26

ON THE NATURE
the direct assertion, that ‘although money
may increase inits power of purchasing, it does
not necessarily increase in value*” If Mr.
Malthus thus abandons his own definition; what
other will he put in its place ?
I have already shown, that the power of pur-
chasing, or the power of commanding other
objects in exchange, can be expressed only by
quantity. In other words, the value of one
commodity can be expressed only by the quan-
tity of some other object for which it will ex-
change. When a hat is said to be twenty
shillings in value, it is obvious that the value of
the hat is expressed by the quantity of silver:
when a yard of cloth is said to be worth two
bushels of wheat, the value of the cloth is ex-
pressed by the quantity of wheat. It is im-
possible to designate, or express the value of
a commodity, except by a quantity of some
other commodity.
The power of purchasing, or the value of an
object in relation vo some other object, admits
* Pace 62.