The Process of Circulation of Capital (Capital Vol. II). Karl Marx

in the form of commodities. The surplus-product of 1,560 lbs. of yarn, likewise contained in C', and valued at 78 pounds sterling, does not circulate until later. The capitalist may accomplish C—M—C{^LPm before the surplus product c—m—c circulates.

      Or, if he sells 7,440 lbs. of yarn at 372 pounds sterling, and then 1,000 lbs. of yarn at 50 pounds sterling, he might replace the means of production (the constant capital c) with the first part of C and the variable capital v, the labor-power, with the second part of C, and then proceed as before.

      But if such successive sales take place, and the conditions of the cycle permit it, the capitalist, instead of separating C' into c plus v plus s, may make such a separation also in the case of aliquot parts of C'.

      For instance, 7,440 lbs, yarn, valued at 372 pounds sterling, representing a constant capital as parts of C', namely of 10,000 lbs. of yarn valued at 500 pounds sterling, may be separated into 5,535 lbs. of yarn valued at 276.768 pounds sterling, which replace the constant part, the value of the means of production used up in producing 7,440 lbs. of yarn; 744 lbs. of yarn valued at 37.200 pounds sterling, which replace only the variable capital; and 1,160.640 lbs. of yarn valued at 58.032 pounds sterling, which are the surplus-product and represent surplus-value. If he sells his 7,440 lbs. of yarn, he can replace the capital-value contained in them after the sale of 6,279.360 lbs. of yarn at 313.968 pounds sterling, and he can spend as his revenue the value of the surplus-product of 1,160.640 pounds, or 58.032 pounds sterling.

      In the same way, he may separate 1,000 lbs. of yarn, valued at 50 pounds sterling, or equal to the variable capital-value, into its aliquot part and sell them successively, as follows: 744 lbs. of yarn at 37.200 pounds sterling, for the constant capital-value of 1,000 lbs. of yarn; 100 lbs. of yarn at 5 pounds sterling, for the variable capital-value; or together 844 lbs. of yarn at 42.2 pounds sterling, for replacing the capital-value contained in 1,000 lbs. of yarn; finally, 156 lbs. of yarn at 7.8 pounds sterling representing the surplus-product contained in 1,000 lbs. of yarn, which may be spent as such.

      Finally, the capitalist may divide the remaining 1,560 lbs. of yarn, valued at 78 pounds sterling, provided he succeeds in selling them, in such a way that the sale of 1,160 lbs. of yarn, valued at 58.032 pounds sterling, replaces the value of the means of production contained in those 1,560 lbs. of yarn, and 156 lbs. of yarn, valued at 7.8 pounds sterling, replaces the variable capital-value; or a total of 1,316.640 lbs. of yarn, valued at 65.832 pounds sterling, for replacing the total capital-value; finally, the surplus-product of 243.360 lbs., valued at 12.168 pounds sterling, remains, to be spent as revenue.

      Just as all the elements of c, v, and s, contained in the yarn, are divisible into the same component parts, so may every individual pound of yarn, valued at 1 sh., or 12 d., be divided.

c = 0.744 lbs. of yarn = 8.928 d.

v = 0.100 lbs. of yarn = 1.200 d.

s = 0.156 lbs. of yarn = 1.872 d.

c+v+s = 1.00 lb. of yarn = 12.00 d.

      If we add the results of the three above partial sales, we obtain the same result as we should when selling the entire 10,000 lbs. at one time.

      We have the following parts of constant capital:

In the first lot 5,535.360 lbs. of yarn at £276.768.

In the second lot 744.000 lbs. of yarn at £37.200.

In the third lot 1,160.640 lbs. of yarn at £58.032.

Total...7,440.000 lbs. of yarn at £372.000.

      Furthermore, the following parts of variable capital:

In the first lot of 744.000 lbs. of yarn at £37.200.

In the second lot 100.000 lbs. of yarn at £5.000.

In the third lot 156,000 lbs. of yarn at £7.800.

Total...1,000.000 lbs. of yarn at £50.000.

      Finally, the following parts of surplus-value:

In the first lot 1,160.740 lbs. of yarn at £58.032.

In the second lot 156.000 lbs. of yarn at £7.800.

In the third lot 343.360 lbs, of yarn at £12.168.

Total...1,560.000 lbs. of yarn at £78.000.

Grand Total:
Constant capital...	7,450 lbs. of yarn at £372.
Variable capital...	1,000 lbs. of yarn at £50.
Surplus-value...	1,560 lbs. of yarn at £78.
Total...	10,000 lbs. of yarn at £500.

      C'—M' stands in itself merely for the sale of 10,000 lbs. of yarn. These 10,000 lbs. of yarn are a commodity like all other yarn. The purchaser is interested in the price of 1 sh. per lb., or 500 pounds sterling for 10,000 lbs. If he analyzes during the negotiations the different values of which this lot is composed, he does so simply with the malignant intention of proving that it can be sold at less than 1 sh. per pound and still leave a fair profit to the seller. But the quantity purchased by him depends on his own requirements. If he is, for instance, the owner of a cloth-factory, the amount of his purchase depends on the composition of his own capital invested in this plant, not on that of the owner of the yarn from whom he buys. The conditions, in which C' has to replace on one side the capital used up in its production (or the component parts of this capital), and on the other to serve as a surplus-product for the spending of surplus-value or for the accumulation of capital, exist only in the cycle of that capital, which exists as a commodity capital in the form of 10,000 lbs. of yarn. These conditions have nothing to do with the sale itself. In the present case we have also assumed the C' is sold at its value, so that it is only a question of its transformation from the commodity-form into that of money. Of course, it is essential for C', when performing a function in the cycle of this individual capital by which the productive capital is to be replaced, that it should be known to what extent, if at all, the price and the value vary in the sale. But this does not concern us here in the discussion of the distinctions of form.

      In form I, or M...M', the process of production intervenes midway between the two complementary and opposite phases of the circulation of capital, and is past before the concluding phase C'—M' begins. Money has been advanced as capital, transformed into means of production and labor power, transferred from these to the commodity-product, and this in its turn changed into money. It is a complete cycle of business, which results in money, the universal medium. The renewal of the cycle is then possible, but not necessary. M...P...M' may either be the last cycle, concluding the function of some individual capital withdrawn from business, or the first cycle of some new capital beginning its active function. The general movement is here M...M', from money to more money.

      In form II, or P...C'—M'—C...P (P'), the entire circulation process follows after the first P and takes place before the second P; but it takes place in the opposite direction from that of form I. The first P is the productive capital, and its function is the productive process, on which the succeeding circulation process is conditioned. The concluding P, on the other hand, does not stand for the productive process; it is only the return of industrial capital to its form of productive capital. And it has that form by virtue of the last phase of circulation, in which the transformation of capital-value into L plus Pm was accomplished, those subjective and objective factors which combine to form the productive capital. The capital, whether it be P or P', is in the end once more present in a form in which it may again perform the function of productive capital, in which it must go through the productive process. The general form of the movement P...P'(P) is that