But there is yet another order of quantities which can be bought and sold, or exchanged, and whose value can be measured in money, and which are therefore wealth by the definition, and it is to this order of quantities that I would specially direct your attention, because it is in respect of them that modern economists are chiefly at fault, and it is with them that the most important questions in modern economics are chiefly concerned.

Suppose that I pay a sum of money into my account with my banker. What becomes of that money? It becomes the absolute property of my banker. I transfer to him the absolute property in the money. But I do not make him a present of it. I get something in exchange for it. And what is that something ? In exchange for the money my banker gives me a credit in his books - that is, he gives me a right of action to demand an equal sum of money from him at any time I please.

This right of action is termed a credit, and it is the price the banker pays for the money; and if I write that right of action down on paper in the form of a cheque, that cheque may circulate in commerce and effect exchanges, exactly like so much money, until it is paid off and extinguished.

So also, if a merchant buys goods on credit, by giving in payment for the goods a right of action against himself to demand so much money at a future time, that right of action is the payment for the goods, and the owner of it may write it down on paper in the form of a bill of exchange; and that bill of exchange may circulate in commerce and effect exchanges exactly like so much money until it is paid off and extinguished.

Thus a right of action written on paper, in the form of a cheque or a bill of exchange, is itself an independent exchangeable article of property, or a vendible commodity, and may be bought and sold exactly like a piece of money, or a house, or a watch, or any other material commodity.

These rights of action are termed credit, because they are not a, title to any specific sum of money, but they are merely abstract rights to demand a sum of money from a debtor; and anyone who buys them does so only because he has the belief, or confidence, or trust, that the debtor can pay them at the proper time.

It will also be convenient to state here that they are also called debts. To go into the whole question of credit and debt would be too long here; but it must be sufficient to state that the words credit and debt are used perfectly indiscriminately in English law and common usage to mean the creditor's right of action to demand a sum of money from a person.

But there are a great many other kinds of abstract rights which receive different names according to the subject to which they refer, which may all be bought and sold, and are therefore also vendible commodities.

Suppose that the state wants money for some public purpose, such as a great war or to execute some public work. It buys money from any person who is willing to sell it to it, and in exchange for the money it gives the subscribers certain rights to demand a series of future payments from the nation. These rights, in popular language, are termed the funds or consols ; and the public creditors may sell these rights to any one else they please. These rights may be bought and sold like any material commodity. They are vendible commodities, and therefore wealth by the definition. Suppose that any person wishes to subscribe to the capital of a public company - banking, railway, canal, dock, or any other. The money he pays becomes the absolute property of the company, as a distinct person in its corporate capacity, and in exchange for the money he receives certain rights to share in the future profits to be made by the company. These rights are termed shares, and the shareholder may sell his rights to any one else. These shares may be bought and sold like any material chattels. They are vendible commodities, and therefore wealth by the definition.

Suppose that a trader establishes a successful business of any sort. Besides the house or premises in which the business is carried on, and the material goods in his shop, he has the right to receive the future profits to be made by the business. This abstract right is termed the goodwill of the business, and the goodwill is part of the trader's assets, over and above the material goods in the shop, and he can sell it for money to any one else. It is a vendible commodity, and therefore wealth.

So when an author publishes a work, he has the exclusive right of publishing that work, and receiving the profits made by it for a certain time. That right is termed copyright, and is a property quite separate from the printed volumes of the work. And the author may sell that copyright to anyone he pleases like a material chattel. It is therefore a vendible commodity, and wealth by the definition.

There are also a considerable number of other abstract rights, of a similar nature, which it would be too long to enumerate, because I do not want to enumerate every separate right, but to call your attention to a particular class of saleable quantities.

Now all these rights of various sorts cannot be handled, nor seen, in that form, but they can all be bought and sold, their value can be measured in money, and therefore they are all wealth.

But all these rights may be written down on some material, such as paper or parchment; and then they may be transferred by manual delivery, like any other material commodity - like money or any other goods.

And because all these rights can be bought and sold, because their value can be measured in money, all jurists expressly class them under the terms "wealth," "goods," "goods and chattels,' or "vendible commodities."

Thus in the great code of Roman law named the Pandects it is laid down as a fundamental definition : "Pecuniæ nomine non solum numerata pecunia, sed omnes res, tarn soli quam mobiles, et tarn corpora quam jura continentur."