, 1877-08-20

rlcafi0n OF labor OF some kind tn material Sub
rh " th;g ae and
rns. or an entity snd sit,,s, OF n situation. II
Is interesting aiao to notcIn this connection how
the etynology OF the Latin words Eostess'M md
tos.'dto, namely, 20 md siito, to Il oy Or on,
and from which in turn We have tho EnEtfsh
wor'! insession,-tbc commontlefinitIono oi pros-
crtr being something possessed, ,-c,1roMsIy har.
monf2c With and confirm tho conclusion that
property must bc alwaSs a physical actually.
For It ik clear that It Ia only material Aomc-
thing. visible md tangible entity, that one can
all down On, and not an invisible, intangible
tion.
Property, therefore, Is not only always a Phys
teal aetua'itN. but. to borrow tNe language Of
Judge Foster, Is also always "erstp3ie1 or uetts-
n,mtatti idhor." And as political economy does
NOT, AM! turitprudense ought not, take coEnl-
se.'scs in which political economy and the Law
tan 1cgtttmatciy reason about property.
Examples OF property whIcl, Is apparently not
the result Of accumulated or of.nay labor, ami!
doubtless suggest themselves: such, for In.
stance, ns diamond found upon the sea.sllore,
land eNuatte,t upon and obtained By prc-emp-
tton, bank.stock natcns rights, copyrights, an
monopoiics, and debts; bu. an examination viii
soon prove that the objections embodied In them
ate more spectnns than real. Thus, In the casc
Of the. DIAMOND accidentally picked up.
WHICH, - UEEuHpS CHE VI kNG HaUst 6tllk-
tnr Of oil tic example. that can b.
adduccd tn fnvor OF the position that
property can como Into existence without this
agency of labor, It may bc said: First. that IN
exceptional fact like this cannot constitute nu
adequate basis Tor the cuunctation OF a ,princI.
pie: ard, next, that thc value 0f this accidental
diamond s soielv determined 6T and represents
tho valsta Of tho labor which has been required
to obtain all other existing diamonds. The
moment this fact ccases to. b exceptional. the
moment diamonds can be bad In abundance by
merely picking them Up, that moment their val
ue will simply represent the cost Of the physical
cftort requisite to pick thcin up. Again, II land
squattcd npcn has my value Is property what
ever In the first instance, IL IS because It Is tho
embodiment ot tho labor required to discover
It, to conquer II, to defend and protect It: to
effect oil 0f which, taxes, which are tho rcsults
Of labor, may have been pafd for centuries. II
It acquires any additional value beyond this.
after It has been squntted upon, It will bc simply
because the results Of labor have become con-
pectcl with II, or tho ralue Of other land or
Other property, the products Of ,nSor, for tho
II. In 1t50, tho land upon which the City Of
D0stun stands could have been bought for
string OF sea-stcils. In 1877, It's value q. prop
cgty was probably 0,nD, UO. Bur In botn
aid the same stnndard-in tile 6rst, by the
amount Of labor required TO collect and string
tbs shells; and. IN the second, by. the amount
q labor and enpltal-whleli Is i the ~ result Of
become connected With It. Take away the la
hor and It's accumulated results, and the site OF
Boston will 1e worth no more III 1877 than It
was i9 ioes, when William Blackstone first Oh
Analyze next the alleged property in bank
stock. Tho coin In the vaults OF tie bank, the
vaults, the building. the bucks, the furniture.
and other physical actuafities-tite results Of
banding, ara the real properly of tho he
bank. Tho bank.stoek, 70 long as the
ti!v!dcnds The creation ot bank obviously
@ eoanted cd by thc bank BON oyeP il counter % arc neho
ate titles To tho debtor'a property or to Ills
equitable rights to property; md tho notes Is
niel BY the bank arc inchoate titles to the
banks propssty. or p its equitable rights te
actualliacs and machinery, is simply ledger re.
ror,linE credits and debts. But cretlttA nnd
debts arc only convenient forn,a OF hookkecp-
Ing, or the records Of transfers Of property unh
existing. Crrdtts and debts, moreover, stand
to ca:I othur Ia the rel sian Of an e1ua-
ton. There can be no credit without debit,
und no debit without credit; stsiko out one
side Of the equation and the other disappears ut
necessity. II there Terc no crctlitors there
could bn lo dcbtors, and, vice vcrsn. the mo-
mcnt dehtors rcns" to be debtors that samo mo-
ncnt creditors cease to 6o creditors.
Copyrights aud patents arr simply Legislative
cnactInents to proloct p1e-rxlsting property. a
manuscript, a painting, nr an invention Is the
lnint product Ut physical nnd intellectual labor,
which, the copyright or patcnt-right protects,
the sa,nc ~ other forms Of law protect other
visible anu tangible property from robbery and
spu1lntion. Tac relation which these iisstru-
.ncniatitfcs sustain tn property Il clearly ln1i-
catctl ny asking tue question whether there Gnu
bc such thing as patent Grantcd for wlat has
never becn reduced to physical aetualty, or a
copyright given for slIe flight Vi fancy Of a poet
not embodied In The Es,ntrrtalty OF manuscript
Or IN tho nases Of . printed looks JOHN MI"
Bookseller, boz s lot Is roaly money; but liray's
tmutc. ltIglorons AtEltpils !" wllO only Imagined
and never wrote, could neyvr haze obtained a
copyright or any tnoEiey-t,lIer wtlatcver-nD, not
cvet reputation--for their tuagInngs, though,
have l,ceh infinitely superior to the Milton who
Leeatnc g}oriDls hacastse he was not mute. In
a1t that relates to mental attainment: Il Is also
exceedingly curious to mute how shakespeare.
whose raEe nEd accuracy Of knowledge wero 80
wonderful, clearly perceived, aua ~ CLEARLY cx.
prcsspil, tho whole tssCnec OF modern political
economy ind Jurisprudence N rcs,rect 70 this
Immediate problem, when. In tue following lines
from slitlsutn'ner's Nights Dream, he says:
The pocra cyc, In . One frcuzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven 10 earth, from earth ia
And. a. Imagination tndlcs forth
Thu farns Of things unknown, the poets pen
Turns them to Shapes, anu Etres to airy nothing
4 local habItat0n and nauo.
In other ~nrllst ace0futhE TO bAakspearet a.
welt as according to potticai economy auu cont
mon sense, however brilliant mAy hu The lmay.
tnAtton Of tbs poet u lnvon.os, he has ,s, prup-
crty In his ideas ur imagtnlngs uutl he lias ~,
dlcctl tllrn through fnlIor to MI artual!ty. And
tleu tile value of tue artuality produced
ior tho purpose Of exehango ur sl1e
| will, provided sl,cru Ia cupyrIyht nr
| t,atent tn prevent ,lhe without cufnpalI.
satIOn i,e iuat In proportion to the Effectiveness
or dcsifahlllty of tha labor excrtctl. Tile stand.
ard Tor neasurtng the value ol thu work OF
a6haksPeare, 3 Jatnes WHIT, aud street-swcep-
| CT, is n1U HDa the aulne.
Again, NIL auuuity, like bank-stock. Is right
10 receive property, thu rcsut Of previously ~
cunulated lanor, and it, transfer by saiu or be-
quest ls simply t1ausfcr oi un eqult4uEe right
aud right of this Character, III turn, IL not
property, but q tltle 10 pFe-extsttng property,
Sn, Rllo. in respect 10 JraArhtH5, wlllcG, though
oltcn spoksn of md regarded as property, xre
clearly nothing but rights. Thus, Tor example,
franchise VI a Failsuad is simply q right to up
crate roal In \ particular snal,eE; aud q Lei.
tslatufe cannot, ind dxs NOT, creatc q railroad
by creating or grantlnsa franchise. Al the same
tlnt, ttlv value Of pllysfeu uctuality May ull,
doubtedly b. Increased by franchise WLic
giycs 4 right to use such aelualty Ia u partlcu
lar way. a monopoly, also, llke u franchise, /.
valuable; but i4 yalae consists in tho fact that
Il .I.