The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-06-26
AN "aPPROxIMATES STANDARD"
Jacob Dnintom Goes for" EE. III. Brown

ID
Mr.. EDIroR--I desire to reply to H. b.
Brown of May u, and strive to straighten
out some points in his argument that seem
somewhat distorted to those who have
thought it in accordance with the demands
of true logic to question much of the teach
ings of the old political school of economy.
Mr.. Brown says "the most accurate
standard is only approximate" Now,
suppose our standards of weights and
measures were only approximate, and not
absolute and fixed, would anyone call them
standards ? Can standard of anything be
an approximation of some definite guam
tity The fact is, there is no standard OF
value, or intrinsic value. Webster says,
''Intrinsic-a belonging to the essence OF
thing; not apparent or accidental" Mr..
Brown says, "Intrinsic value is not quail
ity of any thing, but a relation which
thing may have by virtue of which it salts
ity, how can it be intrinsic? aud If not in
trinsic, how can there be anything that can
approximate and if it cannot approximate
to standard of value, how can it be a
measure of value?
| Macleod says in his work entitled The
Principles of Economical Philosophy, vol.
1.-THE value of any economic quantity
is any other economic quantity for which it
can be exchanged" According to that
definition, value then is extrinsic always,
and never intrinsic. Before value can
occur, Il. there must be at least two per-
sons, II. each person must have something
that the other wants, g. there must be an
effort at exchange, a. they must ex-
change before value can occur; and then
the value of what each parts with is exact
ly what he gets for it, at that time and
place, and at the exact moment the ex-
change occurred, not before or after.
Utility is one thing and value is another.
Many persons use the term value when
they mean utility or usefulness. desire
more intrinsic than value is, both are
always extrinsic. The chemical and other
natural qualities of any substance are
always inlrinsic,-value and utility always
depend on circumstances. What is the
value or utility to man of all the fruits
growing on an inhabited island If man
never goes there he can't appropriate then
and they can't be valuable or useful to him
although the fruit intrinsically is the same
as it would be if man should go there ant
get it. The chest of gold that Robinson
Crusoe found had neither value or utilit.
to him, while a keg of nails would hav'
: been useful, or had utility but not hav'
t been valuable. What could he have got TO
his nails or gold ? Who was there to ex
; change anything with him2 He Nigh
, have used the nails to build boat or
: house; but the gold he could not, and NJ
7 one was there to give him anything TO
e either.
e Mr.. Editor, if value is intrinsic, then til
= Greenback theory is unscientific and de
t fusion; and if there is no intrinsic value
e then the so-called hard money theorists ar
e illogical. I claim if you knock the intrin
sic value nonsense out, the whole specie
Y resumption, gold standard, standard c
: value, measure of value, and anti-Green
J, back theories will fall, for the intrinsi
e value delusion is the corner stone of til
i whole hard money theory.
Y JACOB DAINToN.
i Meriden, Conn.