Ill

THE RETURN TO GOLD

247

of Deflation, it necessarily postponed activemeasures of capital expansion at home, such asmight facilitate the transference of labour intothe home trades. British wages, measured ingold, are now 15 per cent higher than theywere a year ago. The gold cost of living inEngland is now so high compared with what itis in Belgium, France, Italy, and Germany thatthe workers in those countries can accept a goldwage 30 per cent lower than what our workersreceive without suffering at all in the amount oftheir real wages. What wonder that our exporttrades are in trouble!

Our export industries are suffering becausethey are the first to be asked to accept the 10per cent reduction. If every one was accepting asimilar reduction at the same time, the cost ofliving would fall, so that the lower money wagewould represent nearly the same real wage asbefore. But, in fact, there is no machinery foreffecting a simultaneous reduction. Deliber-ately to raise the value of sterling money inEngland means, therefore, engaging in a strugglewith each separate group in turn, with no pro-spect that the final result will be fair, and noguarantee that the stronger groups will not gainat the expense of the weaker.

The working classes cannot be expected tounderstand, better than Cabinet Ministers, whatis happening. Those who are attacked first arefaced with a depression of their standard of life,because the cost of living will not fall until allthe others have been successfully attacked too;