Mr. Chaplin, in a speech at Newcastle on Monday, referred
to a deputation representing local trade societies which had thanked him for his exertions in favour of Bimetallism, which Mr. Chaplin thinks likely to prevent the further appreciation of gold and the consequent lowering of wages (estimated in money). Mr. Chaplin maintained that even if nominal wages in the manufacturing districts have not fallen, the wages of agricultural labourers have fallen considerably of late years, and that out of the wages of the artisans, provision has had to be made for from seven hundred thousand to nine hundred thousand artisans out of work,— a provision which has constituted a very heavy drain on the wages of these artisans. Hence, he argued that wages had really been lower than they had seemed to be, and that it is very important to prevent a further fall in money-wages, which he thinks might be averted by the bimetallic expedient. But Mr. Chaplin did not explain how greater. steadiness in the value of money will ensure greater steadiness in the amount of money which the labourer is to receive.
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