WEALTH OF NATIONS. 181 



roads; in others, as in England, the property of tolls 

 is in private hands, and the burthen of repairing the 

 roads lies on them. The repair of the Languedoe Canal 

 was intrusted, with its tolls, to the Engineer Riqueti's 

 family. A local administration in such cases is always 

 better than a central less costly, and less liable to 

 abuse. To the class of works required for particular 

 branches of commerce belong factories, established in 

 countries either wholly barbarous, or varying widely in 

 their customs and laws from our own ; establishments of 

 Consuls and Ministers; regulated companies, and joint 

 stock companies. Those joint stock companies the 

 members of which have the privilege of transferring their 

 shares, and of being only liable each to the extent of his 

 subscription, have a tendency to draw more capital into 

 the trade than could be invested by the members of 

 private partnerships. Hence they are only to be 

 approved in cases where there is great public benefit to 

 be derived from the trade they undertake, and where 

 private adventure would be insufficient to conduct it. 

 There seem to be only four kinds of business which 

 justify their formation banking, insurances, canals, 

 water-works. Had Dr. Smith lived to our day, he would 

 have included railways. The numbers of such com- 

 panies for purposes of foreign trade which have failed, 

 when not supported by the grant of exclusive privileges, 

 is so great, that, a century ago, the Abbe Morellet enu- 

 merated no less than fifty-five such instances in one 

 hundred and fifty years. 



(2.) Institutions for the education of children or 

 youth do not necessarily fall on the State to maintain 

 them; they may defray their own expenses. The 



