If the State uses this power systematically in order to force the community to accept a particular sort of money whose employment it desires for reasons of monetary policy, then it is actually carrying through a measure of monetary policy. The States which completed the transition to a gold standard a generation ago, did so from motives of monetary policy. They gave up the silver standard or the credit-money standard because they recognized that the behaviour of the value of silver or of credit money was unsuited to the economic policy they were following. Ludwig Von Mises
About This Quote

John Maynard Keynes is saying that the reason that some states have abandoned their silver or gold standard is because it is not good for the state to have a fixed standard. When the government sets the standard, they are essentially choosing for themselves what should be valued. Of course, if they are running a real economy, then they are going to make their decisions based on what will best help them achieve their goals. However, if they are simply trying to support a policy of inflation, then they are essentially choosing not to value the things they want to value.

Source: The Theory Of Money And Credit

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