Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 3 - From Marx to Mao

352
V. I. LENIN
ing majority of the industries, and in all categories of
industries without exception; the chart graphically illustrates
this law, showing that the share of the top grade in
total output is greater than is its share in the total number
of workers; in the bottom grade the reverse is the case. The
total output per worker in the establishments of the top
grades is from 20 to 40 per cent higher than that in the bottom
grade establishments. It is true that the big establishments
usually have a longer working period and sometimes handle
more valuable material than do the small ones, but these
two circumstances cannot eliminate the fact that labour
productivity is considerably higher in the big workshops
than in the small ones.* Nor can it be otherwise. The big
establishments have from 3 to 5 times as many workers (family
and hired combined) as the small ones, and co-operation
on a larger scale cannot but increase the productivity
of labour. The big workshops are always better equipped
technically, they have better implements, tools, accessories,
machines, etc. For example, in the brush industry, a
“properly organised workshop” must have as many as 15
workers, and in hook-making 9 to 10 workers. In the toy
industry the majority of handicraftsmen make shift with
ordinary stoves for drying their goods; the bigger toy-makers
have special drying ovens, and the biggest makers have
special drying premises. In metal toy-making, 8 makers out
of 16 have special workshops, divided as follows: I) 6 have
none; II) 5 have 3; and III) 5 have 5. A total of 142 mirror
and picture-frame makers have 18 special workshops, the
figures by grades being: I) 99 have 3; II) 27 have 4; and
III) 16 have 11. In the screen-plaiting industry screens are
plaited by hand (in grade I), and woven mechanically (in
grades II and III). In the tailoring industry the number of
sewing-machines per owner according to grade is as follows:
I) 1.3; II) 2.1; and III) 3.4, etc., etc. In investigating the
furniture industry, Mr. Isayev notes that the one-man
business suffers the following disadvantages: 1) lack of a
* For the starch-making industry, which is included in our
tables, data are available on the duration of the working period in
establishments of various sizes. It appears (as we have seen above)
that even in an equal period the output per worker in a big establishment
is higher than that in a small one.