TRADE AND LABOR. 245 



upon the conditions and consumption of the masses 

 of the people, because no one manufactures for him- 

 self solely, but every one, through trade, produces for 

 the consumption of society and for the benefit of all. 



Under these conditions the trader is as necessary to 

 the welfare and prosperity of society as is the farmer 

 or manufacturer. Through him must the exchanges 

 be made that will place the varied products of in- 

 dustry within the reach of all. But the speculator, 

 the gambler, the maker of " corners," still remain the 

 curses of trade and leeches of society. 



At the present time the farmer is as much depen- 

 dent upon the operations of trade, for subsistence, as 

 is the merchant himself. The farmer now sells his 

 grain to one and buys his flour and meal of another. 

 He sells his wool, and flax, and cotton, at one time ; 

 at another he buys his cloth, and often his ready made 

 clothing. He sells his hogs and buys his pork ; his 

 cattle and buys his beef, his shoes, his plows, his tools 

 of every nature, and pays cash for the services of the 

 blacksmith and carpenter. Of all the operations that 

 are now resorted to, to supply the wants of man, there 

 are few that do not enter into trade for their consum- 

 mation. 



The man who attempts to understand the great 

 changes that have taken place in the social condition 

 of the people, within the memory of many now living, 

 and does not take these facts into consideration, nor 

 give them their due weight, is sure to fall into griev- 

 ous errors, and becomes an unsafe counsellor. Now, 

 when all production goes into the channels of trade, 

 all the profits of the business of the merchant or 



