MEDIEVAL AND MODERN PRODUCE MARKETS 829 



however, that the place of these races in the owner's interest is 

 very different from the importance attached to the same events 

 by persons who have given money to a bookmaker on the same 

 horse. To the owner the race is merely a way of proving to 

 others the accuracy of opinions long held by him. It is part 

 of a larger situation. His gain is to be derived from establishing 

 a different opinion as to the value of the horse. The gambler is 

 interested merely in winning or losing. To him the race is a 

 bare fact without consequences. Speculation is thus an attempt 

 to gain by anticipating changes in the values of commodities. 

 Gambling is a seeking of gain and excitement from the occur- 

 rence or non-occurrence of any uncertain event. Speculation is 

 concerned with the content and significance of events affecting 

 the valuation of commodities, gambling with the bare fact that 

 something has occurred. 



Mediaeval speculation is not to be distinguished from modern 

 speculation by the antithesis between time differences and place 

 differences. All speculation involves the element of time. But 

 essential differences may arise in the mode of handling the goods 

 during the time interval. In the Middle Ages, the speculator in 

 produce was practically limited in his operations by the amount 

 of his personal wealth. To-day, goods held for speculation are 

 largely carried on credit. In abstract terms the difference may 

 seem slight, but in reality it involves a complete transformation 

 of the technique of trade, and the organization which to-day 

 makes possible the extension of credit in this field also brought 

 to an end the confusion between the speculative and non- 

 speculative elements of dealing in produce. 



The necessity of speculating upon personal capital in the Middle 

 Ages greatly restricted the scope of professional operations. All 

 owners of property were obliged to , speculate more or less, and 

 the owners of large estates became involved in considerable 

 ventures. It was illegal to purchase grain for speculative hoards, 

 and there is reason to believe that the prohibitions were enforced 

 in a measure. We may feel some assurance that large hoards 

 were not formed by direct purchase in the markets, but the laws 

 could not oblige an owner to sell except in times of extreme 



