recondite to render an adequate discrimination of so valuable a transfer of property a reasonable demand to be expected of the public generally. It could not be said that the transferee or purchaser, by the exercise of due caution, might protect his own interests sufficiently. It was not denied that the laws of the land might be appealed to in each case of fraud, and the courts would take all the facts into their consideration; but the legislature was not anxious to multiply litigation needlessly, and all governments have claimed an interest in the transfer of the precious metals which are the standard of the currency.

If the currency is a matter the purity of which greatly affects the stability of the country and the morality of the people, the material of the currency itself, as well as the name currently given to it, cannot be left to be manipulated for the sole advantage of a particular class of manufactures and trades. If gold be the name, and a particular and specified fineness of this gold the material, then it is pretty evident that, although the currency is rather the waggon which conveys than the material itself of a nation's wealth, yet the " waggon" must not be

só fragile or so untrustworthy as to render its use uncertain and dangerous.

Why should the people be deprived of the security which the government deems so essential to its own protection? While the whole of the circumstances essential to the protection of the community in the formation of new schemes of investment are regulated by law, why should the very material itself-the very name "gold" --which represents the value of the shares-be left to the devices of any fraudulent trader who chooses to impose on his unscientific customer for his individual benefit, without any regard to the ultimate injury involved on "society"?

If, however, it be deemed advisable to carry the doctrines of "free trade" to the extent of licensing every man to outvie his neighbour in the coinage of deception, let not the sanction of the law be practically given to this deception. If brass, and iron, and plaster of paris may be sold for gold, at least let not the "stamping and Hall-marking" be pledged in substantiation of the fraud. If a great guild, bearing an ancient charter, vouches for the fulfilment of the conditions of this guarantee, let the gold be of a fineness to be easily ascertained by the purchaser

and transferee. Coffee may not be sold as coffee when mixed with any other grain, however beneficial, but must on pain of penalty be called by some other name and sold as a mixture. Even so let "gold" (a name bearing a special signification) be hedged about at least sufficiently to prevent the most annoying and injurious frauds which are rendering the trade in precious metal wares abroad anything but savoury.

That certain artists in metallic work are deprived of employment because they cannot sell iron and copper, lead and brass, and tin and zinc for gold, is an argument which is very gravely urged. If the work commends the artist, the sale is a most legitimate and laudable one; but, if only the fraud commends the artist, why should the argument have weight?

Fraud is not needful to bolster up free trade. By all means let every encouragement be given to art as such, but it is the death-blow of art to substitute the false for the true.

If the object of legislation is to pit cunning against cunning, and drive the weakest in this contest to the wall, we must as a nation profess the "Rogues' creed."

If the man who coins a base sovereign is a

criminal in the eye of the law, why should not the trader who marks his spurious gold with a stamp intended to deceive his customer for Hall-marking be also so deemed?

Gold marked by the Hall should be of a recognised value. It should be the 18-carat, or higher, if those values be now sufficiently recognised. If any tradesman desires to sell works of art which he deems have a higher value than the material of which they are made, let him mark it with his own name, state the value of the composite matter (the carat value), and trust to his genius for the sale and not to the falsehood of a cunning imitation of the Hall-mark.

Let these rules be known, and universally adopted, and then the man who purchases may fairly be expected to use the needful caution to afford him adequate protection. Trade generally would be less liable to ultimate loss from fraudulent appearances, and competition would be absolutely freed from injurious conditions, and fine art in metal work might be expected to revive.

It is well known that I have myself at all risk to my trade, persevered in offering only the 18-carat gold. Whatever machinery could do,

and skill could accomplish to render my articles moderate in price and acceptable as works of art and of ascertained value, I have done persistently. The gold thus transferred is of its marked current value, no matter how long it may have been used in the shape of articles of ornament or luxury. It may be said that I have no reason to complain of the result, but others with less stock-in-trade and less means of display have not the same chances; and, while I admit that the repute and protection of trade generally, have much influenced my crusade against "fraudulent gold" ware, I maintain that the confidence of the public, derived from a reassurance of the genuine character of our jewellery trade, is worth all the temporary sacrifice which this safer path is likely to entail.

EDWIN W. STREETER.