164 ADAM SMITH. 



commercial interest, whom he never spares in his sharp 

 and severe censures. 



To this subdivision is naturally enough added a disser- 

 tation called, somewhat inaccurately, a 'Digression on 

 the Corn Trade and Corn Laws/ the bounty having 

 been already touched upon. There are four trades 

 engaged in this line of business those of the inland 

 dealer, the importer, the exporter, and the carrier or 

 importer for re-exportation. These trades may be 

 carried on separately or together. 



1. The interest of the consumer, as well as of the 

 producer, is clearly served by the first class of traders ; 

 nor can anything be more clear than that, where they 

 raise the price, which they have no power of doing 

 unless there is a scarcity either begun or impending, 

 they benefit the people by putting them on short allow- 

 ance, and preventing dearth from being exchanged for 

 famine. The gross injustice, and revolting absurdity, of 

 all the laws, now happily abrogated, against forestalling 

 and regrating, intended to keep down prices but in 

 reality keeping them up, by discouraging trade, by dis- 

 couraging agriculture, and by discouraging thrift, it is 

 needless to illustrate either by reason or example. 



2. The trade of the importer is likewise beneficial to 

 the community by somewhat lowering the price of corn; 

 and though this may lower the nominal revenue of the 

 home producer, it likewise lessens his expenses, and so 

 leaves his net income the same, not to mention that in 

 common years there is never much more than the six 

 hundredth part of our comsumption imported from 

 abroad. One thing, however, requires to be observed as 

 to the admission of foreign corn. The producers have 



