Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/79

 and labour as it did when the bargain was struck. In this way all bargains that extended over a period of months or years had something of a very speculative or even gambling character. People felt pretty sure prices and wages would go on declining, but they could not be certain how rapid the decline would be, nor how far it would go. A temporary check to production caused by some unforeseen misfortune might for a time prevent prices falling at all; or, on the other hand, some industrial discovery might give a fresh and unforeseen impetus to production, and the decline might be much greater and more rapid than could have been anticipated. It might be said that no real harm is done by the introduction of this uncertainty into the terms of all bargains; for whatever is lost by one party to the bargain is gained by the other. If John Smith promises to pay 20l. to Robert Williams at the end of twelve months, and if this 20l. is worth 10 per cent. more at the end of the year than either of them expected it would be when the bargain was made, John Smith is 10 per