358 TradesTnan and Merchant — Commercial Population 



either in Europe or Country ships, has been so long ingrossed by the 

 Company's servants, that they really think they have a right to it at 

 their own rates. The Agent at Ispahan is concerned one-third, the 

 chief of Gombroon one-third, and the rest of the factors of Persia the 

 other third in all investments; so that here's scarce an Englishman in 

 place, will give a true account of the value of goods against his own in- 

 terest.'"- Against such a general collusion the Company was quite 

 helpless ; each factory was managed by Governors and a Council who 

 passed upon all orders, general letters, and monthly accounts, and sign- 

 ed them or ordered the Secretary to sign them.- Yet in spite of this 

 elaborate machinery for securing true accounting the abuses of the 

 officers in doing private trade continued notorious, all being interested. 

 Factors were trained for their work by a practical business appren- 

 ticeship. In France they first served a retail tradesman, after which 

 "les garfons facteurs" or "commis" apprenticed themselves to a 

 "negociant" or "marchand grossier" doing a large foreign and do- 

 mestic business.^ Having acquired a knowledge of the theory and 

 practices of merchandizing he was held competent to ship as factor. 

 The English laid less exaction or emphasis on apprenticeship, but more 

 on actual experience in foreign fields. For this reason most factors 

 were great travellers in their early years. Henry Gerway,"^ succes- 

 sively a Levant factor, Levant merchant, and Governor of the Levant 

 Company, boasted that he had been "an experienced traveller" and 

 had been "in all parts of Christendom," an invaluable training for 

 his business. Part of this experience abroad was gained in the capac- 

 ity of supercargo; a voyage gave the candidate opportunity to show 

 his talents and recommend himself to his principal. The South Sea 

 Company practiced a method of grading their servants on the basis 

 of seniority and in this way arrived at their choice of factors.^ The 

 colonies oft'ered great chance for young merchants who lacked capital 

 of their own; they settled in the colony and received consignments 

 from their friends in England which they sold on commission; having 

 gained a training and a fund of capital the\- returned to England and 

 set up as merchants to the same colony.'' 



' Lockj-er, Trade in India, 225. 



" Ibid., 5. 



' Savary, Par. Neg., 121. 



^ Bourne, Eng. Mer., 222. 



^ "Inquiry into Misconduct and Frauds," 32. 



'■"Trade and Navigation," 100. The dearth of capital in the Colonies was a 

 fundamental reason why sales abroad were more usually done by resident factors 

 than by domestic merchants. See treatment by Craik, Hist, of Com,, III, 107. 



