Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1900-10-12

sPeoAihS ABOUT intrinsic value:'
ABOUT the mysterious possession BY
soid. alone OF all things in the world
OF the property of being intrinsically
valuable, while everything ELSE il
only accidentally valuable: that gold
Is immune from all the frailties which
attach to every other earthly substance;
mat wnetner We have much or little
whe'her We nave 1t or England has It,
IL Is al ithe same. the intrinsic value OF
II Is all the same. the intrinsic value OF
.iui' high or low, here or absent, abso-
iutely invariable.
Now, my friends. in that campaign
used a little illustration which / will
Visit upon you tonight, with your kind
permission. as a substitute for a long
discussion as to what intrinsic value is,
or rather, what it is not. We viii sup
pose you have a piece of gold the size
OF your hand. Now, then, II you will
examine the dictionary. you will find
that the word intrinsic means inherent
in a thing. necessary attribute OF it
that cannot be separated from it. For
example, this piece Of gold. the size OF
your hand, will be intrinsically yellow
and intrinsically heavy, and as long as
II remains gold 1t cannot help being
heavy and cannot help being yellow.
Suppose this piece OF gold is taken by
n man IN boat to a distant island in
the sea. uncharted by the navigator, of
which nobody knows; that he digs "a
hole in the sand OF the desert island,
that he buries this piece OF gold, covers
II up, takes his boat, leaves in the dark
ness and Is drowned, leaving with no.
body any information as to where this
gold is. Down in the hole in the sand
the gold Is as heavy as 1t ever was.
Down in the hole in the sand the gold
Is as yellow as 1t ever was. How much
is 1t worth? daughter and applause. }
Down In the hole in the sand the gold
Ia not worth a cent. 1t never will be
worth anything until somebody finds
1t, and then 1t won't be worth any
thing until the man who finds it has it
where there Is somebody else, and then
II won't be worth anything unless that
somebody else wants it, and then how
much 1t IL worth will be determined, by
what the other fellow will give for it..
(Applause.) And what he will give for
1t will depend upon how badly he neds
1t and how badly he needs it, will
depend upon wha he can do
with it. That is the only law OF value
in this world. Value in exchange is the
only kind Of value there is. Go back to
Aristotle, more than 1000 years ago, il
you are curious in this matter, and
come down through all ages, in all Ian
guages. In every country, and you will
not find one single political economist
that ever wrote. or taught, or claimed
that there Is any such thing as in
trinsic value" mot one. That is rather a
broad statement, but 1 will stand by it
l know 1t Is true. Take the case OF
Mcleod. Of England. the greatest
writer for the gold standard. probably
in Europe. Get his book on the his
tory and theory of banking, or his book
on the theory of credit, and you will
find that he has examined with a thor
Oughness and learning, never paralleled
in political economy, the history Of this
idea Of intrinsic value, and he shows
that it is conceded by all great think
ers of all time that there Is not any
such thing as intrinsic value; that the
only value that political economy
knows anything about (to use his own
language) Is value in exchange.
Now. how small. how slight a tale puts
down this absurd gold standard idea
OF intrinsic value. And yet Secretary
Gage. and other alleged statesmen
= and--4he- -psnny-a-line- writers for thu
gold standard have ben babbling thi.
jargon Of intrinsic value during the last
four or five years. (Applause)
Now. my friends. If value in exchange
Is the only value there is, is 1t not tru.
that the use to which you can put @
thing will determine, on your side, how
much you will offer for it, and that the
value set upon 1t, because of the use ht
can put it to, will determine the pos.
SCISSOR of it as to how much he will de.
mand that you give him for it? Thai
being true, the law Of supply and de.
mand regulates its value. Increase
the supply Of wheat. and. other things
remaining the same, wheat will bt
cheaper; decrease the supply of wheat
and, other things remaining the same
the price of a bushel Of wheat will bt
higher. The same rule applies t.
money. Let wheat remain the same
increase your supply of money. and q
bushel of wheat will call for more of it
let your wheat remain the same and de
crease the supply of money and tn,
price of bushel of wheat will fall
Now, then, while 1t is true that a mix
ture of circumstances. difficult to fol
low, will determine variously the littl,
it is true fundamentally that genera
rises and falls of all prices, on thu
average, are possible only in case of 1
variation of the supply of money tina
reckons their price. When. other things
remaining the same, money Is scarce
prices will be low. When, other things
remaining the same, money is plenti
full, prices will be high. Now, wha
ic no of q continued regime q
, falling prices? Disaster, always. Yo,
cannot get men to invest money IL
things falling in price, because the,
know, that by and by, with falling
prices, they will take out less thai
they put In. So when prices are fall
ing, the men with money, instead o
putting his money to work IN manufac
turing things, so that he will lose hi
money, will look around for a gilt-edg'
investment somewhere, some golt
bonds, some government obligations
that cannot fall; so that whether prices
go UP or down, the blood and sweat o
some great people will go on earning
his increment of profit. loud ap
plause.)
This is universal experience. In 1S9
money was more valuable than things
and men would not risk 1t, as Is al
ways the case when the prices of thing
are falling; but when prices are rising
then what? Why. 1T becomes profitable
to put your money in the things who's
prices are rising, because you can at
forwards, by selling the things, TAX
out more money than you put In
Therefore, under rising prices thing
are worth more than money, and ever