the cent is not yet
introduced. Nobody reckons in
cents for the same reason.
Everybody wishes to reckon in
cents, who wishes to combine
the advantage of decimal
reckoning with the
preservation of the pound as
{172} the highest unit of
account; amongst others, a
majority of the House of
Commons, the Bank of England,
the majority of London
bankers, the Chambers of
Commerce in various places,
etc. etc. etc.
"Such a coin could never come Does 2-1/2d. never pass from
into general circulation hand to hand? And is 2-1/2d.
because it represents nothing so precisely the modulus of
which corresponds with any of popular wants, that an
the wants of the people." alteration of 4 per cent.
would make it useless? Of all
the values which 2-1/2d.
measures, from three pounds of
potatoes down to certain
arguments used in the House of
Commons, there is not one for
which a cent would not do just
as well. Mr. Lowe has fallen
into the misconception of the
person who admired the
dispensation of Providence by
which large rivers are made to
run through cities so great
and towns so many. If the cent
were to be introduced
to-morrow, straightway the
buns and cakes, the soda-water
bottles, the short omnibus
fares, the bunches of
radishes, etc. etc. etc.,
would adapt