The American System Author:Nathan Hale Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: of its value, or if it is retained here, by the same restrictions on the importation of whatever might be purchased by it abroad, it is manifest that it is depri... more »ved of a portion of its exportable value, and that the tendency will be for it to remain here, and to increase, in a Certain degree, the amount of the circulating medium of the country. This increase however soon finds its limit, and it is purchased at the cost of a proportionate diminution of its value, so that it cannot be regarded as an increase of the national wealth. As a measure of the value of property in transactions between individuals, money is necessarily regarded as the only criterion. But it is obvious that this standard is imperfect, and that parties occasionally lose or gain, by its fluctuations. This is a contingency, of which in ordinary contracts they take the hazard. But in making an estimate of the wealth of a nation, as affected by any particular system of policy, we shall come to a very uncertain result, if we assume that the currency is always at the same standard. It may happen that a great apparent change, in the amount of the national wealth has been solely effected by a change in the standard by which it is increased. If it were true that the price of the articles of property possessed by a nation formed a just criterion of its wealth, it would follow that in years of the greatest scarcity, when the prices of produce are highest, there would be the greatest increase of national wealth. Whereas it is obvious that in years of the greatest production, when in consequence of the abundant supply prices are low, there must be the greatest augmentation of property. We have remarked that industry is best stimulated, by securing to it the highest rewards. But in what manner can the highest rewards be s...« less