, including that peculiar commodity upon which the whole capitalist system rests—labor power. All the mystery surrounding the production and distribution of the capitalist system, which we have noted above,
