In every case he does work, which, though as a rule it does not alter the material form of the goods with which it deals, adds distinct value to them, and is under present industrial conditions equally necessary, and equally entitled to fair remuneration with the work of the other producers.

The old maxim "nihil ex nihilo fit" is as true in commerce as in chemistry.

In a competitive society a man can get nothing for nothing.

If the middleman is a capitalist he may get something for use of his capital; but that too implies that his capital is put to some useful work.
Sec.7.Work and Pay of the Middleman .-- The complaint that the middleman confers no service, and deserves no pay, is the result of two fallacies.
The first, to which allusion has been made already, consists in the failure to recognize the work of distribution done by the middleman.

The second and more important is the confusion of mind which leads people to conclude that because under different circumstances a particular class of work might be dispensed with, therefore that work is under present circumstances useless and undeserving of reward.