William Price

“ He lived then at Paddington with his wife, whom he went to nightly; and at lodgings, near Portland-place, he daily visited her aunt, where the implements for his undertakings were concealed. His next and chief object was a negociator, and he procured one in the following manner.
Previous to the drawing of the lottery for the year 1780, Price put an advertisement into the “Daily Advertiser” for a servant who had been used to live with a single gentleman, and the direction was to “C. C. Marlborough-street coffee-house, Broad-street, Carnaby-market.” ”

“ His wife is a member of the Congregational church and their influence is always felt on the side of reform and improvement. It is as a business man, however, that Mr. Price is perhaps best known and aside from controlling mammoth agricultural interests he is a director of the Columbia National Bank and a director of the Edwards-Hindle Company, which controls the leading mercantile establishment of Dayton. The call of opportunity is ever to him a call to action and one to which he readily responds. His power has grown through the exercise of effort. ”

“ It is affirmed, however, that cost is the true and value the false measure of price, and the author seeks to establish this by a most logical disquisition and a comparison of the consequences of the two principles in operation.
It is admitted that although value is not the legitimate limit of price, nor even an element in the price, it is nevertheless an element in the bargain. It is the value of the thing to be acquired which determines the purchaser to purchase. ”

“ Price is a masterpiece not only of ingenuity, vigour, and logical clearness, but of verbal dexterity and artful evasion of difficulties, if any one need a model of this kind. His antagonist stood no chance with him in ‘the dazzling 359fence of argument,’ and yet Dr. Price was no mean man. We should like to have seen a tilting-bout on some point of scholastic divinity between the little Presbyterian parson and the great Goliath of modern Calvinism, Mr. Irving; he would have had his huge Caledonian boar-spear, his Patagonian club out of his hands in a twinkling with his sharp Unitarian foil. ”

“ It belongs to the man who labours, or produces an article, estimating for himself, as we have seen, the amount of burden he has assumed, to fix the price measured by that burden or cost. He alone knows it, and he alone, therefore, can determine it. It belongs, on the other hand, to the purchaser to estimate for himself the value of the labour or commodity to him. He alone can do so in fact, for he alone knows the nature of his own wants. By the settlement of the first point—the cost to the producer—the price becomes a fixed sum. ”

“ The following, among others, are the objectionable consequences which flow from the principle of making value, instead of cost, the rule of price; and every one of which consequences, it is affirmed, are reversed by the operation of the cost principle:—
It renders falsehood and hypocrisy a necessary concomitant of Trade. It makes the rich richer, and the poor poorer. It creates trade for trade's sake, and augments the number of non-producers, whose support is chargeable to labour. It degrades the dignity of labour. It prevents the possibility of a scientific adjustment of supply to demand. ”

“ To that princely felony, Old Patch, as will be seen in the sequel, added smaller misdemeanors which one would think were far beneath his notice, except to convince himself and his mistress of the unbounded facility of his genius for fraud.
At that period the affluent public were saddled with a tax on plate, and many experiments were made to evade it. Among others one was invented by a Mr. Charles Price, a stock-jobber and lottery-office keeper, which, for a time, puzzled the tax-gatherer. Mr. Charles Price lived in great style, gave splendid dinners, and did everything on the grandest scale. ”

“ If, again, I over-estimate the cost to me, and ask a price greater than your estimate of the value to you, there is no bargain, and I have lost the opportunity of earning a price measured by the real cost of the performance, so that the cost of my mistake again falls on me; while, the market being open, and a thorough adjust ment of supply to demand being established, others will make a juster estimate, whose services you will procure and you will suffer no inconvenience. Competition will regulate any disposition on my part to overcharge. ”

“ Warren, value has nothing whatever to do, upon scientific principles, with settling the price at which any article should be sold. Cost is the only equitable limit, and by cost is meant the amount of labour bestowed on its production, that measure being again measured by the painfulness or repugnance of the labour itself.
Value is a consideration for the purchaser alone, and determines him whether he will give the amount of the cost or not. ”

“ Andrews,—the very able expositor of the system,—when alluding more especially to "Cost as the limit of Price,"—"A thousand objections will occur which it is impossible to remove at the time of stating the general outline. It will be perceived by the acute intellect that a principle is here broached which is absolutely revolutionary of all existing commerce. ”

“ We have here the problem of bigness. Its lesson should by now have been burned into our memory by Brandeis. The Curse of Bigness shows how size can become a menace-both industrial and social. It can be an industrial menace because it creates gross inequalities against existing or putative competitors. It can be a social menace- because of its control of prices. [2] Control of prices in the steel industry i powerful leverage on our economy. For the price of steel determines the price of hundreds of other articles. ”

“ Both sections of our magnificently reunited country sent into their armies men who became soldiers as good as any who ever fought under any flag. Military history records nothing finer than the courage and spirit displayed at such battles as Chickamauga, Antietam, Kenesaw Mountain and Gettysburg. That America could produce men so valiant and so enduring is a matter for deep and abiding pride. ”

“ I challenge the doctrine, now being taught, that we must enter into a mad rivalry with the Old World in the building of battleships—the doctrine that the only way to preserve peace is to get ready for wars that ought never to come! ”

“ William and Ginger went slowly down the drive. At the end they turned round. The twins were sitting side by side on the doorstop, smiling and waving fat hands. Their labels were milky and slightly awry, but still they adhered to their persons. William and Ginger turned into the road. William took out the shilling.
"I say," said Ginger, "I—I suppose it's honest?"
"Honest!" said William scornfully. "'S more than honest. We've give them a penny. The slaves was sixpence halfpenny each—proper price—an' we've only took a shilling." ”

“ Our government, conceived in liberty and purchased with blood, can be preserved only by constant vigilance. May we guard it as our children's richest legacy, for what shall it profit our nation if it shall gain the whole world and lose “the spirit that prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands everywhere”? ”

“ I never pass a house where a room is being added without feeling interested, for I know the occupants have planned it, and looked forward to it and waited for it; I like to see a little house moved back and a larger house built, for I know it is the fulfilment of a dream. ”

“ If time permitted I could take up every occupation, every avocation, every profession and every calling, and show you that no matter which way we turn—no matter what we do—we are always and everywhere weighing the Soul. ”

“ And yet there is room for improvement, for all over our land there are, scattered here and there, young men and young women—and even parents—who still think that it is more respectable for a young man to spend in idleness the money some one else has earned than to be himself a producer of wealth. ”

“ In every act of party life and party strife we weigh the soul. That the people have a right to have what they want is a fundamental principle in free government. Corruption in government comes from the attempt to substitute the will of a minority for the will of the majority. Every measure which comes up for consideration involves justice and injustice—right and wrong—and is, therefore, a question of conscience. ”

“ There is a legitimate work for the stock exchange and for the chamber of commerce, but there is an illegitimate and vicious speculation on the stock exchange and the produce market which has lured many business men to their fall. The ordinary methods of accumulation are necessarily slow when competition is left free to regulate profits, while the gambler is spurred on by the hope of quickly realizing a large profit upon a small investment. ”

“ No material considerations should blind us to our nation's mission, or turn us aside from the accomplishment of the great work which has been reserved for us. Our fields bring forth abundantly and the products of our farms furnish food for many in the Old World. ”

“ Holding a place in history midway between the Revolutionary War of the 18th century and the First World War of the 20th, the American Civil War had far-reaching effects: by the many innovations and developments it stimulated, it became the forerunner of modern warfare; by the demands it made on technology and production, it hastened the industrial revolution in America. ”

“ I venture an answer to this and say that a man can not honestly earn more than fairly measures the service which he renders to society. I can not conceive of any way of earning money except to give to society a service equivalent in value to the money collected. This is a fundamental proposition and it is important that it should be clearly understood, for if one desires to collect largely from society he must be prepared to render a large service to society ”

“ It seems, therefore, that while one can not rightfully collect more than he honestly earns, he may earn more than it would be wise for him to collect. And that brings us to the next question: How much should one desire to collect from society? I answer, that no matter how large a service he may render or how much he may earn, one should not desire to collect more than he can wisely spend.
And how much can one wisely spend? Not as much as you might think, and not nearly as much as some have tried to spend. No matter how honestly money may be acquired, one is not free to spend it at will. ”

“ Monopoly is the second commercial temptation. Monopolies have been attempted ever since trading began, and they are more common to-day than ever before because more money can be made out of them. Many well-meaning business men permit themselves to be drawn into practises which are not only indefensible in the realm of conscience, but which violate the statutes. ”

“ The enlightened conscience of our nation should proclaim as the country's creed that “righteousness exalteth a nation” and that justice is a nation's surest defense. If there ever was a nation it is ours—if there ever was a time it is now—to put God's truth to the test. With an ocean rolling on either side and a mountain range along either coast that all the armies of the world could never climb we ought not to be afraid to trust in “the wisdom of doing right.” ”

“ I might dwell upon the evil effects of speculation upon innocent parties whose property is juggled up or juggled down by the manipulations of the market, but I would appeal, not only to the innocent outsider, but to those who may be tempted by the profits promised to the inside ring. I would suggest, however, that those who by cornering the market suspend the law of supply and demand, add crime to vice and defraud those who are induced to invest in a “chance” which has no actual existence. ”

“ Commerce is an increasing factor in the business world. It includes both exchange and transportation and stands next in importance to production. Production comes first, but production could only be conducted on a limited scale without the exchange of merchandise. To desire to gain an honorable distinction in this department of labor is a worthy ambition. He who improves the instruments of trade by bringing purchaser and consumer nearer together, thus facilitating exchange, may count himself a real benefactor. ”

“ It is strange that anyone should attempt to defend a private monopoly, for its plan and operation can be easily understood by any one who knows either human nature or history. No judge would be permitted to preside in his own case; no juror would be allowed to serve in a suit to which he was a party, and yet the head of a monopoly arbitrarily decides, every-day, questions where his interests are on one side and public interests on the other. Can he be trusted to decide impartially and to exact only a reasonable profit? It is absurd to expect him to do justice to those whith whom he deals. ”

“ And because so many of our temptations come through the love of money and the desire to obtain it, it is worth while to consider the laws of accumulation. We must all have money; we need food and clothing and shelter, and money is necessary for the purchase of these things. Money is not an evil in itself—money is, in fact, a very useful servant. It is bad only when it becomes the master, and the love of it is hurtful only because it can, and often does, crowd out the love of nobler things. ”

“ The farmer takes his chances upon the seasons; the merchant takes his chances upon the market; the railroad owner takes his chances upon both the season and the market; and we all take our chances upon sickness and death. Uncertainty enters into every human calculation, but a distinction can be drawn between those uncertainties which are unavoidable and those uncertainties which are of the very essence of the transaction. ”