The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-05-22
A TRANSPARENT ABSURDITY.


(Ths following interview will be pub
lished in Transparent Absurdlties." by
Lyman F. George)
During my three months trip through
the country that transparent absurdity--
standard OF yalue-greeted me everywhere
1t had won more converts to the gold
standard than any other OF their nonsen-
steal catch phrases Made ridiculous In
every argument, able men disputing with
me retreated into this hollow square" Of
British origin. and rested their case on Its
soundness
At such times / am reminded OF the
early English laws which restricted farm
ers to very narrow limits in the fertilzng
OF their lands; as otherwise the favor OF
the partridges might be injured. for these
men began TO cry for "honcst dollars" and
stable currency" Surely such strong
reasoning bespeaks cultivation resulting
from the repeal OF this old blue--or ra her
yellow--law. They want a dollar intrln-
sically worth one hundred cents But
these one hundred cents are made from
less than 10 cents worth OF copper; there
fore their statement is fallacl0us The
price Of copper has risen So per cent wlth-'
In the last few months, and It can not
be that they refer to the ratio between
gold and copper, consequently they sim
ply assert that the whole Is equal to the
sum Of all It's parts; that dollar Is IN
trinsicnlly worth four quarters. provided,
q
tiers.
But to return to our text-the yacuous
standard of value" 1t is not
surprising that many good minds anchor
their faith 10 this yellow nugget, since
perhaps no part Of the whole subject is
more subtle, elusive in It's analysis and
difficult to clearly understand,
~
The idea OF standard or unit OF
measurement IS simple, and many think
that in comprehending the idea OF ''stand-
ard they have grasped and penetrated all
that is meant by the economic term
standard OF value" They think because
they see clearly that a foot may be de-
cided upon as the unit of length measure.
ment or a pound as the unit Of weight
measurement, or a gallon as the unit of
| llquid measurement. that in the same way
a dollar may be and is the unit Of value
measurement and therefore STANDARD"
! OF value measurement.
Now IL Is right here that the conception
becomes elusive and the conclusions err
| roneous. In a certain sense 1t may be sald
that the dollar is the unit OF value meas
hrement, but misleading conceptions of
what that proposition really means will
constantly follow unless the mind has
hrst completely mastered and keeps con-
stantly in View he true meaning OF the
word value. But it win serve my purpose
here to keep to the lines Of argument OF
fered by my friend, w f. Miller OF Bos-
ton. He said: 1T Is In the failure 10
understand ard appreciate the real mean
lng or market value" that arises much OF
the false logic and claims of the gold
standard, for this in fits last analysis and
real meaning is a ratio or relation II Is
n mental conditlon--an estimate between
things. The phrase "intriusic value" IL a
self contradiction,
Certainly" ! replied, nothing has iu-
trinslc value II is misuse OF the word
| Value to couple 1t with the word 'intrin-
SIC. You may speak properly of the in
trlnsic qualities of thing. Gold. for
example, Is intrinscally yellow and durtila
and OF high specific gravity. II has in
lrinslc chemical affinities does not oxy-
dlze easily; does unite with mercury. But
/ me moment you speak Of the value of
solh, in an economic sense that moment
we mind IS forced instantly to go outside
or the gold Itself, seize upon other objects
institute a comparison or relationship be-
tween them and the gold and In this ldea
OF relationship is wrapped up the c9pcen-
uon OF value not only Of the gold bur
or the other things as we'll"
~
Clearly that proves, George, that
market value is not fixed rigid. arbitrary
and intrinsic, but rather huetuaupg
Felationary g-intanglblc immaterlal
In short mental estimate. depending
upon many varying considerations pertain
ing to the things valued or more truly
compared What is the unit of mons
uremene OF tho abstract conception
honor, virtue, intelligence. heroism. NOR
atty? How absurd It would be TO TAN,
about standard of any such thing in ,
rigid. limited definite, measurable unl
How futile to try to say that a man is so
many units good or bad3'
"or so many units artistic or generous +"
added Coming to the principle in
volyed, we find the units OF measurement
must be definite, limited entities. Axea. I'M
varying parts of finite whole. What il a
second Of timer 1t is definite fraction OF
the whole time consumed by the earth In
It's annual revolution about the sun"
What is the standard meter?" inter-
rupted Mr.. Miller. 1T is a definite frac-
ton OF whole great circle of the earth
a quart? 1t is definite space inclosed by
compromising definite unit OF length. A
standard unit OF measurement mus, be
oehnite part of finite wholo-an en-
MY But what part OF the whole coneep-
ton OF market value Is dollar? The
mind gets no definite conception of sucb
a thing. What kind of unit OF length
would IL be II fixed upon as the one-mil-
lionth part Of all the new railroads TO bel
laid next year, and SO on for each year. |
What Kind of unit OF time measurement
would II be II fixed rpon as the one-thou |
sandth part OF the time required 10 run
mile the fastest automobile TO be built
In the year 1900; and always thereafter 10
huetuate with the changing speed attain. /
able by improved automobiles? The fact
is there can be no unit of market value
IN the true sense, as long as the whnie
mass OF value tot which the unit must be
urftuHd 40 a H.