urth the part of
one-fifth--that is to say, by one-twentieth. The reader, I hope,
understands me, for upon _that_ depends a pretty strong presumption of
the small real change that would be worked in the effective demand for
gold by a great apparent change in our chief demand for gold
manufactures. There can be no doubt that in watches and personal
ornaments is involved our main demand upon the gold market; through
these it is that we chiefly act upon the market. Now three corrections
are applicable to the _prima facie_ view of this subject.

The first of these is--that gold chains, etc., and a pompous display of
rings have long ago been degraded in public estimation by the practice
and opinions prevailing in aristocratic quarters. This tendency of
public feeling at once amounts to a large deduction from what would
otherwise be our demand.

The second of these corrections is--that, since our main action upon the
gold market lies through the jewellers, and, consequently, through
jewellers' gold, therefore, on allowing for the way in which jewellers
alloy their gold, our real means of operating upon the gold market may
be estimated perhaps at not more than one-fourth part of our apparent
means.

A third important correction is this--at first sight it might seem as
though the purchaser of gold articles would benefit by the whole
depreciation of gold, and that the depreciation might be taken to
represent exactly the amount of stimulation applied to the sale, for
instance, of gold plate. But this is not so. Taking the depreciation of
gold at one-half, then upon any gold article, as suppose a salver, each
ounce would have sunk from 77s. to 38s. 6d. Next, rate the workmanship
at 40s. the ounce, and then the total cost upon each ounce will not be
(77s. + 40)/2, or in other words 58s. 6d., as a hasty calculation might
have fancied, but (77s./2) + 40, that is to say, 78s. 6d. Paying
heretofore L5 17s., under the new price of gold you would pay L4 within
a trifle. Consequently, when those who argue for the vast extension of
the gold market, rely for its possibility upon a vast preliminary
depreciation of gold, they are deceiving themselves as to the nature and
compass of that depreciation. The main action of the public upon the
gold market must always lie through _wrought_ and not through unwrought
gold, and in this there must always be two elements of price, viz., X,
the metal, and Y, the workmanship; so that the depreciation w