Page:Malthus 1823 The Measure of Value.djvu/76

 to cash payments, or not, it may by no means be the whole change which has taken place in the value of the currency, when compared with an object which has not changed.

It would be very desirable to be able to form an accurate estimate of the rise and fall which has taken place in the bullion price of labour for the last thirty years; but unfortunately, during the latter part of the period, no general estimates of the price of labour have been made, at least none that have come to my knowledge; and there is reason to think that, under the late stagnation in the demand for agricultural labour, the common rate of wages in England has been more than usually interrupted by the operation of the poor laws. On this account, I have made some inquiries respecting wages in Scotland, and have obtained a most valuable communication; but before I refer to it particularly, it may be useful to consider the results of the data we possess in England. The rise in the bullion price of labour from 1790 to 1810 and 11, may be established upon satisfactory grounds, although the amount of the fall which has since taken place may be a matter of considerable uncertainty.

According to the communications to the Board of Agriculture, the price of labour, in