A Contribution to the Critique of Political EconomyMarx, Karl
Philosophy
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Marx, Karl
Economics; Marxian economics
[154] “We ought to ... distinguish ... between gold ... as merchandise,
_i. e._ as capital, and gold ... as currency” (Tooke, “An Inquiry into
the Currency Principle, etc.” p. 10). “Gold and silver may be counted
upon to realize on their arrival nearly the exact sum required to be
provided ... gold and silver possess an infinite advantage over all
other description of merchandize ... from the circumstance of being
universally in use as money.... It is not in tea, coffee, sugar or
indigo that debts, whether foreign or domestic, are usually contracted
to be paid, but in coin; and the remittance, therefore, either in the
identical coin designated, or in bullion which can be promptly turned
into that coin through the mint or market of the country to which
it is sent, must always afford to the remitter, the most certain,
immediate, and accurate means of affecting this object, without risk
of disappointment from the failure of demand or fluctuation of price.”
(Fullerton, l. c. p. 132-133.) “Any other article (except gold or
silver) might in quantity or kind be beyond the usual demand of the
country to which it is sent.” (Tooke: “An Inquiry, etc.”)
[155] The transformation of money into capital we shall consider in the
third chapter which treats of capital and forms the end of the first
book.
[156] This introduction was first published in the Neue Zeit (see
Translator’s Preface, p. 5) of March 7, 14 and 21, 1903, by Karl
Kautsky, with the following explanation:
“This article has been found among the posthumous papers of Karl Marx.
It is a fragmentary sketch of a treatise that was to have served as an
introduction to his main work, which he had been writing for many years
and whose outline was clearly formed in his mind. The manuscript is
dated August 23, 1857.... As the idea is very often indicated only in
fragmentary sentences, I have taken the liberty of introducing here and
there changes in style, insertions of words, etc.... A mere reprint of
the original would have made it unintelligible.... Not all the words in
the manuscript are legible....
“Wherever there could be no doubt as to the necessity of corrections,
I did so without indicating them in the text; in other cases I put all
insertions in brackets. Wherever I am not certain as to whether I have
deciphered a word correctly, I have put an interrogation point after
it; other changes are specially noted. In all other respects this is
an exact reprint of the original, whose fragmentary and incomplete
passages serve to remind us only too painfully of the many treasures
of thought which went down to the grave with Marx, treasures which
would have sufficed for generations if Marx had not so anxiously
avoided giving to the world any of his ideas until he had tested them
repeatedly from every conceivable point of view and had given them a
wording that would be incontrovertible. In spite of its fragmentary
character it opens before us a wealth of new points of view.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account