_.

RET RR

 

 

 

12 NATURE OF CAPITAL AND INCOME [Cuae. I

guess as to what price the article would or should fetch.
Appraising or guessing at prices is often very difficult in
practice. It is necessarily employed, however, by the government
 in assessing taxes and customs and condemning
land ; by insurance companies in settling claims and adjusting
 losses; by merchants in making up inventories and other
statements; and by statisticians and others. In fact,
some people make a living by simply appraising wealth on
which, for one purpose or another, a price of some sort must
be set. Evidently, the purpose makes a great difference in
the appraisal. Sometimes we need to know the price for
which an article could be sold at an immediate forced sale;
sometimes, what it might be expected to bring if a reasonable
 time were allowed ; sometimes, what the owner would
probably take; sometimes, what a possible purchaser
would probably give. These appraised prices may all be
different. A family portrait may be worth an untold
amount to the owner, but might bring next to nothing if
actually sold. The owner would endeavor to appraise it at
a high figure if he wished to insure it against fire; but if
he wished to borrow money on it, the appraisement would
doubtless be small, for the pawnbroker would consider it
almost worthless. :
Thus, in practically making an appraisement we encounter
 many difficulties, owing partly to the unknown character
 and condition of the parties involved, and partly
to the variety of interests to be served by the appraisal.
But whatever the difficulties and ambiguities in ascertaining
 a price or prices for any article, the price or
prices do actually exist without ambiguity. The vagueness
 comes wholly from failure to specify sufficiently the
conditions under which the exchange is to take place. If
we specify in sufficient detail the conditions of the contemplated
 exchange, its terms will be quite definite ; but whether
or not we can guess at those terms correctly is quite another
matter.