Year: 1876

exhibiting the true principle OF com
mercial exchange, the uses of money,
and the value OF the precious metals as
the basis of currency. ~'


The subject is one of universal inter-
est, intensified by theprominence of the
Currency Question:" in our national
politics, and is treated by Mr. Wells in
a manner at once so ingenious, enter
tanning and instructive that we do not
think our space can be better filled
than with the following sketch of the
book. which we find in the New York
Tribune:


Some time after landing, as the story
goes, Robinson finds in one of the
ships chests that had been cast. ashore
La lot of pima, needles and thread, "a pair
of scissors, ten or dozen knives, and
several white linen handkerchiefs, be-
sides three great bags of money which
finally came to light in the search.
From this episode in the life OF De
Foes hero, Mr. Wells deduces the max
inns, that the pins, and needles, and
other articles of commodity in the chest
we're of great utility to Robinson Cru
soc, because they Increased his comfort
and happiness; that still they possessed
no exchangeable value, because they
could not be bought or sold; that they
had no price, because they had no pur-
chasing power which could be expl essed
in money; that money, which is popu-
larly regarded as the symbol of all
wealth, had, under the circumstances,
neither utility, value, nor price; and be-
cause the actual commodities were ca
pable of being used to produce addition
al commodities, they were all capital,
which money was not, because it had
no productive power. Hence it becomes
q problem to show under what circum-
stances money could acquire value, be-
came an object of exchange, and con-
stitute standard for establishing
prices.


The first element Of progress was the
addition of companions. First came
Friday, then Fridays father, then Will
Atkinsand the English sailors. Here
was community. A new social order
became inevitable. 1t was impossible
that all should live in common as one
family. For could each man supply all
his own wants. It was best that every
one should pursue single occupation,
instead of each carrying on his busl-
ness of a carpenter, mason, baker, tai
lor, and the like. An exchange of pro-
ducts of services of some other man,
would thus become the order OF the
day. Systematic division of labor and
exchange of products are thus introduce
ed. and constitute the means of getting
a living In the first instance, however,
all exchanges are made by barter. So
much of one commodity or service IS
given for so much of some other COM
modify or service Corn for cloth, furs
and skins for knives and tobacco, so
much labor in building a house for SO
much skill in constructing a canoe, are
the earliest attempts at the exchange of
commodities. This is simple barter,
which does not involve the use of mon
ey. Hence there IS no such thing as
price, since price is the purchasing
power of any commodity expressed in
money. But Robinson, and his friends
soon found that this would never do as
a permanent arrangement. The dis
covery was made in this wise: ''Twist,
who was tailor, and had made coat,
discovered all at once that he was ont
of bread; and being hungry, suspended
work and went in search of Medium,
the baker, to effect an exchange. He
found him without difficulty, just heat
ing his oven, and with plenty of bread
to dispose of, but as the baker had all
the coats he wanted, he had declined
to trade. Medium, however kindly in
formed Twist that if any fellow should
call with any surplus grain or flour, he
(Needum) would be most happy to sup
ply him with all the bread he needed in
exchange; but as the tailor was neither
farmer nor a miller, and had neither
of these articles, he (Twist) set off for
the other end of the island, where there
was another baker, to see how the lat
ter was situated in respect to garments.
On his way Twist was oyertaken hy
Pecks, the mason, who had no coat, and,
wanting the very garment which Twist
had been making, had stopped work
on o stone wall and had gone in search
of the tailor, to whom he proposed to
exchange the coat for new chimney.
But as Twist had already two ch:mneys
to his house, and nothing to cook, and
didn't want another chimney. the ma
son was as unsuccessful in his effort to
trade with the tailor as the tailor had
|
last, after much vexatious travelling
about, involving great waste of time
and labor, Twist found baker who
wanted to exchange bread for the coat,
and Pecks tailor who would give a
coat for chimney; Medium having, in
the mean time, shut up his bakery and
gone in search of Diggs, the farmer,
who was willing to supply grain for
bread. But when all these different
persons, each desirous of exchanging
his special products or services, had
been found, and had come together, a
new perplexity at once made its appear
ance, and one so embarrassing as TO
cause leach man seriously to consider
whether it were not better to return
home and endeavor to produce every
thing for himself rather than attempt
to exchange anything. For how, said
thew all tis tho comparative valne n f