Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1844-04-17
NO.91'2'.

value to labor and life TO trade. titles at
the basis of our prosperity as a nations
Without it commerce would fail, manu-
factures cease, trade die, and desolationifll
the land. l5..s::SSl:
Three fourths Of our entire population
are engaged in it, with an invested capital
of not less than Sl2,0OO,0O0. The us.
include within herIerrtory something like
2,3OO.OO0 square miles Of some os. the
richest and most fertile soil on the globe.
In what eatimation then. shall this Inter-
est be held Surely, this should not be.
sacrificed that Others may be attended ITO;
or benefited. But this cannot be-. If the
farmer suffers; the mechanic aud the man
ufacturer must suffer. and in the end the
country must be the greatest sufferer of
all." Z, go: .y~;-t;
"Irads.-What is trade /? The ex-
change of one article or commodity for
another. 1t is MOTTO be supposed That
one individual can himself produce ali,the
articles necessary for his consumption and
comfort; but he may be The creatora,of
value more than sufficient for the satisfac-.
tion of all his wants. The farmer, we
will suppose, produces grain He has
enough for the consumption OF his family,
and large quantity remaining. "a neigh
Dor has meat, bui no grain. They ex--
change produce, and both have meat as
well as grain. Again. they both want
shoes, and hats, and houses, so they ex-
change their respective products with the
shoemaker, the halter, and the carpenter,
in order to procure the satisfaction of their
wants. This is the simplest form of trade.
and most advantageous to the parties con-
cerned. since they themselves enjoy the
entire benefits resulting. aT5e.z ~z,ss
'But the farmer may not always read
| lily find shoemaker. for instance, who
would be willing to exchange hisshoes dor
grain, as he may already have enongh:
The farmer. then, may exchange his grain
with the halter, and the hats which he re-
ceives with the shoemaker for the shoes be
wanted. Here double exchange takes
place, aud the same process NAV be con-
linued almost indefinitely; each product
passing through various hands before'ii ar
rives al the final consumer. But as this,
process is tedious and ipconvenient, an-
other method is resofted to in order to, ia
cilitale the exchange of producis, and pro-
cure The satisfaction of human wants.
"a medium Of exchange, called money,
is Introduced notathe mere representative
of value, as some have supposed, but value.
itself, and, in most senses, commodity as
any other article Of production. This me-
dium Of exchange; or money, possesses in
itself an intrinsic, consequently a perma-
nent value, as gold or silver. Then, again;
every article Of production has its price,
which is The amount of value. in money.
which j, will bring in the MARKET But
some third person is wanIed TO conduct
the exchange Of products throushthis me-
dium. And here we discover the PROV
ince OF The trader or the merchant. One
individual brings him grain which he; ex-
changes for meat, molasses, sugar, cloths;
or, if none of these are wanted, for an equal
value 10 money. But as the trader is in
no sense producer. aud as he must in
some way live, he must derive a, profit
from this processfof exchanging. This he
does by regulating his prices in such
manner thai &he may receive a greater
value than he gives iu every exchange.
We will suppose that his profits derived
in this way are twenty per cent. Ofev-
cry five bushels of grain. then, that passes
through his hands, he reserves one TO him
self; OF every five pounds Of meat: one is'
his; and so on Of the rest.
"Whal. then, is the true position of.the
merchant or trader? Simply that Of an
agent. The farmer, and the mechanic
produce values, 10 exchange which they
employ the trader. The trader produces
no value the profits he receives are .ta-
ken from the products Of others; and the
wealth he amasses is the fruit Of their foil.
We do not say that these profirs are, of
necessity, taken ,unjustly. The agent in
facilitating the interchange of commodities
between man and man is worthy ;of a re-
ward for his services; but he should not
assume False. position eitherin the esti-
nation of others or Of himself. f5superi-
ority belongs TO either. it belongs of:sright
TO the farmer and the mechanic-to the
producers, mol those employed by them To
exchange the producia of.their labor.
But we claim superiority for none; ,he
various parts OF The community are nat
urally dependent, their interests are TO a
great extent interwovep; though It must
still romain a fact thai production is more
exclusively the province of one class than
another. Let this be constantly boroe in
mind, aud many false notions prevalent in
regard to this subject will speedily disap.
pear" -
| A good loD.-Tbe I4egisla.uref oeBIas
sachusetls at its recent session passed
law authdtizing Insurance to be made o,
the lives Of married men for The beue6t o
their wives ard children. which Insurance
if it be so expressed, shall ensure 10 ,hl
separate use and benefit Of the wife and
,b;ldrap o1oinop a11 nrad.,oro-Nl= III. ..sf.-