nearly united by commerce, it is shown, that, by this territorial division of labor, the most extended production and the most beneficent distribution of all the commodities of the earth are secured; and that, if any nation creates an article of peculiar desirableness, it is placed within the reach of all. Every invention or improvement becomes, in this way, the common property of mankind.

5th, That commerce harmonizes all differences in the industry of the world.

"All Nature's difference makes all Nature's peace."

Any natural impediment or artificial obstruction to the intercourse of nations, in fact, so far injures the production and trade of all.

"A commercial nation," says Sir James Mackintosh, "has the same interest in the wealth of her neighbors that a tradesman has in the wealth of his customers. . . . Not an acre of land has been brought into cultivation in the wilds of Siberia, or on the shores of the Mississippi, which has not widened the market for English industry."

6th, That commerce diminishes the number of wars, and shortens their duration.

There may have been a time when the galleons of Spain. and the Indiaman of England bringing home the stored treasures of barbarism influenced the cupidity of governments to the point of war. But as commerce abandoned the spoils of conquest for the honest industry of the world, as its field became widened, its connections more intimate, its benefits more popular, the temptation to plunder and violence died away. The advantages of a peaceful participation in trade are greater to every people, even those least maritime, than all that could be hoped from the ravages of a Drake or a Doria. The whole interest of commerce is now the inalienable ally of peace. It has not been found sufficient, thus far, to prevent all wars. But it enters into negotiations, tempers grievances, and delays violence. And

when, in spite of its admonitions, war is declared and waged, it remains still an argument for peace more impressive and influential by reason of the distresses and inconveniences attending the loss of accustomed traffic

CHAPTER II.
APTER

OBSTRUCTIONS TO TRADE.

THESE are of three kinds :

First, physical, which are natural; second, social, which are incidental; third, legal, which are conventional.

Looking at these in the light of what has gone before, we shall be inclined to regard them as so much imposed as a burden on industry, shackling the movements of capital and labor.

But they have been presented in another aspect, as if there were compensations for this hinderance of spontaneous trade; and to this, also, we will attend.

Inasmuch, therefore, as these obstructions to trade have been regarded as the protection of local industry, and on that account have been received with favor by scientific men and rulers, we shall speak of them as different forms of PROTECTION. The propriety of the term "protection" we shall discuss at another point.

1st, Physical protection.

This results from obstacles which Nature interposes. They may all be expressed by the single term "location.” The wheat of Vermont has a protection in its own markets as against the wheat of Illinois, to the extent of all the cost of transportation from the latter to the former State. If the cost of transportation and attendant charges are fifty cents per bushel, then the farmers of Vermont can, as far as competition from Illinois is concerned, continue to sell

their wheat until they reach a price fifty cents per bushel greater than they could obtain but for this. All this may not much enrich the farmer; for the greater price may be rendered necessary by the additional labor required. But, at any rate, it assists him in selling just so much. On the other hand, the mechanic of Vermont must pay more, up to fifty cents, for a bushel of wheat. The protection of the farmer, though a natural one, is at the expense of the conThe mechanic, in so far as his bread is concerned, is placed at a disadvantage in production, in competition with those who can purchase their wheat at the prices of Illinois. It costs him more to live: he must, therefore, charge more for his wares, and, of course, sell less.

sumer.

If, now, the introduction of railroads reduces the cost of transportation to twenty-five cents, the Vermont farmers have lost half their protection. The consequence of this will naturally be, that some of that class in Vermont will become mechanics, because the latter class has gained what the former has lost, by the reduction in the cost of transportation. Any thing which reduces the price of agricultural products has a tendency to increase all other branches of production.

This protection amounts generally to an entire prohibition of the foreign article in the case of certain manufactures, such as houses, barns, stores, &c., which might often be erected more conveniently and cheaply than in the country where they are to be occupied; but the cost of transportation puts it out of the question, except in cases where the local facilities are very crude and insufficient. There have been great numbers of houses sent out by ship to California and Australia; and there are, even now, remaining in the eastern portion of the United States, houses which were framed in the old world, or which are made of brick imported from England.

Yet, looking to the whole of things, we find that this class of protection builds up, in every country, an amount of

manufacturing and mining industry, often amounting to one-half of its consumption in that line.

Such a protection to industry being in the nature of things, and, in fact, being the very condition of material existence, we have no more call to inquire whether it is desirable than we have to ask the same concerning weight. It exists, and must continue. The effect of it may be lessened by man's contrivances, but can never be annihilated. Those very contrivances will be among the effects of it.

In a certain sense, and to a degree, such obstructions, even when apparently removed, still continue to exert a protection on local industry. Suppose, for example, a swamp, near a certain town, requires a detour of many miles for all passengers and freight. It is a natural protection on the industry of the place. If, now, a causeway is constructed or the swamp drained, so that the difficulty of travel is avoided, the protection is removed, unless, indeed, it exists in the form of the debt incurred for drainage. In either case, the people are relieved of a certain amount of labor once indispensable; and, though their "protection " has been removed, their industry has been greatly benefited.

In the prodigious enterprises undertaken by science and labor for removing, in every direction, obstacles to uninterrupted communication, do we not find the best practical commentary on all artificial and conventional arrangements for putting countries further apart by imposing restrictions on commerce? If the approach of foreign industry is undesirable, it is an economic curse, that the steamship and the Indiaman have replaced the galleys of Columbus or the triremes of Themistocles. Let the ocean be turned to quicksand, and the earth to mire; that so the mutual hurtfulness of nations may cease in an entire impossibility of reaching each other.

The second of the modes of protection is what we have termed social. We have also called it incidental, there

being no original intention to affect the direction of labor. It arises from social obstructions or political disturbances. These increase the protection afforded the interests of particular localities. A most impressive illustration is found in the results of the war of the Rebellion in the United States. The production and sale of cotton was greatly hindered, and, for a time, almost annihilated. This operated as an immense protection to the cotton of India and Egypt, where, before, the culture was comparatively unprofitable. Yet, under the encouragement of the American war, it became more advantageous than any other branch of industry. Indeed, so largely was it raised in India, that the country increased in wealth at a rate quite astonishing, and a great industrial revolution, for the time at least, was effected. But it was at a heavy expense to all other peoples and countries. What India gained, Europe and America lost; the former as producer, the latter as consumer. The wealth of the world was not increased, but greatly diminished, and its natural and healthy commerce widely deranged.

Even India itself has not been permanently benefited by the extraordinary demand for her cotton. The return of peace in the United States, bringing down the price of her great staple, has caused extensive bankruptcy and great commercial distress. The season of artificial prosperity led to the wildest extravagance and speculation, to the neglect of the culture of rice and other needful crops, so that the event, which, for a while, brought unwonted prosperity, must, in the end, produce equal depression and suffering.

In some countries, the despotic rapacity of the government, and the violence and fraud that pervade society, serve as a great protection to the industry of others, by diminishing personal safety and business security in trade. Such an element affords the same encouragement to others as the introduction of a bear into one store would give to the sales of others.

It plainly reduces the quantity