llic Relative Stability of Gold and Silver. J 79 



Brussels International Monetary Conference, Mr. Gladstone 

 stated that all these opinions had been abandoned, and 

 that gold during that time of " severe trial " was only 

 depreciated 3 per cent., whereas, according to the right 

 honourable gentleman, the value of silver had varied 40 

 per cent, within the last 20 or 30 years. Mr. Jevons's 

 first paper on the subject of gold was read before the 

 Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, and the 

 reputation of Mr. Gladstone as a Finance Minister gives 

 a very great importance to his utterances on such a 

 subject. The question is a scientific and not a political one, 

 and as the Society has already admitted to its Memoirs two 

 papers relating to it, one by Mr. Jevons in 1859 (^Memoirs, 

 Vol. I., 3rd Series), and one by the present writer in 1891 

 {Memoirs and Proceedings, Vol. IV., 4th Series), I trust that 

 a further communication on a problem of extreme economic 

 interest will not be considered out of place. 



Mr. Gladstone's argument, as reported by the Times, was 

 as follows : — " I am not exaggerating when I say that not 

 only the ignorant herd, but many men of sense, and practical 

 men who were high authorities on questions of economy, 

 believed firmly about 40 or 45 years ago that gold was 

 depreciated 20 per cent. I might mention a few names. 

 There was the late Viscount Cardwell, as good an economist 

 as I have ever known among purely political men ; there 

 was Mr. Cobden, who, in addition to his other great gifts 

 and powers, undoubtedly stood very high as a political 

 economist ; and there was a distinguished friend of Mr. 

 Cobden, M. Chevalier, who published a book, the main 

 proposition of which was that gold had undergone a real 

 depreciation of 20 per cent. All that has blown over now, 

 and nobody believes at present in any such depreciation. 

 It happened, too, at that period, that silver was in a state of 

 considerable steadiness, and afforded a very fair test of values 

 in the market. I think I am right in saying that silver then 



