BETWEEN VALUE AND RICHES. 165 
the idea of aggregation or collection cannot be 
excluded. A single grain of wheat is not 
wealth, although it may be said to be an article 
of wealth. The idea of possession also seems 
essential to it. Riches are not simply commo- 
dities as things existing, but as things pos- 
sessed. The most useful articles in an unin- 
habited country could not be termed wealth, 
because they would have no proprietor. The 
country, it is true, might be denominated rich 
in such articles, but only inasmuch as it would 
be the container or possessor of them. There 
would still be the same idea of possession in- 
volved in our language. 
Whatever difficulty may be found in furnish- 
ing a good and complete definition of riches, 
there can be none in establishing the difference 
between the terms riches and value, as used in 
the science of Political Economy. Riches are 
the attribute of men, value is the attribute of 
commodities. A man or a community is rich; 
a pearl or a diamond is valuable. He pos-