Page:Stabilizing the dollar, Fisher, 1920.djvu/299

. 4, A] University Library. This complaint was simply that the jury was not wholly disinterested and did not take sufficient testimony. That the system itself was not in dispute is shown by the following interesting passage:

Were the system very unsatisfactory it would scarcely have been continued through over two centuries.

It should be further emphasized that, whatever slight danger now exists of abuse of Scotch Fiars prices, would be almost infinitely reduced by the plan here proposed; because, in that plan, we are concerned with great public markets in big cities, with highly standardized grading of goods and standard price quotations instead of with small crude country markets, and because we have to deal with a large number of commodities instead of with only one. It is inconceivable that any sinister influence, in order to help the debtor or creditor, could manipulate a sufficient number of commodities to affect appreciably the index number. Even if some one could "corner" a market and double the price of one commodity this would not raise the general price level one per cent. To accomplish even such a feat is out of the question, while to