A history of commerce

CLIVE DAY, Ph.D.
KNOX PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL ECONOMY IN YALE UNIVERSITY
REVISED AND ENLARGED
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 55 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON TORONTO, BOMBAY, CALCUTTA AND MADRAS 1925
Copyright, 1907, by Longmans, Green, and Co. Copyright, 1914, by Longmans, Green, and Co. Copyright, 1922, by Longmans, Green, and Co.
First Edition, May, 1907 Reprinted, April, 1908; June, 1909; August, 1910 August, 1912 New Edition, June, 1914 Reprinted, February, 1916; April, 1917 August, 1919 September, 1920 August, 1921 New Edition thoroughly revised, September, 1922 Reprinted, February, 1923; January, 1924, May, 1925
MADE IN THE UNITED STATES
To E. L. D.
The year 1914 marks one of the great turning points in history. I have accordingly revised the part of this book covering the recent period to close the narrative at that date, and have added another part, covering the history of commerce in the war and in the two or three years of peace immediately following. The commerce of the great nations of the world has departed since 1914 far from its accustomed paths and forms. In my attempt to make intelligible the commercial changes of the time I have had to take account of matters in public finance, currency and foreign exchange which are usually treated apart from the history of international trade. I have thought it better, by touching on these outside subjects, to show the reasons for the course which commerce has followed, rather than to omit the reasons because they are hard for the student of the history of commerce to understand.
Clive Day
1. The purposes of commerce. —The reader will follow more intelligently the history of commerce if he will stop a moment at the start to consider the purposes of commerce and the difficulties which must be overcome if it is to be successfully carried on.
As to the purposes we may be brief. The largest part of the time and energy of the ordinary man is consumed in getting the material things which furnish him with the means of subsistence and of culture. We are accustomed to think of the farmer and the manufacturer as charged especially with supplying our material wants, but a little reflection will show that the work of these classes, without the aid of another class, would be of little use to us. The food and clothing and tools and other desirable articles which they produce are valuable only when they are put into the hands of a man who wants them and can use them. Articles which we all should pronounce desirable, the ripe fruit of the farmer and the finished product of the manufacturer, have still only the possibility of good in them; and this possibility is realized only when they are put in the place where they are wanted at the time when they are wanted. It is the business of the merchant to attend to the proper distribution of wares, in place and time. He does not change the form of things, like the farmer or the manufacturer, but he is as truly a producer as they are.