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Show 60 ON THE NATURE AND [cH. II. It is quite obvious that in cases of this kind, and they are of constant recurrence, the value of wages, incon1es, or con11nodities estimated in the precious n1etals, ,v-ill be of little use to us alone. What 've \Vant further is so1ne estimate of a kind 'vhich n1ay be denominated real value in exchange, implying the quantity of the necessaries and conveniences of 1ife ~vhich those \vages, incon1es, or con1modities will enable the pos, essor of then1 to command. Without this knowledge, the nominal values ·above n1entioned may lead us to the n1ost erroneous conclusions; and in contradistinction to such values, "'bich often imply an increase or decrease of wealth n1erely in nan1e, the term real value in exchange seen1s to be just and appropriate, as implying an increase or decrease in the po,ver of commanding real wealth, or the n1ost substan-tial goods of life. 'That a correct measure of real value in exchano·e b '\\rould be very desirable cannot be doubted, as it would at once enable us to for1n a just esti1nate and comparison of wages, incomes, and comtnodities, in all countries and at all periods; but when we consider what a measure of real value in exchange implies, we shall feel doubtful \vhether any one c?n1n1~dity exists, or can easily be supposed to ex1st, \VIth such properties, as would qualify it to become a standard n1easure of this kind. vVhatever article, or even mass of articles, \ve refer to, must itself be subject to change; and all that we can hope for is an approximation to the tneasure w·hich is the object of our search. S.EC. 1.] MEASURES OF VALUE. 61 We are not ho\vever justified, on this account, in giving a different definition of real value in exchange, if the definition already adopted be at once the n1ost usual and the most useful. We have the power indeed arbitrarily to call the labour which has been employed upon a con1modity its real value; but in so doing we use 'vords in a different sense from that in which th,ey are customarily used; 've confound at once the very important distinction bet\\reen cost and 'Value; and render it almost in1possible to explain, \Vith clearness, the n1ain stin1ulus to the production of wealth, which, in fact, depends upon this distinction. The right of making definitions must evidently be limited by their propriety, and their use in the science to which they are applied. After we have made a full allo\\7ance for the value of commodities in use, ,or their intrinsic capacities for satisfying the '\lvants of mankind, every other interpretation of the term value seen1s to refer to some povver in exchange ; and if it do not refer to the po,ver of an article in exchange for some one commodity 11amed, such as money, it n1ust refer to its po,ver in exchange for 3 or 4, 5 or 6, 8 or 10 together, to the In ass of commodities cotn bined, or to its po\ver of con1manding labour which n1ost nearly represents this mass. There can be no question of the propriety and usefulness of a distinction between the povver of a com~odity in con1n1anding· the precious metals, and 1ts po\ver of co1nn1andino· the necessaries and • 0 convenlences of life, including labour. It is a |
