MARKET METHODS AND PROBLEMS 535 



The commission business is moribund and should have been dis- 

 carded long ago. It has disappeared in some instances to the satisfac- 

 tion of those affected. The consumer pays the cost of uneconomical 

 handling of food by the commission merchants, and the elimination 

 of unnecessary factors and the obtaining of more direct avenues to a 

 source of supply are his sole relief. In order to economize the cost 

 of the present distributive system he must merge the various dis- 

 cordant elements to secure greater efficiency. 



169. THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN 1 

 BY FREDERICK BASTIAT 



There are several modern sects which violently oppose what they 

 call intermediates. They would gladly suppress the capitalist, the 

 banker, the speculator, the projector, the merchant, and the trader, 

 accusing them of interposing between production and consumption, 

 to extort from both, without giving either anything in return. Or 

 rather, they would transfer to the state the work which they accom- 

 plish, for this work cannot be suppressed. 



The sophism of the Socialists on this point consists in showing to 

 the public what it pays to the intermediates in exchange for their 

 services, and concealing from the public what it would be necessary 

 to pay to the state for doing the same thing. Here is the usual con- 

 flict between what is before our eyes and what is perceptible to the 

 mind only; between what is seen and what is not seen. 



It was at the time of the scarcity in France, in 1847, that the 

 French Socialists attempted and succeeded in popularizing their 

 erroneous theories. They knew very well that the most absurd 

 notions have always a chance with people who are suffering. There- 

 fore, by the help of the fine words, " trafficking in men by men, specu- 

 lation on hunger, monopoly," they began to deprecate commerce, and 

 to cast a doubt over its benefits. "What can be the use," they say, 

 "of leaving to the merchants the care of importing food from the 

 United States and the Crimea ? Why do not the state, the depart- 

 ments, and the towns, organize a service for provisions and a maga- 

 zine for stores ? They would sell at a return price, and the people, 

 poor things, would be exempted from the tribute which they pay to 

 free, that is, to egotistical, individual, and lawless commerce." 



The tribute paid by the people to commerce is that which is seen. 

 The tribute which the people would pay to the state, or to its agents, 

 ' x Essays on Political Economy, pp. 100-109. ( G - P- Putnam's Sons.) 



