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Show I 52 ON THE NATUHE AND [ CH. II. vvorth ~vhile to reject it; and it need only be observed that as the application of the \Vord value in this way is very 111uch less frequent than in the other, it should never appear alone, but should al' vays be marked by the addition, in use. Value in exchange is founded, as the tern1 secn1s to in1ply1. on the ,vill and po\ver to exchange one co1nmodity for another. It docs not depend n1erely upon the scarcity in 'vhich con1n1oclities exist, nor 1:1pon the inequality of their distribution; but t~pon the circun1stance of their not being distributed according to the \Vilis and po\vcrs of individuals, or in such quantities to each, as the wills and po\vers of individuals vvill enable thetn ulti1nately to effect by means of exchanges. If nature were to distribute, in the first instance, all her goods precisely as they are ulti1nately distributed previous to consumption, there would be no question of exchanges or exchangeable value, ~nd yet the 1nass of com1nodities \Vould both exist in a degree of scarcity and be very unequa11y divided. In this distribution one tnan n1ight have only bread, and another venison and claret in addition to bread. The man \vho had only bi'ead n1ight \vish to n1ake an exchange, but 'vould not have the po\ver, and the n1an \vho had venison and claret besides bread \Vould have the po\ver to 1nake an exchange, but not the \Vish. Under these circumstances the con1n1odities possessed by each \vou1cl not be brought into contact, and the relative value of bread and Yen ison would never be detertnincd. 'To detennine this, it is necessary that the posses- SEC. 1.] l\IEA6URES OF VALUE. 53 sors of venison should want bread, as \veil as that the possessors of bread should vvant venison, and \V hen this was the case, venison and bread \vould soon be brought into con1parison \Vith each other, and the means afforded of ascertaining their relative yalues .. Every exchange, therefore, n1ust itr:)ly, not only the power and ,vill to give son1e article in exchange for one 1nore wanted, but a reciprocal denland in the party possessing the article \vanted, for the article proposed to be exchanged for it. When this reciprocal den1and exists, the rate at which the exchange is n1ade, or the portion of one commodity \vhich is given for an assigned ·portion of the other, w·ill depend upon the relative estimation in \Vhich they are held by the parties, founded on the desire to possess, and the difficulty or facility of procuring possession. 0\ving to the necessary difference of the desires and po,vers of individuals, it is probable that the eon tracts thus n1ade were in the first instance very different frotn each other. An1ong some individuals it n1ight be agreed to give six pounds of bread for a pound of venison) and among others only t\vo. But the n1an vvho vvas ready and \Villing to give six pounds of bread for a pound of venison, if he heard of a person at a little distance "rho would take two pounds for the same quantity, would of course not continue to give six; and the man who \Vould consent to give a pound of venison for only two pounds of bread, if he could any where else obtain six, "rould not continue to make an ex,change fro1n which he derived only two.. · 'ES |
