POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 3 



merchant marine and knew how to use it 

 was the United States. This neutrality was 

 of great value to America; but before con- 

 sidering what advantages war gave, it is 

 well to consider under what conditions 

 commerce was carried on in times of peace. 



In studying commercial conditions at the 

 beginning of the last century, it is neces- 

 sary for the student to remember what an 

 important factor colonial trade was in the 

 commerce of that day, and it is impossible 

 for him to understand the intricacies of this 

 trade unless he continually keeps in mind 

 the fact that the colony and the mother 

 country were really one. Granted this fact, 

 there was no more reason why one country 

 should claim the right to trade with the 

 colony of another than to claim the right 

 to share in the coasting trade of that coun- 

 try, which, as is well known, is reserved 

 even to-day by the United States for its 

 own vessels. 



The theory of colonial relations was that 

 the colony was to be supplied and defended 



