The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1846-07-11

II Illustrate ou uPpoSe tus iu"htity "
wheat produced in this country in ordi-
nary seasons is 1Oo.OOo,000 of bushels,
and its aggregate value, in relation to
all other property, is Sloo,ooo,o 900. If,
in any season, all other things remain
ing the same, blight, or other calami-
ty, should fall upon the crop so as to re.
duce its quantity to 75,0oo,O0o bushels,
the same amount OF labor having been
expended upon 1t, the nominal price
per bushel would rise, and the crop, al
though diminished in quantity, would
be equal in value to the crops of other
years. If the quantity, from remark
ably favorable season, or from some 9TH
er cause, be as far above the average,
the nominal price per bushel would fall,
but the same amount of human labor
having been expended upon it, the ag-
gregate value would be the same.
1t is so of all other products of hu-
man labor. When cloth was manu-
lactured BY hand, it was high in price.
Now, labor-saving machines and the
vast increase of the raw material (par-
ticulany of cotton, by the opening OF
new and fertile lands) have greatly mul-
tiplied manufactured fabrics, and they
have become proportionately cheaper.
The quantity o manufactured products
have been increased by laborsaving in
ventions, but not the ualue.
Thus it results that human labor is
the source Of all vdlue, and the products
at labor, property Of all kinds, are but
the representatives Of ualue. This doc
trine is sustained by all sound political
economists.
Things are valuable only in proper
ton to the labor which it has cost TO
produce them. Gold and silver pos
sess great intrinsic value in proportion
to theit bulk, because, on account OF
their comparative scarcity, they require
a large outlay oflabor 10 produce them.
But, paper, requiring but little labor to
produce 1t, possesses but very little in
trnsic value. lfa piece ofpaper Of the
size of a bank note, was estimated At
its real intrinsic value, it would not be
worth so much as feather.
To apply these analytical principles.
Among all people, and particularly
among those who labor and produce
property, trade or commerce to a great
er or less extent exists. One man sells,
or exchanges the articles which his la
Dor has produced, with another, for the
articles which the labor of the latterhas
produced. In exchanging grain for
cloth, or cattle, or lands, &c., it has
been found difficult to make the ex-
change precisely equal, because one
article possesses more or less value
than another. Therefore it became ne
cessary to discover some article of uni
versaIly admitted value which could be
used as boot to make the exchange equal.
And hence the necessity fmoney.
Gold and silver, possessing great in
,rinsic value in proportion to their bulk,
and their value being universally ad-
mi,ted, have been adopted by all nations
pretending to commerce, as the most
suitable material for money.
But, another difficulty arose. Those
metals existed in pieces or quantities ot
unequal and uncertain sizes and values
and in that shape the trouble Of equal
izing exchanges of property with them
was quite as great as before their adop.
ton. And, therefore, it became ne.
cessary to adopt an integer or unit Of
ralue by ,chich all other articles might
be measured.
And for the purpose Of convenience,
it become necessary to cut up and
stamp, so that their specific quantity
and value might be known, all the
pieces ofgold and silver which were to
represent this unit of value. And
hence the mucntion of coined money.
In this country the unit Of value is
the dollar. Pieces OF silver of a certain
weight and fneness, are stamped with
certain devices that they may be uni
versaIly known, and pass by sale, as
worth one dollar. Lesser pieces of
silver stamped with different devices
are worth less and gold pieces are
worth more than one dollar.
All articles Of property are measur-
ed by this unit or standard Of value, by
ascertaining how many times it is con-
tanned in the values of each Of them
Thus, for example horse may be val
ued at $50; that is, the value Of the
horse contains fifty times the value OF
the unite money, or dollar. And thus
is the value of the horse measured by
this standard, as the length of a piece
of cloth is measured by the yard, or
quantity ofgran by the bushel.
If one man has property which he
wishes to exchange lor the property OF
another, for instance, if one has horse
worth $50, which he wishes to ex-
change with another for cow worth
onlv $40. the latter. in order 10 make