Possessing Utility, Commodities Derive Their Exchangeable Value

Adam Smith, And Other Able Writers To Whom I Have Alluded, Not Having Viewed Correctly The Principles Of Rent, Have, It Appears To Me, Overlooked Many Important Truths, Which Can Only Be Discovered After The Subject Of Rent Is Thoroughly Understood.

If A Commodity Were In No Way Useful, - In Other Words, If It Could In No Way Contribute To Our Gratification, - It Would Be Destitute Of Exchangeable Value, However Scarce It Might Be, Or Whatever Quantity Of Labour Might Be Necessary To Procure It.

It Has Therefore Been Justly Observed That However Honestly The Coin Of A Country May Conform To Its Standard, Money Made Of Gold And Silver Is Still Liable To Fluctuations In Value, Not Only To Accidental, And Temporary, But To Permanent And Natural Variations, In The Same Manner As Other Commodities.

In The Same Manner If Any Nation Wasted Part Of Its Wealth, Or Lost Part Of Its Trade, It Could Not Retain The Same Quantity Of Circulating Medium Which It Before Possessed.

If English Money Was Of The Same Value Then As Before, Hamburgh Money Must Have Risen In Value. But Where Is The Proof Of This?