664 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
currency would effect your object of keeping internal prices linked with gold ?—Stabler than they would be otherwise is what I said. If we adopted a gold standard our prices would be more stable than they would be under an exchange standard. I did not say that under a gold standard they would be perfectly stable because gold itself is not a perfectly stable standard of value ; but certainly it would be more stable than under an exchange standard.
Because simply we should be using more gold ?—Yes.
That is your only reason for differentiation ?—Yes.
(Sir Maneckji Dadabhoy.) Let me proceed a step further with regard to the answers you gave to Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas : in paragraph 8 you say “Existing contracts are no doubt of various ages ; but the great bulk of them are of very recent date and probably not more than one year old ; so that it may be said that the centre of gravity of the total contractual obligations is always near the present.” When you are referring to this matter, I understand you are speaking without any definite statistics ?—Yes ; I simply say there has been a calculation made by Professor Fisher.
You state this as a sort of generalisation ?—Yes. I said I had no definite information.
When you speak of a centre of gravity of the total contractual obligations being near the present, it is not a very definite term. Would not that centre of gravity come within the circumference of twelve months ?—Yes, somewhere about that; because I have said one year old.
So that, if a certain ratio prevailed twelve months ago, we would be, according to your reasoning, as much justified in taking that as 1s. 6d. ?—Quite ; yes.
So you would be as much justified in taking that ?— Yes.
Then when discussing this matter and when you expressed your election in favour of the 1s. 6d. ratio. I understand you founded your opinion on the dictum of Professor Fisher ?— Yes.
Now we have got this dictum of Professor Fisher before us ; the words used are :— “The problem of a just standard of money looks forward rather than backward ; it must take its