THE' NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT,
15
NEW IDEAS ABOUT VALUE.
JEvrybo4y ku hi Sa la tit Xndcpdnt
bat th Edltot Takn OceMloa to B
tate th Old Truth. ; -
Editor Independent: rwondered af
ter reading your reply to my idea of
value (as you call it) whether or not
my brother had transcended the wis
dom of Christ, who said, "Ye are of
more value than many sparrows." Did
the Saviour mean value or did He
mean utility? If human life is not
value there is need of a new transla
tion. I wonder again how numerical
dollars can measure values, when they
are exchanged for commodities, or that
which has no value. You tell us that
potatoes are not value; starch is not
value; and that human life is not
value. And yet you claim that money
is value, and you exchange money for
products which you say is not value,
but something else, and call it meas
uring value. We do not claim that in
flation or contraction has anything
special to do "with the intrinsic value
or intrinsic properties of the com
modity; or that which creates or pro
duces wealth or value. If by contrac
tion or by any. other means money be
comes very scarce, or inadequate to
supply the demands, it enhances in
value, does it not? And tell us, does
the deterioration have anything to do
wfth the properties or qualities of the
material or composition of money?
You employ the term number, or nu
merical value. Well, let us see. Num
bers are composed of quantity. Without
quantity there can be no numbers.
Now if value is numerical it consists
in quantity; if the dollar measures
quantity and is a standard of value
and a unit of value it certainly would
measure a given quantity. In your II
lustration of the potatoes you ask:
"How did the original 100 bushels of
potatoes fall, if it is intrinsic, without
changing the chemical composition?"
I am glad you ask. It brings us right
to the point at once. It changed the
price of the potatoes by reason of un
favorable conditions. Now tell us that
price is value and we will tell you
what kind of a standard of value mon
ey is. The conditions did not change
the quality nor the intrinsic value nor
the sustaining value of the product
any more than it changed the natural
appearance or form of the product,
othing Is changed but the price. If a
scarcity of numbers makes value, and
I find it out in,, time, . I'll plant only
one bushel of potatoes next year. And
ygt it occurs to us that there might
not be sustaining value "enough in the
one bushel's product. Practically, this
seems To be a pretty knotty problem.
Why can't we ,be honest and unmix
ourselves as to the difference in value
and price? It is impossible to make a
proportionate ratio between different
commodities. There is just as much
difference with fluctuating prices of
the different kinds of commodities as
there is between a hog and a squirrel.
And your numerical value, or standard
unit numerical double nd twisted dol
lar can and does not measure anything
equitably nor does it unitize anything.
The dollar buys a bushel of wheat In
one state and your bushel of potatoes;
in another locality the same dollar
buys a bushel and one-half of wheat
and three bushels of potatoes. In fact,
measures things in all kinds of shapes
and sizes. What would you think
of a good stick that would turn such
summersaults every day or so regard
less of anybody's interest? A stick
that measures three feet in one place
and six feet in another, two feet to
day, five feet tomorrow? Here is an
illustration consistent with your
standard dollar." It does not measure
adequately, neither does it adjust rel
ative value between different commo
dities by comparison. To say that in
trinsic value belongs to the true func
tions of money would be a poor fabric
for our theory or ideas of money.
There is no issue between you and me
on this point Money has no direct
sustaining value and, yet it possesses
a prerogative that transcends all other
mediums for manipulation and in
equality. What is that prerogative?
Let us pry into the sore and see if we
can find the core. From whence does
it derive its power? It possesses pow
er to dethrone kingdoms. And yet it
is inert, inanimate, creates nothing,
produces nothing, promotes nothing,
by its natural worth. It is mandatory
by legal assignment like the sword
that swayed the scepter over a nation;
not by its own power, but by the hand
that wielded it. Do you see any util
ity, any usefulness, here? You say
that what we call value you would
term utility or usefulness. We take
our authors and we find their utility
means usefulness, convenience, profit.
Thank you. I take the substance, you
take the shadow, about all the merits
we find in money, and the functions
of money useful as a medium of ex
change and convenient in many ways;
also a factor from which we may by
proper adjustment derive a profit.
IN WAR TIMES
The Story of a Man Who Helped
Maki History.
From the beginning to the end of
the civil war none fought more val-
liantly than the famous Seventeenth'
Indiana volunteers. The story of their
battles, their privations and their vic
tories is a long but interesting one.
In company B, of this regiment, was
Eli Fisher, now a resident of Jet,
Woods Co., Okla., who has a fund of
entertaining reminiscences of his ex
periences in bivouac and battle. To
a reporter the other day he related
the following:
"In 1864," he said, "while serving
with my company, I began to suffer
with various complaints brought on
by hardship and exposure. I had
hemorrhages of the kidneys, palpita
tion of the heart and at times I would
bloat from stomach trouble. My; lungs
were also affected. From my suffer
ing and misery I became nervous and
my nerves finally went all to pieces.
"I became forgetful and distracted
in , mind and it seemed that there
could be nothing which would bring
me relief. I was treated In Atlanta,
Ga., by the regimental doctor, but did
not get any better. In 1865 I was mus
tered out and then I tried other doc
tors. At various times five different
physicians treated me and I took
many kinds of medicine, but nothing
did me any good. From 1887 until
1890 I was confined to my bed most
of the time and my case seemed hope
less. "But in 1890 I read in a newspaper
of how an Iowa man, suffering from
the same illness in geenral as I had,
was cured by Dr. Williams' Pink Pills
for Pale People. I decided to see
what they would do for me and began
taking them. I used three boxes of
the pills before experiencing relief,
but after that my recovery was rapid.
In two months I felt like a new man
both in body and mind. I took them
for four months and was perfectly
cured.
"I have recommended Dr. Williams'
Pink Pills for Pale People many
times. I do so, because I know from
personal experience that they have
wonderful power to relieve and cure
the sick."
The pills which cured Mr. Fisher
have accomplished hundreds of equal
ly remarkable cures! They are on
sale at all drug stores or will be sent
postpaid, on receipt of price, 50 cents
a box; six boxes for $2.50. by the Dr.
Williams Medicine Co., Schenectady,
N. Y.
Hence we say that money may be an
instrument of good or it may be an
instrument of evil; wielded by the
power that established it (by the law
of justice and equity) it yields the
fruits of blessedness; wielded by the
hand of the god of mammon, it yields
the. fruits of oppression and tyranny.
Your idea seems to me to be super
ficial. You speak of value simply as
being numerical, without defining its
connection or co-existence with any
thing else. Now numbers are con
tained in quantity. Quantity must be
composed of objects- Objects are cre
ated things, possessing properties, util
ity and value. Then numerical value
as you term it is simply a nominal
representative medium related to and
co-existent with that which supports
it, namely, and relatively, that which
creates, and produces value. There
is a great difference between a nomi
nal value and a natural living value.
The one is creative; the other is as
signed, representative. One is a cre
ation by a divine power; the other is a
deponent factor depending upon the
created factor. I infer that you claim
that objects may possess worth and
living properties and have no value.
Let us see now if you do not tie your
self up against your 'own post I un
derstand that you represent the party
that lays claim to be a material stand
ard of value and a measure of value
and that money is the basic factor in
the co-operation. Now money cannot
be a true standard of value without
it is a measure of value. It cannot
be a measure of value without it meas
ures something. Now we can see that
it can only measure value by an ex
change with some other value. Yet
you tell us that commodities is not
value. Is that not a strange way of
measuring value? By exchanging val
ue for something that is not value?
Did it never occur to you that from
the very fact of its being exchanged
that there exists a necessity for the
exchange? And that the value con
sists not in the representative medium
but in that which it is exchanged for?
Here we conclude that value Is a thing
of creation, materialistic, embodying
all the elements and properties of ma
terial life and existence, and that mon
ey is a numerical representative me-
ISO".
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No. 12.
LINCOLNS PROGRESSIVE STORE
dium which is dependent upon that
which it represents, its prerogative be
ing assigned or established by law
from the fact that it has no creative
or sustaining power of itself. It can
never transcend its limitations nor de
throne the laws of nature by robbing
life and creating things of their func
tions which embraces all that there
is in life, value not excluded.
I have taken quite a long range and
will waste no more powder until I
hear another report that may indicate
the location of the target, for I must
confess that it seems a little obscure.
WM. BARNSBERG.
Mullen, Neb.
(The following comments on the
above 1-tter for the consideration of
Mr. Barnsberg and others Interested
in the subject of political economy:
The word "value" has several mean
ings, but the effort is to know what
ft means in political economy or when
used in connection with money and
commodities for sale or services for
hire.
We do not claim that money is val
ue. Value is not any material thing.
It Is "human estimation placed on de
sirable objects the quantity of which
is limited."
The Independent has always claimed
that value cannot be "measured" and
has continually deprecated the use of
that term. Values are not measured.
They are "estimated."
As the values of all things constant
ly change including gold there can
be no such thing as "intrinsic" value.
Instead of being "intrinsic" value is
rather "extrinsic"
The value of money, as of all other
things for sale or services for hire,
depends on the "quantity" available
to supply the demand.
Dollars do not "measure" anything.
The terms dollars and cents are made
use of to express the "idea" that a
man has arrived at concerning the val
ue of a thing.
The Independent never claimed that
price "is value." It claims that
"price is value expressed in terms of
money."
The dollar does not "measure things
in all kinds of shapes." It does not
"measure" them at all.
Dollars are a standard in the pay
ment of debts, and a standard by ref
erence to which values of other things
are "estimated," not "measured."
A thing may have great utility and
no value. Air has no value, yet its
utility surpasses that of all other
things. That is because its quantity
is unlimited. If the quantity should
become limited, as it some times dogs
In crowded cities, it becomes valuable.
A well ventilated room, that is, a room
with a sufficient quantity, of air, is
more valuable than a room that is in
sufficiently supplied.
The Independent never no never
laid any claim to a material standard
of value. Value has no standard, for
value is simply an idea. It is each
man's idea of what a commodity
should exchange for in money or other
commodity. The whole volume of
money is a standard, by reference to
which we are able to "estimate" val
ues, not "measure" them. Value does
not consist in the "representative me
dium" nor "the thing for which it is
exchanged." Value, let us repeat, is an
"idea." What is the "value" of that
horse? One man says its value ia
$100. Another man says its value ia
$110. Now there is nothing under
heaven which you can apply to that
horse and with it "measure" Its value
so as to tell which man is right. That
is self-evident. How do you arrive at
the value of the horse? Different par
ties make "estimates" of its value. In
the markets the one whose estimate 13
the highest and he Is willing to make
his estimate good by taking the horse
at that estimate, fixes its value for the
time being. But the value of that