Page:Malthus 1823 The Measure of Value.djvu/88

, from the scantiness of the supply compared with the demand, was at one time much above its natural and ordinary value, and has since, from the abundance of the supply compared with the demand, been as much below its natural value; while the value of the currency, though it has fallen and risen considerably, has been much more steady than the value of corn.

To what extent the alterations in the value of the currency beyond the difference between bullion and paper are attributable to the Bank restriction, and the return to cash payments, it is by no means easy to say. That the currency would have fallen very considerably under the circumstances of the last war, and risen very considerably under the circumstances which accompanied the peace, although paper had been kept on a par with gold, I cannot feel the least doubt; and probably the only difference has been, that as the increase of paper beyond what would circulate at par with gold gave facilities to production, and to the bringing of poor land into cultivation during the war, it has tended to increase the glut and low prices since the peace.

But whatever may have been the pressure on the owners of land since the peace, they cannot