Middlemen in English Business 425 



A large part of the London trade was conducted by monopoly 

 companies. This circumstance led the American, African and West 

 Indian trade to establish itself in ports where it could be conducted 

 by individual traders.^ Monopolies freed these companies of London 

 from competition and the stimulus that attends it; they did not con- 

 duct their commerce ^vith the same economy that private adven- 

 turers did.^ The outports became the seats of interlopers who suc- 

 ceeded in wresting commerce from London. 



In the period of the Industrial Revolution the most potent factor 

 in provincializing both foreign and domestic commerce was the devel- 

 opment of the canal system. Many intermediary tradesmen were 

 eliminated, and foods passed directly from Birmingham or Manches- 

 ter to the foreign user.^ 



The relative rank of the ports in 1702 is shown by the distribution'' 

 of shipping: 



London 84,560 tons Liverpool 8,670 tons 



Bristol 17,325 tons Whitby 8,250 tons 



Ipswich 11,154 tons Hull 7,590 tons 



Newcastle 10,899 tons Exeter 7,139 tons 



Yarmouth 8,866 tons Scarborough 6,900 tons 



Their relative importance is also indicated by their populations. 

 The changes occurring in these proportions are roughly shown by 

 comparisons of their relative growths in the first half of the eighteenth 

 century. While Bristol was doubling, Liverpool increased five- or 

 six-fold, and London remained practically constant. 



1685-1700 1700-1760 



London 530,000^ 725,903i» 



550,0006 676,250* 



670,000^ 



696,000* 



674,3509 



1 Capper, Port and Trade, 117. 



2 "Increase and Decline," 8; "Opening the Trade," 4-6. 



^ See treatment in Mantoux, 118. This practice was arising in 1728; see Atlas 

 Mar. et Com.," 109; Defoe, Tour, III, 93. 



^ Based on data from Macpherson, II, 160-1 note. 

 * Gregory King. 

 6 Davenant. 

 ^ Petty. 



** Anderson, Origin, II, 578: IV, 690. 



» Report, Census, 1801. (See Enc. Brit., 11 ed. XVI, 965.) 

 '« Mai tiand, 1737. 



