III. The Working Period Smaller than the Circulation Period
We begin by assuming once more a period of turnover of 9 weeks, of which 3 weeks are assigned to the working period with an available capital I of £300. Let the circulation period be 6 weeks. For these 6 weeks, an additional capital of £600 is required, which we may divide in turn into two capitals of £300, each of them meeting the requirements of one working period. We then have three capitals of £300 each, of which £300 are always engaged in production, while £600 circulate.
Table III
CAPITAL I
Periods of Turnover Working Periods Periods of Circulation
I. 1st-9th week 1st-3rd week 4th-9th week
II. 10th-18th" 10th-12th " 13th-18th "
III. 19th-27th " 19th-21st " 22nd-27th "
IV. 28th-36th " 28th-30th " 31st-36th "
V. 37th-45th " 37th-39th " 40th-45th "
VI. 46th-[54th] " 46th-48th " 49th-[54th] "
CAPITAL II
Periods of Turnover Working Periods Periods of Circulation
I. 1st-9th week 4th-6th week 7th-12th week
II. 10th-18th" 13th-15th " 16th-21st "
III. 19th-27th " 22nd-24th " 25th-30th "
IV. 28th-36th " 31st-33rd " 34th-39th "
V. 37th-45th " 40th-42nd " 43rd-48th "
VI. 46th-[54th] " 49th-51st " 51st-[57th] "
CAPITAL III
Periods of Turnover Working Periods Periods of Circulation
I. 7th-15th week 7th-9th week 10th-15th week
II. 16th-24th " 16th-18th " 19th-24th "
III. 25th-33rd " 25th-27th " 28th-33rd "
IV. 34th-42nd " 34th-36th " 37th-42nd "
V. 43rd-51st " 43rd-45th " 46th-51st "
We have here the exact counterpart of Case I, with the only difference that now three capitals relieve one another instead of two. There is no intersection or intertwining of capitals. Each one of them can be traced separately to the end of the year. Just as in Case I, no capital is set free at the close of a working period, Capital I is completely laid out at the end of the 3rd week, returns entirely at the end of the 9th, and resumes its functions at the beginning of the 10th week. Similarly with capitals II and III. The regular and complete relief excludes any release of capital.
The total turnover is as follows:
capital I, £300 times 5⅔, or £1,700
capital II, £300 times 5⅓, or £1,600
capital III, £300 times 5 , or £1,500
——————————————
Total capital, £900 times 5⅓, or £4,800
Let us now also take an illustration in which the circulation period is not an exact multiple of the working period. For instance, working period — 4 weeks, circulation period — 5 weeks. The corresponding amounts of capital would then be: capital I — £400; capital II — £400; capital III — £100. We present only the first three turnovers.
Table IV
CAPITAL I
Periods of Turnover Working Periods Periods of Circulation
I. 1st-9th week 1st-4th week 5th-9th week
II. 9th-17th " 9. 10th-12th " 13th-17th "
III. 18th-25th " 17. 18th-20th " 21st-25th "
CAPITAL II
Periods of Turnover Working Periods Periods of Circulation
I. 5th-13th week 5th-8th week 9th-13th week
II. 13th-21st " 13. 14th-16th " 17th-21st "
III. 21st-29th " 21. 22nd-24th " 25th-29th "
CAPITAL III
Periods of Turnover Working Periods Periods of Circulation
I. 9th-17th week 9th week 10th-17th week
II. 17th-25th " 17th " 18th-25th "
III. 25th-33rd " 25th " 26th-33rd "
There is in this case an intertwining of capitals in so far as the working period of capital II, which has no independent working period, because it suffices for only one week, coincides with the first working week of capital I. On the other hand an amount of £100, equal to capital III, is set free at the close of the working period of both capital I and II. For if capital III fills up the first week of the second and all succeeding working periods of capital I and £400, the entire capital I, return at the close of this first week, then only 3 weeks and a corresponding capital investment of £300 will remain for the rest of the working period of capital I. The £200 thus set free suffice for the first week of the immediately following working period of capital II; at the end of that week the entire capital II of £400 returns. But since the working period already started can absorb only another £300, £100 are once more disengaged at its close. And so forth. We have, then, a release of capital at the close of a working period whenever the circulation period is not a simple multiple of the working period. And this liberated capital is equal to that portion of the capital which has to fill up the excess of the circulation period over the working period or over a multiple of working periods.
In all cases investigated it was assumed that both the working period and the circulation period remain the same throughout the year in any of the businesses here examined. This assumption was necessary if we wished to ascertain the influence of the time of circulation on the turnover and advancement of capital. That in reality this assumption is not so unconditionally valid, and that it frequently is not valid at all does not alter the case in the least.
In this entire section we have discussed only the turnovers of the circulating capital, not those of the fixed, for the simple reason that the question at issue has nothing to do with fixed capital. The instruments of labour, etc., employed in the process of production form only fixed capital, inasmuch as their time of employment exceeds the period of turnover of the circulating capital; inasmuch as the period of time during which these instruments of labour continue to serve in perpetually repeated labour-processes is greater than the period of turnover of the circulating capital, and hence equal to the n periods of turnover of the circulating capital. Regardless of whether the total time represented by these n periods of turnover of the circulating capital is longer or shorter, that portion of the productive capital which was advanced for this time in fixed capital is not advanced anew during its course. It continues its functions in its old use-form. The difference is merely this: In proportion to the varying length of a single working period of each period of turnover of the circulating capital, the fixed capital gives up a greater or smaller part of its original value to the product of that working period, and proportionally to the duration of the circulation time of each period of turnover this value-part of the fixed capital given up to the product returns quicker or slower in money-form. The nature of the subject we are discussing in this section — the turnover of the circulating portion of productive capital — derives from the very nature of this portion. The circulating capital employed in a working period cannot be applied in a new working period until it has completed its turnover, until it has been transformed into commodity-capital, from that into money-capital, and from that back into productive capital. Hence, in order that the first working period may be immediately followed by a second, capital must be advanced anew and converted into the circulating elements of productive capital, and its quantity must be sufficient to fill the void occasioned by the circulation period of the circulating capital advanced or the first working period. This is the source of the influence exerted by the length of the working period of the circulating capital over the scale of the labour-process and the division of the advanced capital or the addition of new portions of capital. This was precisely what we had to examine in this section.
