PART FOUR
The subjects which follow ought to be treated more extensively, but the nature of this book does not allow for that. I would like to float on a tranquil river, but am carried away by a torrent.
Commerce cures one of destructive prejudices, and it is almost a general rule that wherever people (…)
The natural effect of commerce is to dispose us to peace. Two nations that trade together become dependant on each other ; if one has an interest in buying, the other has an interest in selling, and all unions are based on reciprocal needs.
But if the spirit of commerce unites nations, it does (…)
There are two kinds of poor peoples : those who have been made poor by the harshness of the government, and these are incapable of almost any virtue, because their poverty is a part of their servitude ; the others are poor only because they have eschewed, or because they have not known, the (…)
Commerce has a relationship with the constitution. With the government of one man alone, it is based on luxury, and its sole purpose is to obtain for the nation that engages in it everything that can serve its pride, its delights and its fantasies. In a plural government, it is ordinarily based (…)
Marseille, a necessary retreat in the midst of a stormy sea ; Marseille, that place where all the winds, shallows, and coastal configuration make it obligatory to drop anchor, was frequented by seamen. Its barren surroundings predetermined its citizens for commerce of economy.They had to be (…)
England has no set tariffs with other nations ; her tariff changes, so to speak, with each parliament, with the particular duties which she removes or imposes. She has wished still to preserve her independence on that score. Supremely jealous of the trading that occurs there, she binds herself (…)
Laws have been made in certain monarchies which are well designed to humble states engaged in commerce of economy. They have forbidden merchants to import any merchandise except that produced in their own country ; they have permitted them to come and trade only in ships made in the countries (…)
The true maxim is to exclude no nation from one’s commerce without very good reasons. The Japanese trade with only two nations, China and Holland. The Chinese receive a thousand percent profit on sugar, and sometimes just as much on the return shipment. The Dutch make approximately equal (…)
In states that practice commerce of economy, there have fortunately been banks established which with their credit have created new signs of values. But it would be a mistake to transplant them into states that practice the luxury trade. To put them in countries governed by one man alone is to (…)
In states that practice commerce of economy, a free port can be established. The economy of the state, which always follows the frugality of individuals, lends its soul, so to speak, to its commerce of economy. What it loses in tributes by the establishment mentioned here is compensated for by (…)
Montesquieu
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