ity and utility of the plan had become sufficiently demonstrated, it might be made compulsory, in the sense that every money debt of, say, more than three months' standing, would be varied according to the tabular standard, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary."
As shown in Appendix V, § 2, plans very similar to the above are now actually employed to some extent.
4. Direct Anticipations
We next cite the writings which describe plans substantially like that proposed in this book (i.e. plans for adjusting the weight of gold in a monetary unit by the aid of an index number of prices) and which were published earlier than the author's Purchasing Power of Money. For others who anticipated the idea but did not publish, see Preface.
"The regulation of the new system is, that in whatever proportion the general and annual price of farm labour throughout the kingdom has a tendency to rise or fall, that rise or fall shall be counteracted by a reverse rise or fall in the current price of the gold and silver coin," p. 221.
"The first and most obvious method of attaining the object is to issue a paper currency which shall be redeemable, not in gold dollars of fixed weight, but in such quantities of gold and silver bullion as shall suffice to make the required purchases." [Newcomb also anticipated the device, shown in Appendix I, § 5, for retaining gold coins in circulation, if desired.]
Alfred Marshall. Remedies for Fluctuations of General Prices. The Contemporary Review, March, 1887, p. 371, footnote. [Marshall gives two possible plans (neither of which is advocated). One is for an inconvertible currency to be issued (by purchase of consols) whenever a sovereign is worth in commodities more than par and retired (by sale of consols) whenever it is worth less. The other is for a convertible currency,
