The morning times., 1896-07-12
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The Times undertakes no RESPONSE
column.

A people who have become sufficiently
enlig ghtened to realize that they have rights
are In frame OF mind for attempting
schemes OF selfgovernment. Once launched
upon the raging sea of practical Eo.itics,
with no welLdefiued boundaries or land
marks, they always become involved In a
conflict of opinions to where tEcy are
and whittier they are drifting.
| Until some one can tell where or WHITTIER,
SO as to convince at least majority,
the shipof state drifts-for a while in one di-
reCtion, then In another, perhaps the oppO-
site, according to the central idea fIom
which the heat OF popular discomfort hap
pens to radiate aud set the winds OF doc
| trine''i in motion.
Fortunately for this country our constitu-
tional fathers succeeded in so constructing
our governmental ships, state and national.
that, for the most part, we have been con-
tent to sail in them, tile right having been
reserved to us to set the rudder and trim
the sails to suit the breeze. We are sub
stlntially agreed to stick TO the old SLIP,
concerned only as to who is tie hest pilot
for the occas sion, and the point toward which
he should steer. Within recent years we
have been running along economic lines,
trying first the protection line, then the
free trade line, and now, without having
pursued either to its limit and cast anchor
for good we are likely TO be drawn off
in another direction by a sudden squall,
proceeding from the meeting of two clouds,
the one with 4 silver, the other with gold.
lining.
In all this the people are trying to solve
problems Of practical economy, and If the
outcome finally be demonstrated system
OF facts and principles pertaining TO eco
Domlcs, our posterity will have reason to
rejoice. The difficulty is that the masses
of the people are called upon, as it were,
TO solve problems in algebra and Calculus
| before mastering arithmetic. This, with
us, is inevitable. so long as the fundamental
facts and principles OF economic science
are not subjects Of popular study.
DECIDING ECONOMIC PROBLEMS.
Lord MacauIay once said that the law of
gravitation would be disputed if mems
pockets were affected by it. While spe-
| cial interests have any Influence upon
| economic, discussion il is natural that
| economies should be popularity discredited
| as Il science. Yet every voter in the land
is regularly called upon to decide the most
| complex economic problems, while the
| professors are disputing with each other
| about elementary facts and definitions. ,.
As to these. it is not difficult I" learn all
| that the professors know. one of the most
| elementary terIns of economies. about W hch
| there has been much dispute, is value.
| Millions of people are now using that word
| daily in discussing the money question
| and their ideas. right or ESrong, will sGon
| find expression in the ballot box.
| This surely ought to suggest tie teaching
| Of economic elements. at least i'll the early
| stages of school education. 1t is not ncces-
| sary TO this end that any one theory should
1 be followed. 1t would be better in the
! present state of the science to make young
| people acquainted with the definitions and
fundamental principles of all schools of
| economics.
The limits OF this article preclude an
| elaborate discussion of the var Gus theories
| Of value. The design is TO suggest simply
| the importance of that one term as sub
| ject of study. and to indicate briefly the |
view generally taken by single takers.
In the first place. every voter ought to
| understand the distinction between value |
and price. This is all important to clear |
thinking on the money question. Then. |
again, the cause of value and the reason for
| money should be understood. 1t will be |
he found that the reason for using money has |
its root in the cause of value.
To develop this fact, let us suppose |
man living on n remote island wholly |
| isolated from the rest of mankind So long |
as he lived thus, no matter how many !
things lie produced to satisfy his wants, |
they would have no value. we use |
the term, until there was a possibility |
OF their subserving the wants of Some |
other man, who was willing to give |
something for them. Then the things ex- |
changed by mutual consent would he the |
value of each other. If coonskin were |
swapped for n hat, the value of the hat
would be the coonskin, and vice versa.
DEFINITION OF VALUE.
But neither would care to swap II he |
could obtain what he wanted just as easily |
by producing 1t for himself. Therefore,
value, in our English economies, is prima-
rily due to the desire of men to swap
things with each other. But they must
have something to swap, and each must
have something that the other wants.
The mere want OF something without the
possession of something to give In ex-
change is not effective demand and has
no effect on the phenomena of value.
1t is true that agreements to swap are
often made in advance of production, as |
when one hires another to work under
an agreement to pay when the work is
done. But it is the result of the work |
that constitutes the basis of the agree
ment. Men may swap mere legal titles
to things which primarily cost nothing, as
IN the case Of swapping land for land, but
in this case it is the products of labor ,.for
which the respective pieces OF land will
exchange under existing conditions of
land owership that constitute the motives
for the swap considered as an economic
transaction. Metaphorically, we speak
Of swapping work for work, but it is the
results OF work that men wan and exchange
Machines are bought and sold and their
value is dependent on the results that
can be obtained by their use. Slaves have
been bought and sold, but the real con-
siderdtion was the anticipated products
Of tIeir labor controlled by the masters
IN his little book. entitled 1.-The Phil
osophy Of wealth. Prof j =. B. Clark says:
"The error of putting abilities and pro-
ducts in the same category is widespread"
A gain. "Talents are not alienated and
cannot be; the lawyer does not deprive
himself of them, nor his client acquire
them
The contrary view makes labor "a COM
tinguished from wooden machines economi-
on himself.
the term grows out of the wants OF men
so situated that they can mutually aid
one another by exchanging some of their
goods. Trade thus appears as natural
economy to those who voluntarily engage
in it. But the effort to trade goods for
goods directly is beset with the difficulty
that one cannot always supply in exchange
for what he needs the exact quantity OF
something else that another needs. To
oyercnme this difficulty money was in
vented. Hence its function is to facilitate
swapping, and swapping facilitates pro-
duction-natural and innocent means to
life.