Mary Edna Tobias Marcy

“ Rubber is steadily growing more valuable because the available world supply has been nearly exhausted and it requires more time hunting or planting, and caring for rubber trees—more labor is contained in a pound of rubber than a few years ago.
Gradually we see huge machines replacing the smaller ones in all the great producing industries and, with the constant introduction of more improved machinery, the quantity of human labor contained in commodities produced by modern methods—grows less and less. Such commodities decrease in value with every decrease in the labor embodied in them. ”

“ In calculating the exchangeable value of a commodity we must add to the quantity of labor last employed, the quantity of labor previously worked up in the raw material of a commodity, and the labor bestowed in the implements, tools, machinery, and buildings, with which labor is assisted. ”

“ But gold is a commodity just like bread, or overcoats, or dresses, or automobiles. And commodities tend to exchange for the sum of gold containing a quantity of labor equal to the quantity of labor contained in them. ”

“ When the new process becomes general and the average necessary labor greatly reduced, castings will greatly decrease in value.
"If we consider commodities as values, we consider them exclusively under the single aspect of realized, fixed, or, if you like, crystalized human labor. In this respect they can differ only by representing greater or smaller quantities of labor, as for example, a greater amount of labor may be worked up in a silken handkerchief than in a brick.
"A commodity has value, because it is a crystalization of social labor... ”

“ If, instead of considering only the daily fluctuations, you analyze the movement of market prices for longer periods... you will find that the fluctuations of market prices, their deviations from values, their ups and downs, paralyze and compensate each other; so that, apart from the effect of monopolies and some other modifications I must now pass by, all descriptions of commodities are, on the average, sold at their respective values or natural prices... ”

“ For example: the amount of wheat produced by ten hours of necessary social labor time will exchange for the amount of cloth, shoes, chairs, gold or some other commodity that will be produced by ten hours of necessary social labor. ”