Any actual negotiation with regard to wages of
course starts from the amount actually paid, and
any reduction would be felt as " unfair " by the
workpeople unless it were proved to be necessary
by the conditions of trade. Conversely any rise
would be regarded as " unfair " by employers un-
less it could be shown to be compatible with those
conditions, and among them the provision of a
fair profit for the employer would be one. But
this only throws us back on the question, What is
a fair profit? What we need is something to tell
us what is fair, whether we are dealing with profits
or wages, or indeed with any division of the fruits
of industry and commerce. Now, in any dealings
between men, one thing is sufficiently clear : a man
will not consider the result fair to him if it leaves
him worse oS than he was before. Whether he
buys or sells, the least that he expects is equal
value. You may say that he expects more than
this, that he expects a profit since otherwise he
would not be at the pains to go into the bargain,
but as to this two remarks must be made. The
first is that if the bargain is fair, one party must
not gain at the expense of the other ; both must
gain, the profit must be divided between them.'

' How, then, it may be asked, does profit arise ? A may
profit at the expense of B, or B at the expense of A, but how
can A and B both make a profit by an exchange of their goods ?
A simple illustration will explain. A buys a pair of boots for
fifteen shillings. He would rather pay £i than go without a new
pair. B would rather sell for ten shillings than not sell at all.
