the enormous mass of surplus gold now held by the United States, which seems to Mr. Keynes to be so great a menace to us if we return to the gold standard, becomes a much less formidable problem. If it be true that no new great discoveries can be looked for, its gradual scattering over the countries of the world, as they return to peace, sanity and sound currencies, should not be a matter of overwhelming difficulty.
With regard to the other argument in favour of a return to the gold standard—that it frees us from the fear of ill-considered interference by Parliament with our monetary arrangements—Mr. Keynes's argument seems to be still less convincing. He says most truly that "experience has shown that in emergencies Ministers of Finance cannot be strapped down"; but surely that is a bad reason for turning them loose to do their worst at all times. And he adds that "there is no escape from a 'managed' currency whether we wish it or not; convertibility into gold will not alter the fact that the value of gold itself depends on the policy of the Central Banks." But it may be suggested that the policy of the Bank of England, working on traditional lines which the whole business world understood, is a different matter from a
