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M E R C A NTI L E
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.
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TO R I C A L
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S Y S TE M A ND
I G NI FI C A NC E
UDUBB IUD
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6
E CO NO MI C
E D I TE D
BY
w
C L A S S I CS
.
J
.
AS H L E Y
n
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fn
D
G U S TA V S CH M O L L E R
E CONOMIC CL A S SI CS
Vo lx nz es no w
A 5A I
,
re a d
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S M I TH
S e le c t Ch afte rs
a nd
Pa ssage s
Pa r a lle l Ch at te rs fr o m tit e
1 st a
nd 2 nd E dz tz o ns
'
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Fir s t S if Ch at te rs
TH OM A S M U N
E ngla nd
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s
Tr e a s u r e oy
Fo r r a nn Tr a de
R I CH A R D
9 0 NE S
’
Pe a s a nt R e nts
G U S TA V S CH M O L L E R
M e r ca ntile Sy s te m
Fo rtfi eo m ing vo lumes
CH I L D
TU R G O T
KOS CH E R
B RE
N T/ 1 NO
WA GNE R
69°C ” Co’ e .
TI L E S Y STEM
THE MER C AN
AN
D
I TS
HI STO RI CAL
I L L U S TRATED CHI EF
LY
B EI
S TU D
IEN
U
NG
A CH
S I G NI FI C ANCE
FROM PRU SS I ANHI S TORY
APTE R
FR OM TH E
EB ER D I E WI ] ? TH S CH A FTL I CH E
FR IED RICHS D E S GR O S S EN
P OLI TIK
G U STAV S C HMO L L E R
New got h
M A C M I L L A N A ND
A ND
L O ND ON
1
A ll
r
n/ t
8 96
z s
r e s e r ve d
TI L E SY STEM
THE MER C AN
D
AN
I TS
I L L U S TRATED CHI EF
LY
B
S TU D
IEN
U
S I G NI FI C ANC E
H I STO R I CAL
EI N G
A
CH
FROM PRU SS I ANHI S TORY
APTE R
FR OM TH E
EB ER D I E WI R TH S CH A FTL I CH E
FR IED R ICHS D E S GR O S S EN
P OLI TIK
G U STAV S C HMO L L E R
New got h
M A C M I L L A N A ND
L O ND O N
A ND
1
A ll
8 96
z ts
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COPY R I GH T,
BY
1
895,
M A CM I L L A N A ND C0
m
— wi
Nurhauo h
.
a ss
B er ck 8: Smith.
J S Cush ing Co
No rwo o d M ass U .S A .
.
.
.
.
.
was born at H eilbronn in Wurte mb e rg
on June 2 4 1 8 3 8
A fte r studying at the University o f
T ubingen h e becam e in 1 8 64 e x t r ao r din a r y and in 1 8 65
o r din a ry Pro fe ssor o f th e Po li t i c a l S cience s ( S ta a ts wis se n
s c/z afte n)
at the U ni ve r s i t y o f H alle
I n 1 8 7 2 he was
a ppo in te d Pr o fe ss o r at th e re organis ed U ni ve r s i t y o f S trass
b urg and in 1 8 8 2 was s umm o n e d to succe e d A do lf H eld at
the U ni v e r s i t y o fB e rlin
I n 1 8 8 7 he was ele cted a M embe r
and also a pp o in te d
o f the Pr uss i a n A cademy o f S cience s
H istoriographer fo r B r a n de nb urg
Pro fessor Schm o lle r was o ne o f the le ading p romoters o f
the Eisenach C ongre ss
fo r th e discussion o f the S ocial
a
a
r
r
uestion
Z
r
es
r
e
c
/
z
a
n
d
e
s
o
z
a
l
e
n
F
e
and
de
B
i
"
g
g
p
)
(
livere d the o p e ning address at its fi rst me eting on O ct 6
oundation on t hat occasion o f
1 8 7 2 : he took p a r t in th e f
the A ssoci ation fo r S ocial Politics ( Ve re in filr S oz ia lp o l
k ) and has e x ercised gre at influenc e ove r its subse quent
in
action S ince 1 8 7 8 h e has e dite d a substantial serie s o f
G U STAV SCH MOL L E R
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
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,
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"
,
.
,
,
.
I nves tzga tio ns in Po litica l
a nd
S o cia l S cie nce
t
a ts
a
S
(
a nd
S oz ia lzo isse ns c/z aftlicke Fo rs c/z a nge n) , l arge l y
his pupils
j
a fi ronclz
;
f
and from
ar
1
881
the work o f
onward he has conducted the
G e s e tz ge onng, Ve rz va lta ng
im de u tsclz e n R e iche
.
a nd
Vo lks wirt/zs c/z aft
vi
H is most important wri tings hitherto have be en the fo l
f E co no mic Opinio ns
ic/ite de r
in G e rma ny during t/z e R efo rma tio n ( Zur G es cn
la nd w dlz re nd
te n in D e uts cn
na tio na lo ko no mis clz e n A ns icn
de r Pefo rma tio nsp erio de in the T ubinge n Ze its cliri
ft fur
and s ep arately T ubingen 1 8 61 )
aft 1 8 60
S ta a ts zo iss e nscn
lowing
Co ntrioutio ns to the I fis to ry
:
o
‘ ’
'
,
,
,
Co ntrioutio ns to tae I fis to ry
ma ny in the
1
9th
Kle inge zo e roe im
1
f
o
Ce ntury
nunde rt H alle
j
" ues tio ns of
.
,
L
aw
Op e n L e tte r to Profe sso r Tre its c/z lee
e
ta in
e
n
"g
des R
ec/
its u nd
scfi rioe n a n
J ena
1
,
burg
1
,
G re a t
,
a nd
E
f
o
On
ce r
co no my :
An
g G rundfra
in ofi e nes S e nd
e r e ini e
H e inric/z
u nd
co no
8 70 )
D
p
ra
vo n
Tre itsc/z ke ,
e rs a nd
Wea v
We oe rz unft S trass
,
mic Po licy of Fre de rick the
'
,
,
,
Co ntriou tio ns to t/z e l ite ra ry I I is to ry of t/z e Po litica l
S o cia l S cie nces
ur L itte ra turgesclz iclz te de r S ta a ts
Z
(
S o z ia lzo iss e nsc/z afte n, L
eipzig
,
1
M o de rn " ue s tio ns of S o cia l
u nd
A ufs atz e ,
'
B
Ge r
noe r die zo irt/zsclz aftlic/z e Po litik Frie dric/is
in his ja nrouclz 1 8 84 1 8 8 6 1 8 8 7 and sepa
udie n
t
S
(
)
S o z ia l
r.
S tra ss ourge r T uc/z e r
8 7 9) 5 S tudies in til e E
ra te ly
on
1
de r Vo lks wirt/z s c/z aft : E
H errn Profe ss o r D
des G ro s s e n,
a nd
(
8 7 5) 3 The S tra ss ou rg G ild
D
e
i
(
ers
f
o
z en
z iclz te de r de uts c/
u
r G es c/
Z
(
a lz r
9
Funda me nta l
til e S ma ll I ndus tries
us ines s
888)
a nd
G e zve ré ep o litik de r
E
ss ays
I ndus tria l Po licy
u
r
Z
(
Sp e e c/z es
G ege nz va rt :
Tue I iis to rica l E
L eipzig ,
u nd
a nd
R e de n
und
vo lu tio n
f
o
U nde rta king ( D ie ges c/z iclz tlic/z e E ntzo ickelu ng de r
U nte rne n
mung,
in his ja lz rouclz fo r 1 8 90 and subsequent
years ) and an article on E co no mic D o ctrine a nd M e tlz o d
( Vo lkswirt/z s cnaft Vo lks w irtlzs clz aftsle lz re u nd me tno de
contribute d in 1 8 93 to C onrad s H a ndw o rte rouc/z de r
S ta a ts w iss e nsclz afte n)
H is scientifi c and literary activity
-
,
,
’
.
‘ ’
vii
has be en incessant and wide r each i ng : a l i st o f his w ri t i ngs
down to 1 8 93 will b e found in th e article devote d to him
by Dr L ipp ert in C onrad s H a ndw o rte rouclz which has
be en freely drawn upon fo r the foregoing account
The Essay on th e M e rca ntile Sys te m he re translate d , wi th
th e autho r s sanction by the editor o f this s eries forms th e
introduction to his S tudies in the E co no mic Po licy of Fre d
e rick t/
1 88
and
was
pub
z e G rea t : it is date d S ept 30
3
lish e d in the fi rst issue o f his ja /z roucli in 1 88 4
T o this
have be en added in A pp endi x I as dealing with the sam e
general the m e some p ages fro m his R ep o rt on the volume s
o f A cta B o russ ica which deal with the S il k I ndustry read
be fore the Be rlin A cade my o f S cience s on A pri l 2 1 1 8 92
and publishe d in the Munich A llge me ine Ze itung fo r May
1
2 and a f
and
2
1
terwards
separately
The
aim
the
8
o
f
9
3
9
translator has been to p r esent the argument in i diomatic
English ; and he has not h esitated to occasionally sacrific e
shades o f me aning which c ould no t be rendere d w i thout
making the ver 51 on inconveni ently cumbrous
For the convenience o f readers a list o f th e terri torial
possessions o f the H ouse o f H oh enzollern in the si x te enth
and sevente enth centuries has been added in A pp endi x I I
and their geographical p osition has be en ind i cate d on the
map at th e end o f the volume
A nd sinc e the author s
illustrations o f his general thesis are taken chi e fly fro m
German and Prussian history a numb er o f notes have be e n
add ed throughout to e x plain technical e x p ressions and sug
gest English p ara l lels The view o f the eighteenth century
taken by the author should b e compare d with that o f th e
late S ir J ohn S eeley in l e E xp a ns io n of E ngla nd
-
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Pro fe ssor Sc hmo lle r is th e l eade r o f what i s known as
”
the younger H istorical S chool o f German E conomists
I t has be en his ende avour as h e de clare d in 1 8 8 7 on enter
ing the Be r l in A cad emy
to be both an Economist and a
H istorian and the task that has always floate d be fore his
e ye s has be en
to really accomplish what H ildebrand
”
Knie s and R o sche r atte mpted
Th e E ssay he r e p re
sente d is a most characteristic piece o f his work ; and it
i s an e x ampl e o f a kind o f teach i ng that is e x ercising great
i n fluenc e in G e rmany over th e minds o f e conomists o f
politicians o f o fficials and o f the e ducated public For
these reasons it m erits attention whatever j udgment may
b e arr i ved at conce rn i ng the val i dity o f the argument
.
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CO
TH E M E
RCANT I L E
SY
STEM
NT E NT S
A ND
I TS
HI
.
ST ORI CAL
S I GNI FI CANCE
.
S tage s in E c o n o m i c E v o lu ti o n
Th e Vi ll age
Th e To w n
Th e Te rr ito ry
Th e
Nati o n al
State
M e rc a n ti l ism
Th e Co m m uni ty
o
fNati o n s
A PPE ND I "
RU SS I AN SI L K I ND U ST RY
P
I
N
TH E
A PPE ND I "
LI
ST
O F TH E
H
R
P I NCE
O H ENZO L L E R N
S
A ND
TE
I
.
E I GH TEE NT H CE NT U
II
RR I T ORI E S
RY
.
O F TH E
H
OU S E
OF
81
S Y S TE M A ND
M E R CA N T I L E
TH E
H I S TO R I CA L
I TS
‘
S I G N I FI CA N CE
.
pass j udg m
e nt as e co nom i sts up o n a w
hol e h i sto r ica
l
p er i o d ne ce ssari ly i nvolve s a c ompar i son o f i t w i th what
pre cede d and what foll o we d ; i nvolve s that i s to say our
understand i ng i t as o ccupyi ng a p l ace i n som e large r
move ment o f econom i c evo luti on
O ne naturally begi ns
there fore by th i nking o f th e vari ous ways i n wh i ch m en
have h i therto attempted to p i cture to the mselve s the deve l
o p m e nt o f the nati ons
and the reby to c ompre he nd i t i n a
compl ete theory The y have e i ther fastene d upon the
parall e l b e twe e n th e l i fe o f a p eop l e and th e l i fe o f an
i nd ivi dual ; o r they have c once ive d o f a s eri e s o f stage s i n
wh i ch ( 1 ) pastoral l i fe ( 2 ) agri cul tu r e ( 3) i ndustry and
e
f
trade
or
a
barte
r
the
use
o
currency
and
c
4
)
( )
( )
( )
(
trade re sti ng up on cred i t have foll owe d one anothe r i n
orderly succe ssi on
The se ar e c oncep ti ons wh i ch do,
i nde ed each take hol d o f one p orti o n o f the conte nts o f
th e proce ss o f e conom i c ev o luti on and fo r the compari
son w i th one anothe r o i many p eri ods and commun i
t i e s they are approp r i ate enough but wi th rega r d to the
pa r ti cu lar matter we have now i n hand the m ercanti le
system they g ive us l i tt l e help and m ay eve n l ead u s
astray A nd i t i s also cl ear that we c ould wi th e qual
To
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B
1
A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
3
.
exerc i se s the m o st p ene trati ng i n fluence up on the var i ous
forms o fe conom i c organ i sati o n that have made the i r appear
ance i n h i story
I n assoc i ati on w i th the tribe the mark
the vi llage the t own ( or c i ty) the terr i tory the state and
the con fe derati on c ertai n de fin i te e conom i c organi sm s
have be en succe ss ive l y evolve d o f ever w i der scop e : here i n
we have a conti nuou s proc e ss o f deve lopm ent wh i ch though
i t has never accounte d fo r al l the fac ts o f e conom i c l i fe
has at every p e ri o d d ete rm i ned and dom i nate d i t W i th i n
the v i llage the town the terri tory and the state the i nd i
v i dual and the fam i l y have re tai ned the i r i ndep endent and
signi ficant pos i ti on 3 d ivi si on o f labour i mprove ment o fthe
curre ncy te chn i ca l advance h ave e ach pursue d the ir course
the formati on o f soc i al classe s has gone on i n parti cular
d i re cti ons and ye t e conomi c cond i ti ons have thr o ughout
re ce ive d the ir p ecul i ar stamp from the p reval e nc e at e ach
p eri od o f a vi llage e conomy a town e con o my a terri tori al
e conomy or a nati onal e conomy , from th e spl i tting asunde r
o f the p eop le i nto a number o f v i llage
and town e cono m i e s
l oosely h el d toge the r or from th e r i se o f te rri tor ial o r
nati onal bo di e s whi ch have taken up i nto the mselve s and
brought unde r the ir control the earl i er e conom i c organ s
Pol i ti cal o rgan i sms and eco nom i c organi sm s are by no
m eans n e ce ssar i l y conterm i nous and ye t the gre at and
bri ll i ant ach i eve ments o f h i story both pol i tical and e co
nom i c are wont to be accompl i she d at ti me s whe n e con o m i c
organ i sati on has re ste d o n the sam e foundati ons as p ol i ti cal
p ower and order
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The i dea that e conom i c l i fe has eve r been a proc e ss
mai nly depe ndent on i nd ivi dual acti on — an i dea base d
,
TH E
4
MER CA NTIL E S YS TEM
i mpre ssi o n that i t i s conc erne d m erely w i th me thods
yi ng i nd ivi dual ne eds — i s m i staken wi th regard
o f sati s f
to all stage s o f human c i vi l i sati o n and i n some resp e cts i t
i s m o r e m i stake n the further we go back
T he most p r i m i tive tribe o f h unters or shep herds ma i n
tai ns i ts e x i ste nce only by m eans o f an organi sati on base d
on ki nsh ip where i n un i on fo r purp ose s o f de fe nce j o i nt
j ou r ney i ngs to summer and wi nte r p asture s commun i sti c
acqui s i ti on fo r the be nefit o f the whol e tribe c ommuni st i c
gu i danc e by th e tribal prm c e play th e most i mportant
parts T h e first se ttle ment and o ccupati o n o f th e so i l i s
neve r a matte r fo r i nd ivi duals but fo r tribe s and clans
Th en wh i l e the l i fe o f rel igi on o f language o f war and o f
p ol i t i c s r e mai ns com mon fo r wi der c i rcl e s the centre o f
1
g r avi ty o f e conom i c l i fe passe s to the mark and the vi llage
o
n the
,
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m ar k th e o ry was e l ab o r ate d wi th sp e ci al
r e g ar d to G e rm any by G e o rg vo n M a u r e r in his E nle itung z ur Ge sckiclz te
de r M ark H ofl D o rf u nd S ta dtv e rfass ung ( 1 8 54 ) a nd a s e ri e s o f s ub s e
qu e n t w o r k s and was a c ce p te d p o pu l a ris e d and g e ne r a li s e d b y S ir H e nry
M a in e in his Village Co m munities in E as t a nd Wes t
S in ce th e
th e c o nfid e n ce o f m a n y s c h o l a r s in th e
pr e s e n t e ss ay was wri tte n
th e o ry h as b e e n s e ri o us l y sh ak e n in v a ri o us w ays b y th e w o r k s o f M r
a nd M
Fr e de ric k S e e b o hm T/z e E nglis /z V llag Co mm unity
Fuste l de C o u l ang e s R e c/z e c/z s s ur que lque s P o blem es d H is to ire
Th e s e
and Ori
gin ofProp e rty in L and ( E ng tr a ns b y M rs A sh l e y
h av e c e rtain l y sh e wn th e sc an tin e ss and un c e r tain ty o fth e e vi de n ce fo rfre e
vi l l ag e co m muni ti e s o wning in c o m m o n th e l a n d th e y c u l tiv ate d in th e e ar ly
M i ddl e A g e s B ut e v e n i f e a r l y m e di ae v al vi l l ag e s w e r e usu a l l y un de r a
l o r d o r c o m muni ti e s in s e r fdo m th e c h aracte r o fth e i r e c o n o mi c l i fe was
A s to th e s e l/l s ufi cie ncy o f th e
s ubs ta n ti a ll y th a t d e s c rib e d in th e te x t
m an o ri al gr o up s e e A sh l e y E co no m ic H istory
i p t i (S5 and C un
ningh am I ntro duction to Wa lte r f H e nl y ( e d b y M iss L a m o nd
Fo r a r e c e n t r e s tate m e n t o f th e c h ar a cte ris ti c s o f th e a n c i e n t vi ll ag e c o m
m uni ty and its r e l ati o n to th e c i ty s tate o f th e a nci e nt w o r l d s e e W W
Fo w l e r T/ie City S tate of t/z e Gre e ks a nd R o ma ns
1
[ W h at i s
k n wn
o
as
th e
,
i
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e
i
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r
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’
r
e
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"
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-
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e
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A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
5
.
They b ecom e the b odi e s wh ich fo r c enturi e s rul e th e
econom i c l i fe o f the mass o f the p eople
Th e i nd ivi dual
p osse sse s i n the way o f h o use and yard ga r de n and fiel ds
only what the mark or v illage commun i ty conce de s to
h i m and under the cond i ti ons i t allows h e use s the pastu r e
and the wood the fi she ri e s and the hunting ground on
such terms as th e c ommune ( G e me inde ) perm i ts
he
ploughs and reap s as the v illage co m munity des i re s and
1
ordai ns
I t i s h ardly p oss ibl e fo r h i m to com e i nto cl o ser
i ntercourse wi th outs i de rs fo r to remove a ny o f the pro d
uc ts whatever th ey may b e derive d d i rec tly or i nd i rectly
2
i s fo rb i dden . To take w o od
from th e common land
from the c ommon fo re st can onl y be allowe d so long as
no one exports woo d or charcoal or tar ; to turn out cattle
at pl easure on th e common pasture can o nly b e re cog
nis e d as a r ight when every one i s fe e di ng h i s o wn cattl e
To ali enate land
fo r h i s own use and no t fo r strangers
to a non member o f th e communi ty i s forb i dden ; and
i nde ed as a rul e ,al l sorts o f formal i ti e s are put i n th e
3
way even o f the fre e ya rdling (H ufne r) who wi she s to
.
,
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‘
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-
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1
l ish
i
[ O n th e n atur e
i l
M dd e A g e s
,
se e
61 4
.
2
So
m e thing
and
oft
Po
l imi t ti ns f vi l l g
mmun l is m in th
ll c k nd M i tl n d H i t y f E ngl / L w (
a
o
o
o
a
a
e
a
a
a
co
s or
,
hi s k in d surviv e d e v e n in
zs z
o
th e to
wns
.
E ng
e
T
a
hus
,
1
a cco
89
r ding
ru l e o f 1 20 4 th e m e n o f L iib e c k are no t p ass im e t s ine ne c s ita te to
s e ll th e ir shi p s and b u i l d ne w o ne s at h o m e no r are th e y to e xp o rt w o o d
fo r s al e —
b e caus e o f th e ir righ t to cut w o o d L iib U rkunde nouc/z p 1 7
U rk x ii
3 T h e m o s t c o mm o n e uiv a l e n t in th e E ng l ish o f th e l ate r M i ddl e A g e s
[
q
fo r th e G e rm a n H ufe a nd H ufner w e r e ya dla nd and yardl ing a nsw e ring
to th e L atin v i ga ta a nd v irg ar ius
Fo r th e gr a d e s in th e hi e r a r c h y o f
te n a n ts
c f W R o s c h e r Na tio na loko no m ik des A cke r oa ue s
§ 7 3 ( 1 2th
p 2 67 wi th F S e e b o h m E nglislz Village Co mmunity p ass im and e sp e ci al l y
p
to a
es
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,
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r
r
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‘
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,
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,
TH E
6
MER CA N TIL E S YS TEM
l eave the v i ll age
The vi llage i s an e conom i c and com
m e rc ial system c ompl e te i n i tsel f and c l o se d agai nst the
outsi d e w o rld
I ts o l d const i tuti o n has to be br o ken up
by th e creati on o f gre at state s and by o the r forc e s be fore
a no ther and h i ghe r developm ent o f e conom i c l i fe can make
i ts app earanc e
A s the v i llage so l ikew i se does th e town
and eve n more
consp i cuously
grow i nto an e conom i c body ( or o rgan i sm )
wi th a p ecul i ar and vigorous l i fe o f i ts own dom i nati ng
every parti cular To b egi n w i th th e ch o i c e o f a local i ty
the lay ing o ut o f the plan the constructi o n o f roadways
o f bridge s and o f walls ; the n the p avi ng o f the stre e ts the
bringi ng o f wate r and th e se tti ng up o f l ights ; an d fi nally
the c ommon arrange men ts wh i ch are ne ce ssary fo r the mar
ke t and whi ch l e ad to co mmon marke t house s publ i c scal es
e tc — the se toge ther wi th th e c lo se j uxtaposi tion o f res i
de uces and th e h igher forms o f d ivi si on o f lab o ur o f
currency and o f cre d i t al l create a mass o f un i form
c o mmo n i nsti tuti ons and bring about an assoc i ati on o f a
Th i s necessar i ly m a k e s
far close r characte r than b e fore
i tse l f fe lt both i nsi d e an d outs i d e th e town Fo r c entur i e s
e conom i c progre s s i s b ound up wi th th e r i se o f th e towns
and the formati on o f c ivi c i nsti tuti o ns
Each town and
e spe ci ally e ach o f th e larger towns se eks to shut i tse l f
up to i tsel f as an e conom i c whol e and at th e sam e
t i me i n i ts relati o n to th e outsi de world to extend the
sphere o f i ts i nflue nc e b o th e conom i c and p ol i ti ca l as far
as possibl e
I t i s no t without signi ficanc e that duri ng a
consi de rabl e p eri od o f anc i ent and o f m e d i aeval h i story
al l comp l ete p ol i ti ca l structures were c i ty state s i n whi ch
.
,
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-
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-
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-
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,
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-
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A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
7
.
pol i ti cal and e con o m i c l i fe l o ca l e con o m i c se l fishne ss
and p ol i ti ca l patri o ti sm p o l i ti cal confl i c t and e c o nomi c
r ivalry a l l c o i nc i de d
The e c o n o m i c p o l i cy o f the G e r
man towns o f the M i ddle A ge s and the i r economi c i nst i
tut io ns have playe d so c o ntro l l i ng a part i n G e rm an l i fe
down to the seve nteenth and e i ghte enth c enturi e s th ey
proj e ct them se l ve s so to sp eak i n so many d i re ctions i nto
our own ti m e that we must pause a m o m e nt to sp ea k o f
them m o re at l ength
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
N ot on l y separate j uri sd i cti on (I m mu nita t) but al so the
r ight o f ho l d ing a market o f c o l l e cti ng to ll s and o f
,
,
,
co i ni ng m o ney were fr o m e ar l y ti me s th e p rivi lege s o f
the growi ng urban c o mmuni ti e s Th i s exce pti o nal posi ti on
was strengthe ne d by the abo l i ti on o f payments and servi ce s
i n k i nd as we l l as by the legal advantage s flo w ing from th e
”
pri nc i p l e that t o wn ai r make s fre e ; and fi nal l y by th e
conque st o f the right o f sel f gove rnm ent and legi s l ati o n
1
by th e town c ounc i l
Each separate to w n fe l t i tsel f to be a
privi l eged c o mmun i ty gai n ing right a fte r right by struggl e s
kep t up fo r hundre ds o f years and forc i ng i ts way by nego
tiat io n an d purchase i nto o ne p o l i ti cal and e con o m i c p o s i
ti o n a fter the other The c i tizen body looke d up o n i tse l f as
form i ng a who l e and a wh o l e that was l i m i te d as narrow l y
as p oss ib l e and fo r ever b o und t o ge the r
I t rec e ive d
i nto i tse l f on l y the m an who was ab l e to c o ntri bute who
,
,
,
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,
-
,
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-
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,
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-
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,
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,
,
[ Fo r s o m e
g li s h
r e ce n t G e rm a n inv e s tigati o n and dis
c u ss io n c o nc e r n i ng th e o r ig i n o f mu ni c i p a l i ns ti tuti o ns
r e c o u r s e m ay b e
h a d to th e r e vi e w o f Pr o fe ss o r H e g e l s w o r k b y Ke utge n in th e E nglis /z
H isto ic l R v i w Ja n 1 8 93 a nd t o th at o f Pr o fe ss o r v o n B e l o w s p a m
p h le ts b y A s hl e y in th e E co n m ic yo urna l J u ne
1
acco u nt
in E n
o
f
,
’
,
r
a
'
e
e
,
,
.
,
,
o
,
,
TH E
8
ME R CAN TIL E
S Y S TE M
'
sat i sfied d efini te cond i ti ons p ro ve d a c e rtai n am ount o f
p rop erty took an oath and furni she d s ecur i ty that h e woul d
stay a certai n numbe r o f years I t re lease d from i ts assoc i a
ti on only th e man who sol emnly abj ured h i s c i tiz e nsh i p
be fore the counc i l who swore that h e would b ear h i s sh are
o f responsib i l i ty fo r the town s debts and contribute to th e
taxe s o fth e town fo r a number o f years and who hande d
ove r to the town te n p er c e nt o f h i s prop erty The o mnip
o te nc e o f th e counci l rule d th e economi c l i fe o f th e town
when i n i ts pri me wi th scarcely any l i m i t ; i t was supp o rte d
i n al l i ts acti on by th e most hard hearte d t o wn se l fi shne ss
and the ke ene st town p atri oti sm
whether i t were to crush
a comp eti ng ne ghbour or a c ompe ti ng suburb to lay
i
he av i er fe tte rs on th e country around to e ncourage local
trade or to st i mul ate local i ndustri e s
1
Marke t rights tol l ri ghts and m i l e rights ( M e ile nrec/z t )
are th e weapons wi th wh i ch the town c reate s fo r i tse l f
both reve nue and a muni c i pal pol i cy T h e soul o f that
pol icy i s the putti ng o f fellow c i tizens at an advantage
and o f comp e ti tors fro m outs i d e at a d i sadvantage
The whol e compl i cate d syste m o f regulati ons as to marke ts
and foresta l l i ng i s nothing but a sk i l ful c ontrivance so to
regulate supply and de mand be twee n the townsman wh o
buys and the countryman who s ells that th e form e r may
fi nd h i msel f i n as favourabl e a posi ti on as p oss ibl e the
latter i n as un favou r abl e as p o ssible i n the bus i ne ss o f bar
,
,
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,
’
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,
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-
,
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‘
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-
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-
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-
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,
ru l e whi ch fo rb a d cr aftsm e n fr o m ca rrying o n pa rticular
in dus tri e s wi th i n a c e r tai n dis tanc e o fth e to wn C f th e ca s e s o f Y o r k a nd
No ttingh a m in r e sp e c t to th e m anu fa c tu r e o f c l o th in A sh l e y E co no m ic
p
H isto ry i p t ii ( A m e r e d vo l
1
[ Thi s
was th e
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A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
9
.
gai ning Th e regulat i on o f pri ce s i n th e t o wn i s to some
extent a m ere weapon agai nst the se l le r o f c o rn w o o d
game and vege table s fr o m th e country ; j ust as the pr o b i
b itio n o f c ertai n i ndustri e s o r o f trad e i n the rural d i stri cts
and the re stri cti ons p l ace d upon p edd l ing were i ntende d
to serv e muni c i pal i ntere sts Th e acqui s i ti o n by th e town
1
o f crown rights R ega lie n) w a s uti l i sed i n the first i nstance
(
to bring about a re c o nstructi o n o f the se regulati ons fo r the
bene fit o f the town
Thus th e marke t to l l was usually
abo l i she d s o far as burge sse s we re conce rne d and on l y re
”
gue st
taine d fo r th e c o untryman and th e unprivi lege d
2
a st
A
c
o mp l i cate d syste m o f d i f
f
e
renti
al
toll
s
was
G
(
)
everywhere d evi sed by whi ch som e t o wns were fav o ured
and othe rs put at a d i sadvantage i n e ach c ase e i the r i n
re turn fo r c o rre sp o nd i ng conce ssi o ns o r i n accordanc e
wi th the vary i ng h o p e s o r fe ars to wh i ch trade gave ri se
The same purp o se was serve d by th e acqu i si ti on wherever
possibl e o f ri ghts o f toll o n r ivers and highroads i n the
ne i ghb o urho o d
Day by day as ne e d arose parti cular
arti cle s had heavi e r due s i mp o se d up o n them o r were
or exclude d
fo rbi dd en fo r o ne o r m o re market days
al t o ge ther ; th e i mp o rtati o n o f wi n e and be e r fo r in
stanc e from towns i n th e v i c i ni ty was proh ib i ted or re
The proh ib i ti o n o f the
s tric te d o n count l e ss o ccasi o ns
exp o rt o f grai n w o o l and w o o l fe l l s was am o ng th e most
usual means fo r regulati ng the local market i n the local
.
,
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,
1
[ R ega lien in
,
Ge
,
rm
a ny,
dr o its
r ega l z e ns ,
’
r n
in F a
w e r e righ ts r e g ar de d
su c h a s th e l e v ying o f
ce ,
p e c uli a rl y atta ch e d to th e s o v e r e i g n a u th o r i ty
ta x e s th c o ining o f m o ne y e tc ]
2 C o mp a r e th
tr e a tm e nt o f fo r e i g ne r s
i n E ng l ish to wns ; G r o ss
[
M e ckant i 4 3 ; A sh l e y E c no m c H sto y i p t ii ( A m e r e d vo l
as
,
,
e
,
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e
r
,
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,
o
i
i
r
,
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G ild
23
]
A ND
I TS
SIGNIFICANCE
I I I S T OR I CA L
11
.
the burge sse s The whol e we l l r o unde d law as to strangers
or fo re i gne rs ( G a s t o de r Fre m de nre c/z t) was an instru
m ent whe rewi th to de stroy o r at a l l events to d i m i ni sh th e
superi ori ty o f ri che r and m ore sk i l fu l c o mp e ti t o rs fr o m out
s i de Exce p t during a fai r th e fore igner was exc l ude d fr o m
a l l re tai l trade a l l o we d o n l y to re mai n a c e rtai n t i m e and
p roh ibi te d from l e nd ing money to o r e nter ing i nt o p artne r
shi p wi th a burge ss H e was burdene d wi th h eav i e r due s
fe e s fo r se tt ing up a sta l l fo r havi ng h i s g o o ds we ighed
and fo r th e servi ce s o f brokers and exchangers
The g i l d
o rgan i sati o n whi ch arose o ut o f l ocal marke t p rivi lege s
and was forme d w i th local obj ects re ached i ts ai m
wh i ch
was to e nsure to e ach m aster and e ac h cra ft a l ivel ih o o d
su i tab l e to the i r stati o n i n l i fe
ch i e fly by the read ine ss o f
the t o wn counc i l whenever i t appe are d to the m n e ce ssary
to l i m i t fo r a seas o n or p e rmane nt l y th e entranc e i nt o
th e town o f b read and fl e sh be e r and w i ne and ware s o f
all k i nd fro m far or near as we l l as to forbi d
fo r a year
or m o re the adm i ssi on o f new m asters to a p arti cu l ar
occupati on I n short, the t o wn m arke t forme d a comp l e te
syste m o f currency cred i t trade t o ll s and financ e shut up
i n i tsel f and manage d as a un i ted who l e and o n a se tt l e d
p l an ; a syste m wh i ch found i ts centre o f gravi ty exc l us ive l y
i n i ts l o ca l i nte re sts whi ch carri e d o n th e strugg l e fo r
e con o m i c advantage s wi th i ts c o l l ective fo rc e s and wh i ch
pro sp ere d i n prop ortion as the re i ns were fi rmly hel d i n
the counc i l by p rudent and energe ti c m e rchants and
patri c i ans abl e to grasp th e Wh o l e S i tuation
What then w e have b e fore o ur eye s i n th e M i dd l e A ge s
are muni c i pal and local e con o mi c centre s wh o se who l e
-
.
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-
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"
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TH E
12
MER CAN TIL E S YS TEM
e conom i c l i fe re sts upon th i s
that the vari ous l o cal i nter
e sts have fo r th e ti me w o rke d the i r way i nto agre em ent
that un i fo rm fee l i ngs and i deas have r i sen out o f c ommon
local i nter ests and that the t o wn authori ti e s stand forwa rd
to repre sent the se fe el i ngs wi th a comple te array o f p ro te c
tive measure s m easure s that d i ffere d o f course from
plac e to p lace and fr o m p eri od to p er i od accord i ng as
the p r o v i si o n o f the l o cal marke t or th e pro sp eri ty o f a
parti cular i ndustry or trade se em s to b e m ost i mportant
at the ti me
The wh o le o f th i s muni c i pal ec o nom i c
p o l i cy wi th all i ts local p arti al i ty was j usti fi e d so long as
the pr o gre ss o f c iv i l i sati on and o f e con o m i c we l l —
b e i ng
dep ende d p ri mar i l y on the pr o sp e ri ty o f th e towns Thi s
p rosp eri ty could re st up o n no other mass p sych o l o gi cal
”
caus e compl ex than co rp orate selfishne ss : and n ew e co
nom i c structure s could ar i se only i n oase s thus p rivi lege d
and not on the broad base s o f whole state s
S o long as th i s
se lfish fe e l ing o f communi ty wi th i n comparatively narrow
c ircle s also brought about an e nerge ti c movement fo rward
i t j ust i fie d i tse l f i n sp i te o fa coarsene ss and vi ol enc e wh i ch
1
we to day not only di sapprove but even scarc ely understand :
no t unti l the sys tem began t o support an e asy luxuri ousne ss
and sloth d i d i t dege nerate I t had the n to be replace d by
o ther m ass psychologi cal e l em ents and pr o ce sse s and by
o ther soc i a l forms and o rgani sati on
1 W e ma
y r e m m b e r th e ar m e d fo r ays o f gi l dsm e n to hun t do wn th o s e
o u ntry dis tr i cts
wh o v e n tur e d to w o r k s u rr e p ti ti o us l y t c r a fts in th e
,
,
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"
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-
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-
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e
a
rm a n ) th e i nnum e r ab l e mi l i ta ry
si e g e s and d e v a s ta ti o ns o f to w ns ca us e d b y m utua l tr a d e
e xp e di ti o ns
j e a l o us y as we ll a s th e d e s tr ucti o n o fs ub u r bs fo r th e s am e r e a s o n s u h
1 566 a nd 1 7 34 a nd o f
a s m us t b e l a i d to th e c h a r g e o f D a nz i g in 1 52 0
M agd e b u r g d u ri ng th e T h i r ty Y e a r s W a r
( B onkas e n,
as
,
h w r
t ey
e
e
ca
ll
c
ed
in lo w G e
,
,
,
,
,
,
’
.
,
,
c
A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
S om e l i m i tati ons were
13
.
doubtl ess always i mpose d on
c o mmunal se l fishne ss by the l egal and moral ti e s create d
by the common l i fe o f the church by the e x iste nc e o f th e
German emp ire and so far as the rural d i stri cts were
conce rned by the p ower o f th e terri tori al p r i nc i pal i ti e s
wh ich e ar l y began to make the i r appearance
But i n the
earl i er p e ri o d these l i m i tati ons we re so la x so m ean i ngl e ss
that they we re scarc ely regarde d so l ong as ne i ther e mp i re
church no r te rri tory had give n b irth to any e conom i c l i fe
o f i ts own or any p ower f
ul e c onom i c organi sat i on W i th
the trans fo rmati on and e nl argement o f comm erc e the
gr o wth o f the sp i ri t o f un i o n and th e consc i ousness o f
i ntere sts c ommo n to whol e d i stri c ts w i th the augm ente d
d i fficul ti e s i n the way o f a prop e r organ i sati on o f e conom i c
l i fe o n the basi s merely o f town and vi llage i ntere sts and
the i ncreasi ng hope l e ssne ss o f vi ctory ove r the anarchy o f
endle ss p e tty confl i cts e fforts and tend enci e s everywhere
made the ir app earanc e towards some large r group i ng o f
e conom i c force s
,
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The town l eague s re achi ng over th e heads o f the pr i nc e s
and o f th e i nhab i tants o f th e rural d i stri c ts but sti ll mai n
taini ng th e old se l fish p o l i cy toward s th e c o untry imm e di
ately around ai me d at sati s fying c e rtai n farther re ach ing
i nte re sts and ne eds o f trade ; but such an attemp t c ould
not p e rmanent l y succe e d Th e greater c i ti e s s o ught to
wi den the m se l ve s i nto te rri tori al state s by th e acqu i s i ti on
o f v i l l ages
e states l o rdsh i ps and country t o wns
I n th i s
the great I ta l i an c o mmune s succ ee de d c o mp l e tely c er tai n
S wi ss t o wns and German i mperi al c i ti e s at least i n part ;
-
,
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TH E
14
ME R CAN TIL E S YS TE M
som e also o f the m ore vigorous Dutch pr o vi nc es though
they were not so origi nally came to b e hard l y d i stingui sh
abl e from enlarge d town terri tori e s I n Germany however
i t was as a rul e the terri tori al pri nce dom fo und ed o n the
p r i m i tive assoc i ati on o f the trib e and resti ng on the cor
r
t
o
f
Estate
s
commune s and kni ghts wh i ch cre ate d the
o
a
e
p
new pOlitic al uni t — a uni t whi ch had fo r i ts charac ter
ist ic the assoc i ati on o f town a nd c o untry the ass o c i ati on
o f a large number o f towns on one si de
and fre quent l y
on the other si d e o f several hundre d contiguous square
m i l e s o f country subj e ct to the sam e author i ty
During
the p eri od from the fi fte enth to th e e ighte enth ce ntury
the se te rri tori e s i n constant str uggl e wi th o ther institu
tions grew no t only i nto p o l i ti cal but al so i nto e con o m i c
bod i e s
I t was no w the te rri to ri al organi sm that carri e d
p rogre ss fo rward and formed the veh i cl e o f econom i c and
p ol i ti cal developm ent Te rri tori al i nsti tuti ons now be cam e
the mai n matters o f i mportanc e j ust as muni c i pal had
b ee n ; l ike them they found a centre rou nd wh i ch to grav i
tate and they sought to shut them se lve s o ff from the o ute r
world and to harmon i se and c onso l i date the ir force s at
hom e
A nd thus ar o se an e ncl ose d te rri tori al area o f p ro
duc ti on an d consumpti on a terri tori al d ivi si on o f labour
a terr i tori al syste m o f me asure s and we i ghts and cur
—
re nc
an i ndep endent te rri tori al e conom i c body wh i ch
y
had i ts own centre o f gravi ty was consc i ous o f i t and
acte d as a uni t in accordance therewi th
N o d o ubt th i s p ol i cy was pursue d w i th varyi ng vi g o ur
and succe ss i n th e d i ffe re nt terri tor i e s Where the i mpu l se
was g ive n by a h igh l y deve l o pe d and al l p o wer ful i ndustri al
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A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICA NCE
15
.
or comme rci al town
as i n the case s o f Florenc e M i lan
and Ve ni c e
there we very early find an e conom i c pol i cy
pursue d w i th great succe ss ; a po l i cy wh i ch rose o ut o f the
older muni c i pal i ntere sts and wh i ch p er form e d wonders
The H ouse o f L uxemburg i n Bohem i a and th e H ouse o f
Burgundy i n Flande rs and on the l owe r R hi ne were also
both o f them able at an early p eri od to gui d e the i r lands i n
the d irecti on o f a terr i tori al pol i cy on a large scal e But ,i n
Germany most Of the pri nc e s were wi thout the extensive
dom i n i ons ne c e ssary fo r the p urp ose : i n s o me p laces th e
towns i n othe r the knights re mai ne d o uts i de the new
te rr i tori al comm onwe al The m o st d i stingui shed p ri nce s at
the begi nn i ng o f the s ixte enth ce ntury those o f the S axon
house were the l o rd s o f lands scattere d i n fragments al l
a l o ng the m i l i tary th o rough fare o f ce ntral G ermany from
H e sse to S i le si a ; and to make th i ngs worse frequently
parti ti one d the se lands among the var i ous branche s o f the
fam i ly
A nd even what o ne o f the S a x o n pri nc e s hap
p ene d to rul e at any parti cular ti m e was made up o f a
numbe r o f separate d i stri c ts ge o graph i cally d i sti nct
The si tuati on o f the other terri tori e s had much the sam e
d i sadvantage s
Y e t grave as were the se d i fficulti e s and obsti nate as was
the conservati ve opposi ti o n o f the older econom i c instituw
t i o ns espe ci al l y tho se o f the towns we cannot help se e i ng
i n a l l d ire ctions that the nece ssi ti e s o f real l i fe we re
re l ent l e ss l y driv i ng s o c i e ty toward th e te rr i tor i al organi sa
ti o n The o ld fo rm s o f l o ose c o mb i nati on characteri sti c o f
the M i dd l e A ge s l ike th e town l eague s and all i anc e s to
mai ntai n the pub l i c p eace the town t o ll syste m and staple
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MER CA N TIL E S YS TEM
TH E
16
the town curre ncy the everlasti ng h o sti l i ty o f town and
country a l l the o l d me di aeval c o rporati o ns the se be cam e
every day gre ater h i nde ranc e s i n th e way o f trade and eco
n o m i c p r o gre ss
Peopl e had to ge t fre e from the m and
make the i r way to large r un i ti e s to assoc i ati o ns o f d i stri cts
and to m o re far sighte d coal i ti ons o f i ntere sts such as
were to b e found i n th e terri torial assembl i e s (L a ndtage)
and at the c o urts o f the princ e s Th e m o re c o mpl ete ly
th e pri nce ly terr i tori e s co i nc i de d w i th o l d boundar i e s and
pri m i tive tribal fe e l i ngs ; the stronge r happ ene d to b e the
syste m o f parl i amentary E state s b i ndi ng fi rst towns
togethe r and nob l e s t o ge ther and the n the who l e muni
c ipal e state to the whol e e state o f th e noble s ; th e more
i nte l l ige nt an d force ful were the pr i nce s who gui de d the
m ovement wi th frugal and comp e tent o ffic i a l s to help
the m ; th e qui cke r proce e de d the pr o c e ss o f e con o m i c
assi m i l ati on
To b e sure i t neve r ran i ts course wi tho ut
m e e ti ng w i th the b ittere st opp o s i ti on
1
What troub l e the H oh enz o l lern pri nc e s i n Brande nburg
had be fo re they subj e cte d to themse l ve s eve n externally
and i n m i l i tary matte rs the nobl e s and towns o f the l and "
The seve ranc e o fthe Brand enburg t o wns fr o m the H anse ati c
L eague and th e abol i tion o f the i r i ndependent right o f
all ianc e were barely accompl i shed dur ing the years 1 4 4 8 to
1 488
The towns d i d not however surrender the right to
pursue an i ndepe nd ent comme rc i al p o l i cy ti ll l o ng a fte r
th i s The ve ry i mp o rtant treati e s wi th regard to the
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r d r m y b ss i s t d in f ll wi ng th u r s f th s b s q n t
rgum nt b y r f rr i ng fr m ti m t tim t th li s t f t rr i t ri s su bj t t
th h us
f H h n ll rn g i v n in A pp n dix I I ]
1
[ Th e
a
o
e
a
e e
e
e
ea
e o
o
e
zo
e a
e
o
e
e
e
o
o
e co
o
e
o
e
o
e
.
e
e o
e
o
e
u
e
ue
ec
o
A ND
HIS T O RICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
17
.
Frank furt S tapl e ( 1 4 90 —1 5 1 2 ) were c ertai nly a fterwards con
firme d by the p rinces c o nc erne d
But the i n i ti ative still
came from the towns ; and th i s i ndep e nde nc e was retai ne d
as l ate as the Th i rty Y ears War though i n a l e sse ne d m eas
ure and wi th i ncreas i ng moderati on and prudenc e i n i ts
exerci se
Throughout the s ixtee nth cen tury we fi nd the
pr ince s o f Brandenburg and the i r ne ighbours givi ng the i r
attenti on more and m ore clo sely to matters o f th i s k i nd
I n th e comme rc i al controvers i e s be twe en Pomeran i a and
Brandenburg ( 1 562 and
b oth th e pri nce ly and the
mun ic i pal authori ti e s took part although i t was Frank fu r t
and S te tti n that e ngaged i n the tri al b e fo r e the I mp e r i al
C hamber
Th e treati e s o f mutual
1
de fence w i th towns i n o ther te r r i tori e s l ike L uneburg
whi ch were m ad e as late as the ti me o f J oach i m I o f Bran
—
n
e
b
u
r
S
e
eme
d
i
n
the
next
p
e
ri
od
no
longer
su
i
table
d
g
s i nce they arouse d th e d i strust o f th e L tine b urg pr i nce s
A s th e mai nte nanc e o f the p ubl i c p eace passe d i nto the
hands o f th e pri nc e s to th em and no t to the towns i t fe l l
to negoti ate w i th one anothe r fo r i ts stri ct pre se rvati on ;
fo r i nstance
i n th e treaty b e twe en Brandenburg and
P o merani a o f july 2 9
and that b e twe en Brande n
burg and Magdeburg o f july 2 4
T he negotiati ons
fo r commerc i al treati e s as we l l as the signature o f the
treati e s themselve s be twe e n Brand enburg and Poland i n
and
were the wo rk o f the
1 52 4
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1 1 8 :
4 4
2 1 a.
7
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Co d di l ora nde né
ii 5 3 5
lo i
3 4 6 nd ii
O lr i h s B it g
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5
R
e
rez
e z
.
16
.
ii
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5
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11.
5 41 7
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4
30 2 .
1
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15
.
ii i
50 1
i ii
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3
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6 15
6 34 6
3 87
ur 6r ande nourg is c/z e n G e sc/z ic/z te ,
,
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11.
6,
1
2 4 8 a nd
.
26
5
.
77
ii
.
.
6,
2 58 .
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICA L SI GNIFICA NCE
19
.
lau th e l aw o f the c o untry (L a ndreclz t) s i nc e 1 34 6
But lo cal law was everywhe re the stronger
N o t ti ll the
fi fte e nth and s ixtee nth c enturi e s d i d the j udi ci al de cree s o f
the c o urts o f th e pr i nc e s o f the l and the so call ed laws
”
the state o rd i nance s th e te rri
o f the land
to rial p o l i c e regulat i o ns and so on begi n the i r vi ctori ous
care er A n i nd i sputable nee d shewe d i tse l f fo r a n ew law
deal ing wi th c iv i l and cri m i nal m atters succe ssi o n and
procedure and common to th e whol e country
O ut o f th e
e xerc i se o f the pr ince ly rega lia spran gord i nance s fo r th e
fore sts fo r hunti ng fo r fi sh i ng fo r m i ning fo r the use o f
streams fo r navigati o n and fo r the c o nstructi on o f d ike s ;
o rd inance s wh i ch we re appl i cabl e to th e whol e country
and suppl i e d i ts e c o nom i c l i fe wi th un i fo rm rul e s The
ne w life o f the pre ss o f the re form ed fai th o f th e new l y in
sti tute d school s an d o f th e syste m o f poor rel i e f re c e ived
not a l o cal but a terri tori al organ i sati on by m eans o f a
legi slati on whi ch soon began to p ene trate p re tty far i nto
matters o f de tai l
N o le ss ne e d fo r terri tori al legi sla
ti on was see n i n regard to trad e and i ndustry we i ghts
and measure s currency and h ighways marke ts and fai rs
But th i s constructi on o f n ew terri tori al law was brought
about and the l aw i tsel f e n forc e d i n ve ry d i fferent ways i n
the v ar i ous lands Whi l e the state o f the Teutoni c O rder
as early as the fo urteenth and fi fte enth c entury shewed
some fai r beginn ings o f such a legi slat i on ; wh i l e th e l arge r
state s o f S outhwe ste rn Germany i n c o nse quence o f the i r
h igher e conom i c deve l o pment and e ar l i e r c ivi l i sati on
shewed towards 1 50 0 and during the c o urse o f th e s ix
much mo re e xtensive activi ty i n th i s
te e nth ce ntury
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TH E
20
MER CAN TIL E S YS TEM
re sp e c t ; Brandenburg Po merani a an d o the r northern te rri
tori e s lagge d beh i nd
We must o f course allow that i n
1
Brandenburg th e new j ud i c i al tribunal (R a mme rge ricli t )
create d under the i nfluence o f the i deas o f central i sation
2
characteri sti c o f R oman law as we ll as the jo a c/i imica
and s o mewhat late r var i ous i nflue nti al l egal wri tings l ik e
3
the Co ns ue tudines o f Sche p litz tende d towards l egal un i
formi ty ; neverthel e ss Brande nburg d i d no t arrive duri ng
thi s p eriod at a re cogni se d law o f the land o r at a gener
ally acc ep te d regulati on o f the re lati ons b etwe en p e asants
and th e ir manori al lords Th e attempt duri ng the years
to bri ng the towns under rule s o f pol i c e
1 4 90 —
1 53 6
and admi ni strati on wh i ch sh o uld be uni form fo r th e
whol e terr i tory was only p arti ally and temporari ly suc
and S tetti n S tralsund and othe r towns i n
ul
c e s sf
”
Pome rani a Konigsberg i n Prussi a and the o ld town
Magdeburg i n th e archb i shopri c re tai ned almost
of
d own to 1 7 0 0 a p osi ti on o f i ndep endenc e l ike that o f
i mp e ri al c i ti e s
The admon i ti on found i n the general
ord i nance s o f p ol i c e wh i ch we re d irec te d to the towns
enburg from 1 51 5 onward that the Berl i n ell
o f Bran d
shoul d be th e regular m ea sure o f length all ove r the l a nd
the Er furt p ound fo r the we ight o f wax and sp i ce s and the
we ights o f Berl i n fo r meat copp e r ti n and heavy ware s
remai ne d fo r s o m e t im e but a p i ous wi sh
Even two
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1
a
[ 1 51 6 is c o m m o n l y a ssi gn e d
cc o u nt o f it in
Fre de rick t/z e
ng l ish, s e e
e at p
E
Gr
,
a s th e
l
T u tt
e,
s
date
H is tory
f
o
3
h
e Co ns titutio
T
[
[
1
6
1 634 l
6
5
e
.
Fo r
Pr uss ia to fi re A cce ss io n
,
an
f
o
.
issu
e d in
y
l ate d fa m il y law a nd th e law o fin h e ri tanc e ]
2
b l ish m n t
o f its e ta
o a c/z im ica
was
1
52 7 b y J o achim I
.
It
r gu
e
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
21
.
gene rati o n s later th e most that the Ele ctor A ugus tu s o f
S ax o ny had succeede d i n securi ng was th e use o f th e
Dre sden bushel o n h i s d eme sne e state s
Whi l e fo r i nstance i n WtI rte mb e rg the so calle d
”
L
a nde so rdnu nge rz
o rd i nance s o f the land
i
n
rap
i
d
suc
)
(
c e ss i o n from 1 4 95 onward had wi th eve r wi d en i ng scop e
brought the e conom i c activi ty o f th e country wi thi n the ir
regu l ati ng l i ne s so that a wh o le seri e s o f the most 1 m
portant c ra fts wer e subj e c ted to o rd i nance s common to
the who l e duchy even be fore the Th irty Y ears War ( such
as th e butchers the bakers th e fi shm o nge rs th e cl o th
make rs the copp er sm i ths th e p ewtere rs the w o rkmen i n
th e bu i ldi ng tra des and i n 1 60 1 even the wh o l e body
o f m erchants and d eal ers
and
thus
th
e
whol
e
l
and
had
)
already obtai ne d an e con o m i c un i ty ; we find i n Branden
burg during th i s p e ri od on l y o ne o r two qu i te i solate d
gi l d statute s i ssue d by th e pri nc e s that were not o f
a purely local nature — such as that fo r the weavers o f
the N ew Mark that fo r the line nwe av e rs o f the whol e
Mark and that about 1 58 0 fo r th e Sk i nners and l i nen
weavers o f a number o f towns together
Th e Only
evi dence o f any tendency towards te rrito rial unityi s to
b e found i n the c i rcumstance s that fr o m 1 4 8 0 onward ,
i t was usual to se ek th e c onfirm ati on o f the pri nc e as
wel l as o f the t o wn counc i l fo r the sta tutes o f every local
gi l d ( I nnung) ; and that from about 1 58 0 the pri nc e s
C hance ry began gradually to
add to the confirmati on a
c l ause as to the p ower o f revocati on
Th i s h o weve r
was no t the regular p racti ce ti l l a fte r 1 64 0 ; and i t
was no t ti ll 1 690 —
1 695 that the right was ac tually made
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MER CA N TIL E S YS TEM
TH E
22
use o f Th e prac ti ce o f granti ng to the several art i san
assoc i ati ons charte rs d rawn up i n i denti cal te rms date s
from 1 7 3 1
L ike the separate local gi ld privil eges the local town
p r i vi l ege s sti ll mai ntai ne d the mse lve s un i mpai re d ; the most
that could be gai ne d by the e le ctoral government was that
th e burge sse s o f other Brandenburg towns should be treate d
a l i ttle b ette r than m en from S te tti n or Bre slau
I t ne e de d
1
to op en the Frank furt
an o rdinanc e o f the prince i n 1 4 4 3
L e ather Fai r to the Berl i n sho emakers ; and th e Ele ctor
added apologe ti cally that th i s shou l d not pre j ud i ce th e
c l ai ms o f the sho e make rs o f o ther towns who had not ye t
Th e surrende r o f inhe ri
frequente d th e Frank furt fai r
tanc e s by one town o f the Mark to another ,wi thout th e
e n o rmous wi thdrawal charge s h i therto m ade was the grad
ual re su l t o f tre ati e s b e twe e n the towns the mse lve s A s l ate
as 1 4 8 1 the m e n o f S pandau i ntroduce d a hi gh wi thdrawal
tax i n order to p revent the i r r i ch me n from try i ng to ge t bur
2
ge ss rights i n Berl i n and tra ns fe rri ng the mse lve s th i ther
Thu s the q ue sti o n at i ssu e was not at the outse t
whe ther the var i ous town pr ivi lege s should b e blende d i n
one body o f rights enj oye d e qua ll y by every c i tizen o f the
terri to ry but si mply whethe r the pri ncely gove rnment
sh o uld se cure a moderate i ncrease o f i ts p o we r as agai nst
each parti cu l ar town
E ffo rts i n th i s d i re cti o n are to b e
see n i n th e appr o va l by the p rince o f the town counci l l ors
the e nqui ri e s i nto the i r adm in i strati o n b egi nni ng about
1 60 0 and the p racti ce o f granti ng sp ec i al privi lege s and
conce ssi ons Th i s l ast had gai ned a firm fo o th o l d fr o m
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1
R i e de
l i
,
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2
1a
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i
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1 1
,
1 1
8
.
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
23
.
about 1 50 0 ; and i n s o me resp e cts i t prepare d the way
fo r and he l p e d to create that right o f i ssui ng ge neral
ord i nance s wh i ch was re cognize d as be longi ng to th e
pr ince i n the seve nte e nth and e ighte enth centuri e s
The
charters o f pr ivi lege w i th regard to m arke ts an d m i l ls
ap o thecari e s pr i nters copp er hamm e rs pap er m i l ls and
the l ike the c o nc ess i o ns m ade to p e rs o ns e stab l i sh i ng
i ndustr ie s i n conne cti on w i th the i r e state s the p ers o nal
p e rm i ts i ssue d to i nd ivi dual arti sans and dea l e rs o f all s o rts
a l lowi ng the m to carry o n the i r busi ne ss wi thout b e i ng m e m
be rs o f a gi ld
these were al l m ere i nr o ads by the p rinc e
i nt o th e exc l us ive town e c o n o my ; and ye t if they were
o nly numer o us e nough they nece ssari l y made the terr i tori al
authori ty rathe r than the t o wn c o unc i l the chose n gui de
o f th e p e opl e i n i ts e conom i c l i fe
But the pr i nce l y p o wer no t on l y o b tai ne d an i ncrease o f
i ts i nfluence i n the se indivi dual case s ; i t had the sam e
exp er i enc e m o re w i de l y i n i ts character o f m e d i ator an d
p eacemaker A bundant opportun i ty was pre sente d fo r i ts
i nterven t i o n by th e c o nfl i cts be twe en t o wn and country
wh i ch were e sp e c i a l l y b i tter i n the n o rtheast o f G e r
many The o l d regu l ati o n o f the town m arke t the m i l e
right th e proh ib i ti on o f i ndustry i n the c o untry the
ob l igati on impo sed if po ssib l e by every t o wn up on the
p e op l e o f th e v i ci n i ty to carry thi ther a l l the i r p r o duc e
and buy there a l l they n ee de d — a l l thi s gave fre que nt
occasi on fo r i nterve nti o n
Th e p ro ce ed i ngs o f the te rri
to rial assemb l i e s fr o m th e fi fte enth to the sevente e nth c en
turies i n Brandenburg P o meran i a an d Pruss i a are largely
o ccup i ed wi th m atters o f thi s sort
T h e rural d i stri cts and
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ME R CA N TIL E S YS TEM
TH E
24
the squi re s (die R ittersckaft ) i n the i r nam e c omplai n that
the countryman i s shame fully cheate d whe n h e come s to
se ll h i s corn woo l and cattle i n the ne ighbouring town
that pric e l i sts are drawn up w i thout the ass i stanc e o f rep
that they are overreache d i n
re s e ntat ive s o f the s qui re s
we ight and m easure that the cra ftsme n uni te against them
that countrym e n are p revente d fr o m se ll ing to strangers
and deal e rs at the i r own doors that all th e legi slati on as
to marke ts and fore stall i ng i s devi sed to the ir hurt as i n
the rule s agai nst S c otc h and N uremberg p eddle rs that the
t o wns re ce ive runaway p easants wi thout l i cense fr o m
the i r lords that th e gi lds wa nt to pursue concea l e d cra fts
m e n in the country wi thout payi ng any regard to th e court
o f the lord o f the manor ( da s
G e ric/i t de s G u ts ke rrn)
that by th e proh i bi ti on o f brewi ng i n th e c o untry p e asants
and knights are comp elle d to buy be er i n the towns and
are the re o vercharge d that p e o p l e have to make payments
i n barley whe n i t would be more profi tabl e to exp o rt i t
and so on and so o n
The towns take the ir stand on the i r goo d o ld l aws
upon the i r pri vi lege s wh i ch th ey declare are b e i ng
c onti nual ly encroache d u po n by p erm i ts to c o untry cra fts
m en by country brew h o use s by fo re ign p edd l e rs l o o se
rabble h o rse dealers and cattl e dealers ; the nob i l i ty
them se lve s th ey say carry on trade buy th e p easants
produc e and se ll i t to travell ing de al e rs and ge t the i r o n
and othe r thi ngs they ne ed fr o m the S c o ts ; m ore o ve r
the noble s clai m the ri ght o f exp o rti ng the i r produc e
No t c o n
whenever the y l ike to the hurt o f the t o wns
tent w i th thi s th e t o wns c o mp l ai n o f the government
,
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A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
25
.
i tsel f — that i t se lls the wood o f i ts fo re sts deare r to th e
towns than to i ts vassal s that i t auth o ri se s fo re ign deal ers
and p edd l ers that i t i s not su ffic i ently severe and ex clu
s ive ini ts treatm ent o f the J ews and that i t doe s not ke e p
th e n o ble s out o f trade
Whe n matters l ike the s e we re b e i ng al l the t im e dea l t
wi th i n the l egi s l ative asse mbl i e s in l ong wi nde d mem ori a l s
and counte r memori als i t was natural that th e m un1 c 1 p al
prohib i ti ons Of exp o rt o r i mp ort and th e pr o hib i t o ry
regulati ons o f th e town sh o u l d pl ay an i mp o rtant par t i n
the d i scuss i ons
I t was not a m atter o f i nd i ffere nc e to
th e rural d i stri cts i n P o merani a and Magdeb urg if one fi ne
day the c o unc i l o f S te tti n pr o h ib i te d the exp ort o f corn
and i t was o f the greate st mom e nt to the townsmen whe ther
the n o b i l i ty could c l ai m exem pti o n from such a p ro hib i
ti on
I t was o f i mp o rtanc e fo r the wh o l e country that i n
East Prussi a at the b egi nni ng o f the fi fte e nth c entury each
country town could i mpose a proh ib i ti on o f exp ort on th e
ne ighbouring country town w i th o ut wa i ting fo r th e sanc
ti on o f the H igh Master ( H o ckme is te r)
From a l l thi s c on fusi on ar i s ing fr o m l o cal e conomi c
pol i cy there was only one way o ut : th e trans ferenc e o f
authori ty i n the most i mportant o f the se matters fro m th e
t o wns to the terri tori al governm ent and the creati on o f a
syste m o f c o mprom i se wh i ch should p ay regard to the
opp o sed i nte re sts b ri ng about an adj ustm ent on the bas i s
o f ex i sti ng
c o nd i ti ons and ye t wh il e n ec e ssari ly and
natura l l y striving a fter a c ertai n sel f suffi c ie ncy o f the land
i n re l ati on to th e outs i de w o rl d should a l s o strive a fter a
greater fre e d o m o f e c o nom i c m o vem ent w i th i n i t
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A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SIGNIFICA NCE
27
.
econ o mi c re tr o gre ssi on wh i ch the war caused se eme d to
ca l l fo r th e systemati c employment o f every p o ssibl e m eans
But
every
fo r encouraging the i ndustri al l i fe o f th e to wns
)
succ e ss o f th e squi rearchy i n se curi ng p arl i am entary re so
l uti o ns o r g o ve rnm e ntal ord i nance s m eant a fre er tra ffi c i n
the c ountry and greater l ibera l i ty t o wards s trangers The
fundam ental pri nc i ple s wh ic h had g o ve rne d legal re lati ons
between town and c o untry re mai ne d i nd e e d unchanged
Thus the be l i e f in th e hurt fulne ss o f fo re stall i ng
whi ch
d i d noth i ng i t was th o ught but send up p ri ce s —p asse d
over a l most i ntact from th e town statute s i nto the law o f the
land N everthe le ss i t was an e sse nti al change that a regu
lati o n that i n 1 4 0 0 re ste d o n a c o n fuse d congeri e s o f l o cal
regulati ons customs privi lege s and al l iance s b e cam e
about 1 60 0 a law o f th e l and ( L a ndre ckt) whi ch e nc o m
passe d wi th to l e rabl e un i fo rm i ty the wh o l e te rri tory
A ssoc i ate d wi th the trans formati o n d e scribe d ab o ve was
the loss o f the i r stapl e p riv i lege s by all the smal l towns
i n the fi fte enth and si xte enth c entur i e s
They had e m
pl o ye d the m agai nst c ompe ting t o wns i n the i r ne ighbour
hood regardle ss o i the fact that the y b e l o nge d to th e
sam e terri tory A s e ar l y as 1 4 50 Freder i ck I I com
p l ai ne d that i n c o ntemp t o f h i s authori ty th e m e n o f
1
fro m th e burghers o f
S pandau d emande d Nie de rlage
2
C o l o gne and Berl in
Th e stapl e p rivi l ege s o f S p andau
as we ll as th o se o f O de rberg L andsb erg E b e rswald
Tange rmiinde
and Brande nburg and even those o f
Ber l i n were by 1 60 0 evade d o r abo l i she d
O derberg in
1 634 f
orma l l y surre nde re d the right o f d emand i ng Nie de r
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1
[D
e
p o si t o f g o o ds
e n ro ute .
See
sup r a p
,
.
2
R
ie de l i
,
.
1 1
,
1 0 9.
28
ME R CAN TIL E S YS TEM
TH E
‘
i n re turn fo r a grant by the e l ector o f a court o f lowe r
1
Th e se w e re a ll s igns o f p r o gre ss i n th e
j uri s di cti on
"
matter o f i ntern
a l fre e d o m o f trad e O nl y the right o f
Nie de rlage e nj oye d by Fran k fur t
and thi s was
even e nl arge d : fo r as i ts r ival s were S te tti n and Breslau
and othe r trad i ng towns outsi de the c o untry the e le ctoral
2
authori ti e s thought i t the i r duty to supp ort ii
A l though i n th i s matter te rri tori al p ol i cy tre ate d the
greater centre s o f trade d i ffere ntly fr o m the smaller and
regarde d the i r i nte re sts as i n a m easure the i nte re sts o f
th e whol e country I n other d i re c ti o ns the government
o f the p ri nce had to oppose even the se large r towns — as
i n the matte r o f i mport and export proh ib i tive regulati ons
and the l ike
The greate r and m ore i mp o rtant th e town
m i ght b e ,th e le ss p ossibl e was i t to allow i t to have an
i ndep e nd ent p ol i cy i n the se re sp e cts
Th o ugh the e fforts o f J oach i m I to se cure fre er passage
i nto the h o use s o f o ne town o f the be e r mad e i n another
had l i ttl e succe ss ; though the burghe rs o f Be rl i n eve n i n
the first h a l f o f the e ighte enth century desp erately re
s i ste d any furthe r allowanc e o f the comp e ti tio n o f
Bernau ; though the g o vernment were unabl e to o btai n
equal rights i n fai rs fo r all the trader s and cra ftsme n o f
o the r Brandenburg towns ; neve rthel ess i t was qui te d i s
t inc tly re cogni se d even i n th e s i xte enth c entury that th e
de c i s i on whe ther grai n woo l woo l fe ll s and o the r ware s
c ou l d b e i mp orte d o r e x p o rted be l o nge d to the e l e ct o ral
government
I n the ne ighbouri ng terri t o ri es o n the con
lage ,
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,
i e de l i 1 2 380
2 S e e o n this p o in t m r e m a r k s in th e Ze its c/z r f re uss
y
jp
1
R
,
.
,
.
.
.
G e s clz
.
xix
.
2 0 7 - 22 1
.
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICA L SI GNIFICA NCE
29
.
e spe ci ally i n Pomerani a and the archb i shopri c o f
Magdeburg , we se e the g o ve rnments wagi ng a l ong conte st
over the questi on whe th e r t h e ch i e f t owns S te tti n and
Magdeburg or th e g o vernment o f th e c o untry or b oth
toge ther had the right to proh ib i t trade i n corn
S uch a
pr o hib i ti o n was I ssue d by th e town o f Brunswi ck i n the
s ixte enth c e ntury qui te i n depe ndently and i nde ed ve ry
fre quently
I n P o m eran ia the struggl e was e nde d i n 1 534 5 b y
arb i trati on : if the S te tti n c o unc i l wi she d to forb i d e x port
they must do so b e fo re S hrove Tue sday ; the Duke re tai ned
the right both o f s usp end i ng the proh i b i ti on altoge the r and
1
o f allow ing e xc ep ti o ns
I n th e archb i shopr i c o f M agde
burg we find in th e ti m e o f the Ele ctor A lbert that som e
ti me s th e t o wn reque ste d the governm ent and som e t i me s
th e gove rnment reque ste d th e town to forb i d export and
that there was an attemp t to arr ive at j o i nt acti on by j o i nt de
l ibe ration ; y e t as early as 1 53 8 the archi ep i scopal gove rnor
a tt/z a lte r a fte r a bad harve st i mp o se d a duty o f a quarte r
S
t
)
(
o f a gulde n p e r w isp e l o n the exp ort o f c orn to last unti l
ne x t M i dsumme r s D ay so as to ke ep a su ffic i ent supply i n
the c o untry and ye t not altoge the r p reven t the p e asant
from m aki ng a l ivel ihood
Unde r the succe e di ng B ran
”
the ri ght
de nb urg adm i n i strators
o f th e archb i shopri c
o f the government to proh ib i t exp ort i n t im e s o f scarc i ty
2
was as und o ubted as i n most o f the i r o the r terri tori e s
I n Brandenbu rg the following rul e s were e stabl i she d
duri ng the course o f the si x teenth century
I n wi nte r
from Marti nm as ( N o v 1 1 ) to the Fe ast o f th e Puri ficati on
trary,
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1
T
hi e de
,
C/z r o nik de r S ta dt S te ttin, 4 64
.
2
M ag de burg A r chiv e s
.
30
M E R CA N TIL E
TH E
S YS TEM
no
exp
ortati
on
sh
ould
take
plac
e
con
h
li
z
S
c
e
t
;
)
p
ne c ts th i s wi th the ce ssati on o f navigati on d uri ng the
wi nte r the un iversa l custom i n earl i er ti m e s
Moreove r
the p easants were ne ver to export ; o n l y th e squ i re s
kn
ights
th
e
p
relate
s
and
th
e
towns
I
n
ti
me
o
f
(
)
d earth th e Ele c tor had the r ight o f embarg o ; but e xc e p
ti ons were a l l o wed as fo r i nstanc e to th e towns o f S e e
hause n Werbe n and O sterberg i n th e O l d Mark ( 1 5
both o n account o f the i r po si ti on o n th e fr o nti er as we l l
as b ecause they had pai d a consi derabl e sum fo r the
pr ivi l ege ; th e Margrave John grante d to th e F rankfurte rs
i n 1 54 9 a s i m i lar privi lege w i th regard to h i s appanage
the N ew Mark
The through transport o f corn no t p1 0
duc e d I n the Mark was allowe d at any ti m e up on the
p roducti on o f c erti ficate s o f o rigi n ; and th e Frank furte rs
we re p ermi tte d at any ti me to e x p ort bar l ey in the form
1
o f malt eve n if i t cam e fr o m the c ountry i tse l f
Whi l e thus c o rn exporti ng terri tori e s l ike Pome rani a
M agdeburg and Brandenburg had con stant re c o urse to
p roh ib i tions o f exp ort though they were temporary o nly
the se proh ib i ti o ns re ste d on the i d e a o f the te rri tori al har
mo nis ing o f producti on and consu mptio n ; and when th e
ne e ds were d i ffere nt re c o urse was had wi th o ut h e si tati on
to an eve n m o re stringent and i n th e l ast re s o rt p e rma
nent p r o h ib i ti on ; as POhlmann has de scribe d i n th e cas e
2
3
and M iasko wski fo r the S wi ss cantons
Th e
o f Flore nc e
( Feb
2
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,
1
M ylius R i e de
,
B
ra nd.
2
3
D ie
D ie
l
h v
a
,
a nd
e a
S ch e p litz
,
pr e tty e x te nsiv e
Wirt/z sc/z aftspo litik de r Flo
A gr a r
Co ns ue tu dine s E le cto r a tus
A lp e n
’
una
co
ll ti n
ec
o
o
fm ate ria l
ine r R e na is s a nce
r e nt
o
et
nt
M a rc/z ice
h is s bj
u
( 1 87 8 )
Fo rs tv e rfi zss ung de r de uts c/z e n S c/z we zz
i/z re r ges c/z ic/z tlic/z e n E ntw icklung
e ct.
in
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
31
.
nly o f native
h o rse s weapons and war mate ri a l bu t a l so o f nativ e corn
go l d s i lver qu icksi l ve r c o ppe r and brass
I n Brande n
burg als o h o ps we re much more o fte n compu l sor i ly kep t
back than corn
Eve rywhere the proh ib i tion o f the export
I t was a l ways
o f l eather and catt l e p l aye d a gre at p art
the same c o ncepti on that was i nvolve d : the re sourc e s o f
d were thought o f as a who l e wh i ch ought first o f
th e la n
a l l to serve the ne ed s o f the country ; they ought not to
enri ch a fe w i nd iv i dual s but serve the h o m e produce r and
the h o me c o nsume r at a fair pri ce
The regulati ons
hi therto emp l oye d fo r th i s e nd by the t o wns were now
trans ferre d to the terri tori e s A s h i thert o the t o wn had
lai d an embarg o so now the terri t o ry : as the town had
at ti m e s p roh ib i te d th e i mport o f fore ign b e er and
wi ne and manu facture d arti c l e s so no w th e terri tory :
as the t o wn had h i thert o mai ntai ne d an e l ab o rate syste m
ferenti al t o l l s so now the d i stri cts and te rri t o ri e s
o f dif
se t out upon a s i m i lar course
Berne threatene d i ts
n embargo o n c o rn
O oe rla nd ( or subj e ct terr i t o ry) w i th a
and sa l t if i t d i d no t bri ng a l l i ts butter to Be rne
As
n marke t al l the cattl e that
N ure mb erg fo rce d to i ts o w
1
cam e wi th i n a c i rcui t o f te n m i le s ; as U l m d i d no t a l low
a si ng l e hea d o f catt l e fe d o n the common pasture to leave
2
i ts te rri tory ; so Florence se cure d fo r i tse l f a l l the cattle
sol d fr o m the subj e c t d i stri cts wi th o ut p erm i tti ng the i r
return and exacte d sure ti e s fr o m the o wners o f the great
flocks drive n to the Maremme that they would bring the m
N eth erlands p roh ib i te d the exp o rt not
o
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B aa de r Nii née rg Po liz e iv e ro
2 J ag e r S c/z w ao S taa te we s e n
7 28
1
,
r
er
‘
,
.
r dnun
ge n
’
,
.
,
20 1
.
TH E
32
MER CA N TILE S YS TEM
back wi th i n the state b o undari e s a th i rd larger
I n the
duchy o f M i lan an o ffic i a l p e rm i ssi on was nec e ssary eve n
fo r the transp o rt o f grai n fr o m plac e to p lac e so that
th e country m ight re mai n sure o f i ts fo od
Th i s transi ti o n from muni c i pal to te rri tori al pol i c y i n
ly shewn i n the m atter o f the raw
G e rmany i s most cle a r
mater i al fo r i ts most i mp ortant i ndustry to w i t wo o l
Wh e n the cri s i s b egan fo r the Ge rman c l oth manu facture
—as fore ign c o mp e ti ti on be came more and more ser i ous
as th e l o cal i ndustry wh i ch was carri e d o n everywhere
b egan to de cay and i ts pl ace to b e taken by a more con
confine d to place s p e cul i arly we ll
c e ntrate d busi ne ss
— th e towns tri e d at
sui te d fo r cl o th maki ng ( 1 4 50
first to render th e exp ort o f w o o l d i ffi cu l t or to regulate
1
i t fo r th e b ene fit o f the hom e i ndustry
Th e imprac tic a
There
b ility o f such a local p ol i cy soon she we d i tse l f
upon the Emp ire itsel f made a fru i tle ss attemp t to prohi bi t
th e e x p ort o f woo l ( 1 54 8
but soon abandone d the
matter to th e large r terri tori es Wtirte mb e rg Bavaria
H e sse S a x ony and Brande nburg the n tri e d by rep eate d
laws and ord inance s to h i nder e xp o rt fo r th e benefi t o f
the hom e produce r ; and no t o nly that
even the i mporta
ti on o f cloth was parti ally forb i dden The w o ol trade and
soon a fterwards th e cloth i ndustry o f the w hole c ountry
re ce ive d a terri tor i al organ i sation
We have no space
h e re to give an account o f th e e fforts o f Brandenburg i n
thi s d i re cti on ; they b egi n as early as 1 4 1 5 and 1 4 56 and
wh i ch how
1 61 1
e nd wi th the fam o us wo o l laws o f 1 57 2—
eve r d i sclose to us o nly a part o f the mani fo l d struggle s and
.
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-
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'
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1
S ch mo lle r D ie S tr assourge r Tw h e n
,
a nd
We be rz a ny?
-
50 6
.
A ND
HIS T ORICA L SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
33
.
ende avours wi th regard to the m atter whi ch marke d the
1
p eri od
Beh ind all the e ffo rts I have de scribe d l ay the concep ti on
that the terri tori a l trad e the te rri tori al i ndustry and the
2
terr i tori a l mark e t fo rme d a uni te d wh o l e
A l l the regula
tions already m e nti one d howeve r d i d but touch o ne
a fte r the o ther p arti cular group s o f p e ople
Th e cur
o n the o ther hand
touch e d the whol e body
re nc y system
o f t h e pri nce s subj ects
lTh e trans i ti o n from a mun i c
ip al to a terri tori al curre ncy i n G ermany l ikewi se belongs
to the p e ri od from th e fi fte e nth to the sevente enth c e n
tury and i s o ne o f the most imp o rtant and ye t o ne o f
the m o st ob scure parts o f th e consti tuti onal and e co
nom i c h i story o f the terri tori e s The c o urse o f the de
v e lo p m e nt
as i t app ears to m e afte r th e e xtensive but
by n o m ean s compl ete study I h ave made o f i t I may
bri e fly ske tch as fo l lows
Wi th th e i mp e ri al r igh t o f curren cy and a u ni fo r m
i mpe ri al standard fo r i ts theore ti c base s ther e had as a
m atter o f fact grown up i n th e course o f the twel fth
th irte enth and fo urte e nth centu r i e s a syste m o f altoge ther
l o cal currenci e s
Th e se ho wev e r we re not put i nto a
de cent cond i ti on e i the r fr o m the te chni cal the financ ial
o r the e conom i c p o i nts o f vi ew
unti l they passe d pretty
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’
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,
,
s tate a r chiv e s o f B e r l in c o n tain a ri c h m ate ri al which I h av e
a l r e a d y w o r k e d up i nto a c o n ne cte d s tate m e n t
2 T h e i de a th at te rri to ri a l c o nn e ct i o n inv o l v e d fr e e tr af
fi c wi thin th e l a n d
wa s p r e s e n t as e a rl y a s 1 4 51
a s w e m ay s e e fr o m a do c um e n t o f th a t
ye a r
giv e n in R i e d e l i 2 0 20 6 whi ch s o ugh t to r e g ul ate th e future a ddi ti o n o f
B e e sk o w and S to r k o w to B r and e nb ur g m ain l y fr o m an e c o n o m i c p o in t o f
vi e w and i n th e dir e c ti o n o f fr e e d o m o f tr a de b e tw e e n th e e l e c to r ate and
th e s e
c ir c l e s
1
Th e
.
-
.
,
.
,
.
D
,
,
A /VD
I TS
SI GNIFICANCE
I I I S T OR I CA L
35
.
manage i t The d i sa dvantage s o f loca l i sati on began to
surpass the advantage s o f a muni c i pa l currency ; even th e
t o wns the mse l ve s e nte re d up o n a d i s grac e ful c o mpe ti ti o n as
to wh i ch sh o u l d debase the co i nage m ost The n fo l l o we d
number l e ss currency tre ati e s be twe e n var ious towns and
pri nce s
Fore ign co i ns o f b e tter qua l i ty l ike the I tal i a n
and H ungari an go l d gu l de n and th e Bohe m i an groschen
force d the i r way i n and cam e to be treate d as a k i nd o f
unive rsal curre ncy as c ontrasted wi th the changi ng and
usua ll y bad sma l l c o i ns o f e ach parti cu l ar plac e
Th e German k ings and emperors d i d i nde e d se e k to
create some s o rt o f un i form i ty o f currency — at any rate
i n the s o uthwe st : th e gold gulde n was regarde d as an
imp erial co i n ; the i mperi al currency ord i nance o f 1 52 1
w as a plan pre sse d upon th e C ounc i l o f R ege ncy (R e icks
1
regime nt
by
the
m
i
nt
o
f
fic
i
al
s
o
f
we
ste
rn
Germany
)
But i n sp i te o f late r i mpe ri al o rd i nance s and th e attemp t
to exe rci se contr o l ove r t h e currency o f the several Estates
by m eans o f the C i rc l e s
the e mp i re was unabl e
to bring ab o ut a real uni ty
H ere al so the v i ctory b e
.
.
.
,
,
,
.
.
,
.
,
,
us ti n h a s r e m a rk e d T h e tr ans l ati o n c o m m o n l y in us e fo r
R e c/ s g m nt ( C o u nc il o f R e g e n cy) d o e s no t c o nv e y a ny d e fi ni te o r c o rr e c t
id e a to th e m i nd o fth e r e a de r no r d o e s any b e tte r s ugg e s t i ts e l f I t was th e
su pr e m e e x e cu tiv e co u n c il o f th e e m pir e e s ta bli sh e d a nd fo r a ti m e k e p t
in e xi s te nc e b y th e p a rty th at s o ug h t t o s tr e ng th e n th e fe d e r a l c o ns ti tuti o n
o f G e r m a ny
Fo r its e s tabl is h m n t in 1 50 0 a nd su p e r s e ssi o n in 1 50 2 its
re e s tab l i s h m e nt in 1 52 1
its di ffi c u l ti s wi th th e k ni g h ts a nd c i ti e s a nd its
pr a c ti ca l d o w nfa ll in 1 52 4 s e e M rs A u s ti n s tr a ns o f L R ank e s H i to ry of
t/z R efo m t o n in G m ny i 1 52 —
1 59 50 3—
50 6 ; ii b k iii c h s 2 a nd
2 T h e d i v is i o n o fth e e m pir
i nto pr o v i nc e s k no wn as K e o r C i r c l e s
[
d ate d fr o m 1 50 0 T h e r e w e r e s ix o f th e s e a t fi r s t a nd th e h e r e d i ta ry l ands
o fth A u s tr ia n h o us e a nd t h e e l e c t o r a te s w e r e e x c l u d e d
I n 1 5 1 2 th e s e w e r e
a ll b r o ugh t in to th e s ys te m a s fo u r n w c i r c l e s
T h e i r fu ncti o n wa s o rig i
1
z
[A s M rs
z re
z
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A
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e
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er
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e
.
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re i s
,
.
,
e
.
e
.
.
s
,
TH E
36
MER CA N TIL E S YS TE M
longe d to th e te rri tori e s Th e p ower ful and energe t i c
terr i tori al g o vernments were ab l e step by step to deprive
the towns o f the ir rights o f co i nage to make th e m i nt
masters o nce more the o ffic i als o f the pri nc e o f th e land
and to i ntr o duc e a un i fo rm system fo r at l east a fe w
hundre d square m i l e s
Upon the exte nt to wh i ch th ey
succe e de d de p ende d i n l arge m easure the trade and pr o s
i
t
f
th
e
seve
ral
lands
i
n
the
s
i
xte
enth
c
entury
Those
r
o
e
p
y
pri nce s who happe ne d to p osse ss r i ch s i lver m i ne s l ike
the S axon rul ers had th e e asi e st task ; and they natural l y
sho we d mo st anti p athy towards th e atte mp ts to bri ng
ab o ut a un i fo rm currency fo r th e emp i re o r th e several
c i rcle s The H ohe n z o lle rn p ri nce s se e m to have re sume d
th e r ight o f coi n age and to have co i ne d fo r the mse lve s
i n the M ark o f Brandenburg at any rate fro m 1 4 8 0 or
1 4 90 onward ; wh i l e i n the l ands o f the Teut o n i c O rder
th e town s had neve r comp l e tely and p ermane ntly secured
the right
I t i s m enti one d as an exc epti o n i n th e case o f
Berl i n that i t struck s o me small co i ns o n i ts own acc ount
from 1 54 0 to 1 54 2 and agai n but fo r the last ti m e i n
I n Pomerani a B o ge slaw d i spute d the privil ege o f
1 62 1
S tral sund i n 1 50 4 ; and t o ward s 1 560 th e town had lo st the
r ight
S te tti n i n 1 530 had to rec o gni se th at eve n i n
the ti me o f the fathe r o f the duk e the n ru l i ng the pri nce
had re fuse d fo r we ighty re asons to allow the t o wn to have
i ts own currency
.
’
,
,
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,
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.
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n all y o n l y to fa c i l i tate e l e cti o ns to the R e iclzs egime nt and K mme ge iclz t
mp
ri
a l Ch a mb r ) ; b u t v a r i o us a d m i nis t r a t iv e a nd e x e c u ti v e d u ti e s w e r e
I
e
(
a dd e d l a te r
T h e divisi o n i nto c ir c l e s r e m a in e d in its e ss e n ti a l fe atu r e s
d o wn to 1 80 3 S e e R ank e H isto ry of Me R efo rm a tio n i 1 53—1 54 2 1 4—2 1 5
and e l s e wh e r e ]
r
r
a
e
.
.
.
,
,
.
,
r
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
37
.
The dec i s ive th i ng was th e exerc i se o f the p ri nce ly
right o f co i nage by the terri tori al g o ve rnm ents themse l ve s
Me re ord inance s
such as those s e t fo rth as e arly as the
re ign o f Fre deri ck I I o f Brandenburg that R heni sh gold
gu l den we re to b e take n at such and such a rate but
that as a rul e p e o pl e were to re ckon i n B o hem i an
grosche n — we re usel e ss
Th e e sse nti al matte r was to re
p l ace mun i ci p a l and fore ign co i ns by th o se o f the pri nce
i n su ffic i e nt quanti ty H ere als o i t app ears to h ave be en
Joach i m I who o p ene d fo r Brandenburg th e way to an
energe ti c p o l i cy i n the matte r
H e no t o nly had gold
gul de n struck i n Ber l i n but also s i lver co i ns both heavy
and l igh t at seven d i ffe re nt m i nts
N egoti ati o ns w i th
S axony fo r a un i fo rm c urrency fai l e d i n the i r purpose
The standard i n the Mark was l ighter Th e Brande nburg
c urrency ed i c t o f 1 556 d i d i nde ed c re ate a new co i nage
wi th new subd ivi si o ns whi ch harmoni se d wi th th e im
p eri al currency
But th e i de a o f a separate terri tori al
currency system was sti l l dom i nant and so re ma i ned
O n l y certai n fo re ign co i ns we re adm i tte d and the s e only
at the va l ue s e t upon the m by th e te rr i tori al author i ty
Th e othe r ter ri torial and to wn co i ns were fo rbidde n
It
was fr o m ti m e to ti me stri ctly ordere d that th e c o i ns that
had be e n re cently fo rb i dden should b e di suse d at a c ertai n
date and exchange d a t the m i nt Th e pr o h ib i ti on o f
exp o rt p l ays a smaller p art i n Brand enburg than i n S axony ;
probably be cause as the co i ns we re li ghte r there was
l e ss temptati on to send them o ut o f th e land
But p enal
ti e s we re frequent l y ( 1 590 1 598 ) threate ne d agai nst J ews
and S cots who bought up the o ld si lver and exporte d i t
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
.
38
MER CAN TIL E S YS TEM
TH E
Th e earl i e r universal p racti c e o f the t o wns wi th regard
to th e pr o hib i ti on o f fo re ign currency or the exportati on
o f the i r o wn the right o f p re é m p t in
g o ld gold and s i lver
and si m i lar regulati o ns was now natural l y e nough c o p i ed
by the te rri tori al governments Whe th e r and how far they
suc cee ded w i th all the i r p ena l mandate s dep ende d o f
course o n the m o vem e nts o f trade and the re lati o n o f the
nom i nal va l ue o f the several co i ns to the e sti mate p l ac e d
up o n t hem i n ne ighbouring lands and i n fo re ign trade But
undoubted l y i t was th e prevalent i dea wi th ru l ers and
ru l e d a l ike that i t was the duty o f the governm ent to
pr o vi de th e l and wi th a goo d and un i fo rm c o i nage and to
cl o se i t agai nst the outs i de worl d i n th i s re sp ec t eve n if
no t i n th e matter o f trade
Th i s currency syste m fo r a whol e p ri nci pal i ty was
then the i nsti tuti on wh i ch —toge the r wi th the financ i al
system fo r a wh o l e pri nc i pa l i ty to b e next de scribed
m o st d i sti nctly drew the c i rcl e wh i c h bound the terri t o ry
1
i nto on e e con o m i c body
A s to the finance s here the parti c i pati on o f the Estate s
i n the i r contr o l tend ed t o wards c entral i sati on i n eve n
greate r m easure than the a
c tivi ty o f the pri nce s and the i r
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
1
1
B e si de s
54 5
,
bo o k
o
f Pucke rt
h r i s r ll y n
t e
S ta dt B
B
th e
e rl i n,
ea
e
e rl i n,
iii
.
in
s fu l
u e
o
Fidic in
,
is
4 2 9 e t se a ,
H
n th e
li t r
e
c
r
a tu e .
u r r e n cy o f S a x o n y fr o m
B Ko h ne D a M iinz w
.
di lo m B
.
a
r
e
s
,
u
p
it iig
s L e it m
u ns tis fa c to r y
is tor .
as
o
e
r
z
a
z
1
51 8
es e n
to
de r
G es c/z z c/z te de r S tadt
'
a nn s
Wegw e
i s er
f
au
B e s i d e s th e s e G r o te M o ne
H e g e l a nd o th e r s giv e u s a g o o d d e a l o fi nfo r m ati o n b u t no th ing t h a t s e i z e s
th e e c o no m i c S i g nifi c nc e o f th e c u rr e n cy o f th e 1 4 th to 1 6th c e ntu r ie s as a
m u ni c ip al a te r r i to r i a l and an i mp e r i a l i ns ti tu ti o n O n B r and e nb u rg m u h
h a s b e n p u b l is h e d b y M ylius R i e d e l a nd R a u m e r b ut no t all b y a ny
m e a ns th at is co n tai n e d i n th e B e rl in a r chiv e s
de m Ge bie te de r de utsc/z e n M itnz kunde
,
,
,
,
,
a
e
,
,
c
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
39
.
o ffic i als
Y e t even th i s i n i ti ative o f th e court i s no t to b e
undervalue d
Wh ere thri fty pri nce s carryi ng o n a p ater
na l rule d ul y regulated and extende d th e o ffic i a l body ( as
i n S axony the E l e ct o r A ugustus i n Brandenburg th e Mar
grave J o hn ) thi s activi ty was o f no s l i ght i mportanc e fo r
th e we l fare o f the land and th e consol i dati on o f i ts
e conomi c fo rce s
Many o f the p ri nce s o f the ti m e we re
inte re stEd i n te c hni cal i mprovem e nts and i nventi ons had
the i r own l ab o r a
tori e s and al chem i sts sought to e stabl i sh
m i ne s and ere cted m i lls gl assworks and sa l tworks ; he re
and there magni fic e nt cast l e s and fortresse s we re bu i l t wi th
the ai d o f I tal i an archi tec ts and fore i gn arti sts and arti
sans Thi s put the household o f the p ri nc e and the servi ce
o f the p ri nc e wi th i ts i ncreas i ng number o f o f
fic i als i n the
centre o f the e conom i c l i fe o f the te rr i tory more d i sti nctly
that i t had ever b e en be fore and le ft beh ind a d i sti nc t
i nflue nc e fo r ge n erati o ns
Thus th e Margrave H ans i n
h i s w i l l pri de s h i m se l f no t unj ustly up o n th e fact that
during h i s re i gn both th e country and the p e op le had
waxe d great and that they had never stood so high be fore
i n revenue and re sourc e s
A s to te rri t o ri al taxe s and the i r d eve l o pm e nt so l i ttl e o f
the material fo r the h i st o ry o f taxati on i n the several state s
has be e n worke d through up to th e pre sent that a cl e ar
1
and comp l e te survey i s sti l l hardly p o ssib l e
Ne v e rthe
le ss th i s much i s a l ready cl ear that the co nstructi o n o f
mun i c ipa l systems o f taxati on wh i ch be l ongs to th e p eri od
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
1
p
Fo r
o lz tz k
x s
ta e
B ran de nbu r g
in th e
of
7
a /z r a.
B av ar ia u p to
,
cf
.
f
1
S c h m o lle r D
,
G e s e tz g
80 0 b y
,
L
.
.
E p o cn
e rz de r p r e uss is c/z e n Fi na nz
re
i
—
33 1 1 4
d ir e ct
H o ffm a n a p p e a rs in my Fo rs c/z unge n iv 5
N F
.
.
.
,
.
A
h is t ry
o
o
f th e
,
.
.
MER CAN TIL E S YS TEM
TH E
40
the th i rte enth to the fi fte enth c e ntury was followe d
b ya p e ri o d where i n terri tori al syste ms were constructed ;
that the protracte d struggle s b y wh i ch a system o f d irect
and i nd ir ec t terri tori al taxe s was create d belong ch i e fly
to the p eri od from the fi fte enth to the seventeenth c en
tury ; that the se new system s i n part ab o l i she d i n part
p ro foundly modi fied the old muni c i pal syste ms ; and
finally that they cre ate d l i nks and bonds o f un i on b etwe en
town and country be twe en Ci rcl e and c ircle an
d be twe e n
the vari o us d i stri cts o f th e sam e state suc h as fundam e n
To begi n wi th i t could no t
tally a ffe cte d e conom i c l i fe
fai l to exert a very gre at i nfluence that the E state s me t
toge ther i n p eri od i cal assemb li e s tha t they be cam e accus
to m e d i n granti ng the ta x e s to look upon th e country
and i ts well be ing as a whol e and to d i stri bute alter or
create ta x e s wi th that i n the i r m i n ds Th e same must
b e sai d o f th e i nsp e c ti on o f the whol e lan d by comm i s
fo r the purpo se o f prep ari ng an
s io ne rs o f the Es tate s
asse ssment wh i ch shoul d deal wi th p rop erty everywhe re on
common p rinc i ple s
A nd finally i t i s signi fi cant that i n
th e gr e at struggl e fo r fre e ddm o f taxati on regard was
p ai d to a l l other contr ibuti ons by the pr ivi l ege d classe s
i n p e r son or i n purse to the nee ds o f the c o untry
In
no o ther fiel d o f p ol i ti cal l i fe was the pri nc i p l e so o fte n
i nvoke d that the subj e cts were to regard themse lve s as
me mora unius cap itis as i n re lati on to ta x ati on and to th e
othe r contributi o ns de mande d from subj ec ts in na tura
I n the towns th e deve lopme nt woul d see m to have foll o we d
some such course as th i s : that th e thi rteenth century was
mainly marke d by the devi si ng o f the d ire c t pr o p erty tax ;
from
,
,
"
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
-
,
,
,
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,
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,
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,
,
,
.
,
.
,
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
41
.
that thereupon i n th e b eg inn ing o f the fo urte enth ce n
1
tury U nzge lde r and o ther i nd i re ct taxes cam e to th e fr o nt ;
onc e more to b e r iva ll e d duri ng the c o urse o f the fo ur
te e nth c entury by the i ncre ase d pr o m ine nce o fthe p rop erty
tax
Much the same I canno t h elp th i nking must have
be e n the l i ne o f terri t o ri al deve lop ment To the fo ur
te e nth and fi fte e nth ce nturi e s b elongs the struggl e fo r the
2
d efini te e stabl i shm ent o f th e L a ndoe de n the
and othe r prop erty taxe s base d o n yardlands
numbe r o f cattle h o use lo ts and p r o p erty valuati o n
These we re constantly be i ng tri e d i n a r o ugh and ready
way i n i m i tati o n o f the o l de r town taxe s w i thout any great
re su l t
Fix e d and regu l ar c o ntributi ons p ai d annually
but o f v e rv smal l amount app ear si de by s i de wi th h eavi er
subsi d i e s grante d eve ry two o r thre e years or so fo r som e
parti cu l ar ti me o f stre ss o r war
To the c entur y n e x t from 1 4 7 0 to 1 57 0 b e longs the
attemp t ( fo r wh i ch there i s ev i denc e everywhe re ) to cre ate
a system o f indire ct taxe s fo r th e te rri t o ry ; and th i s ne c e s
sarily l e d to a confli ct wi th the indire c t tax e s o f the towns
and the trade p o l i cy base d up o n i t The p ri nce s mo no p
i nvolv ing as i t d i d a shutti ng up o f th e
o ly o f sal t
country agai nst the outsi d e world t oge the r wi th the be e r
'
,
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-
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-
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1
r e ld
U n
g
( o r U mge lt
t o n o f c e ta n c o
od t
[ Th e
,
U nge ld
or
U nge lt) w as
ee
a nd c o
a
tax o n th e c o n
sump i
r i m m i i e s s u ch as b r
r n whi c h p l aye d an
im p o rtant p a r t in G e rm an c i ty fin an c e thr o ugh o u t th e M idd l e A g e s ]
2 T h e t e r m B e de o r B e te f r w h i c h th e L a t i n e u i v a l e n ts w e r e p re ca i
q
[
a nd p e t tio p o in ts to th e o ri g i n l c h a r a c te r o f th e tax a s in th e o ry a m o r e o r
l e ss v o l untary co n tr ib uti o n o f th e s ubj e c ts n e e di ng to b e sp e c i all y a sk e d
fo r and c o ns e n te d t o ]
3 S clz oss i s p o ss ibl
y c o nn e cte d e tym o l o gi ca ll y wi th th e E ng l ish s co t in
[
th e ph r a s e se at a nd lo t ]
,
,
.
,
i
o
r a
a
,
,
.
,
.
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
43
.
authori ti e s who use d i t to m e e t the neve r end ing defic i t ;
thousands and th o usand s o f gu l de n we re every year wi th
d rawn and pai d i n agai n Th e deb t o ffic e acte d as a bank
fo r the whol e country j ust as th e t o wn chest had b ee n
The m e n o f means through
fo r the t o wn i n earl i er ti me s
o ut th e land were so cl o se ly assoc i ated w i th th i s c e ntral
i nsti tuti o n that the i nsu ffic i ency o f i ts i ncome p repare d
1
the way fo r a fright ful bankrup tcy
Wi th the fi n
anc i a l and e cono m i c cri si s o f th e Th i rty
Y ears War began a new ep o ch i n the h i story o f terri tori al
taxati on up on wh i ch we ne e d not here e nter
I n Bran
de nb urg and som e other state s i t i s marke d by a c o m
ple te c e ssati on o f attempts to i ncrease th e be e r ta x
and by a sustai ne d e ffo rt fo r som e fifty or six ty years to
deve lop the d ire ct ta x e s the subs i di e s and the asse ssment
on wh i ch they re ste d
D uring the p er i od 1 67 0 to 1 7 0 0
howeve r as pr o spe ri ty onc e m o re b egan to re turn the
tendenc y to d evel op the i nd ire ct taxe s e sp e c i ally th e
e x cise agai n be cam e p re dom i nant
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H ere l e t us p ause
O ur purp ose was to shew by a particu
.
lar e x ampl e that o f Brande nburg that duri ng the cours e o f
the p er i o d from the fi fteenth to the sevente e nth c entury
th e creation o f th e Ge rman terr i tor i al state was no t m ere l y
a pol i ti cal but a l so an e conom i c nec e ss i ty
But the sam e
re sul ts we re brought about e lsewhere Th e several state s o f
H olland the French provi nce s th e I tal i an c i ty s t ate s are
,
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1
I
s aacso h n, D
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of
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m ate r i a l
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,
Fi na nz e n 7 o ac/z ims I I
Ge s e k
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xi v
n ce r ning th e
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das s tandis c/z e
Kre a itw e rk
h v m ys l f br gh t t g th r
wmg busin ss nd it t x ti n
4 55
b re
und
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m ass
MER CA N TILE
TH E
44
S
YS TEM
all ana l o g o us phenomena We have to do w i th a gre at
h i stori ca l pr o ce ss by wh i ch local senti me nt and tradi ti o n
were s trengthene d the so c i al and e conom i c force s o f
th e wh o l e terri tory cons o l i dated i mportant legal and
e conomi c i nsti tuti ons create d ; by wh i ch further the
force s and i nsti tuti o ns thus uni te d were le d to a battl e
o f comp eti ti on w i th o ther te rri tori e s
i nvolving numerous
sh i fti ngs o f to l l c o nfi sc atio ns o f goods and sh i p s e mbar
goe s and stapl e fi ghts p roh ib i ti ons o f i mp ortati on and e x
o
r
a
t
i
o
n
and
the
l
ike
wh
i
le
wi
thi
n
the
c
o
untry
i
tse
l
f
t
;
,
p
old antagon i sms s o fte ne d and trade becam e more fre e
To so p o wer ful and se l f co ntai ne d a structure and so
i ndep endent and i nd ivi dual a pol i cy as the town had
re ache d i n an earl i er age ,and the mode rn state has re ache d
si nce the German terri t o ry scarce ly anywhe re attai ne d
N atural l y terri tori al p atri oti sm was by no m eans so str ong
as muni ci pal b e fore or nati onal si nce ; e cono mi c cond i
ti ons th e me th o ds o f p roduc ti on and o f transport and th e
d ivi s ion o f lab o ur i n th e fi fte enth and s i x te enth c entur i e s
d i d not ne ce ss i tate so high a degre e o f un i ty i n e conom i c
o rgani sati on as b e fo re i n th e town and a fterwards i n the
nati onal state
Th e i mp eri al c o nsti tuti on o f G e rmany
i mp er fe c t as i t was was sti ll strong enough to h o ld
th e terri tor i e s back i n many ways fr o m an i ndep ende nt
e conom i c p ol i cy We have alre ady remarke d how gre atly
i n th e c ase o f mo st terri tori e s the i r geograph i ca l p osi ti o n
and b o undari e s hamp ere d them i n the i r advanc e t o ward s
a p osi ti on l ike that reache d by som e I ta l i an and D utch
d i stri cts
Everywhere i n s o uthwe stern Germany an d to
a gre at e x tent als o i n centra l Germany the te rri tori es o f
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A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
45
.
the several E states th e dom i ni ons o f th e counts o f the
i mp e rial c i ti e s o f the abb o ts o f the b i shops and o f the
knights were so small that if fo r no o ther cause they
1
we re bound to re mai n i n th e stage o f a natural e con o my
and a m erely l ocal pol i cy
I n the northeast o f Ge rmany
there were i ndeed larger uni te d areas ; but i n de nsi ty o f
p opulati on supply o f cap i tal state o f trade and transp orta
ti on m echani sm o f adm ini strati on and gen eral cultivati on
they were eve n i n 1 60 0 i n feri or to w e ste rn and central
G ermany ; so that i n the i r e con o m i c i nsti tuti ons they
remai ne d far behi nd th e greater state s o f the southwe st ;
partly also o f cours e i n conse quenc e o f want o f ski l l on
the part o f the ir rul e rs and other fortu i tous c i rcumstance s
N ot wi thout reason d i d the Brandenburg ord inance con
cern ing the p rivy counc i l c o mplai n i n 1 60 4 that i n sp i te
o f all i ts favourabl e c o nd i ti ons and all i ts navi gabl e stream s
the country was com i ng to b e l e ss fre quente d by fore ign
m e rchants nay even abandone d by the m ; not wi thout
reason d i d i t attribute th i s state o f th i ngs to the want o f
”
o od
e
P
o
l
i
z
e
i
i
to an exe cutive that was too weak
;
g
and that had too l i ttl e i nternal and external un i ty A nd
thi ngs be cam e even wors e i n the course o f th e great war
wh i ch not only anni hi late d p opulati on and cap i tal but
what was harde r sti ll
buri e d i n rui n the b egi nn ings o f a
rati ona l e c o nom i c p o l i cy fo r the terri tory both i n Bran
de nb urg and el sewhere ; we akene d fo r many long years the
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n atur a l e co n o m y as dis tinguish e d fr o m a m o n e y e\c o n o m y
a d i s ti nc ti o n fi r s t dw l t up o n b y th e e co n o mis t B H il d e br an d
m e ans a
c o nditi o n o f th i ngs in wh i c h th e dis tr i b u ti o n o f w e a l th w as
ffe cte d wi th o u t
th e i n te r v e n ti o n o f m o ne y a s e g b y p aym e nts in ki nd
C f A sh l e y E co
no mic H is to ry i p t i
1
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e
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,
M E R CA N TIL E
TH E
46
S YS TEM
sense o f th e ne c e ssi ty o f such a p ol i cy ; and everywhere
strengthened loca l p riv il ege and i nd ivi dual sel f—
wi ll
Y e t th i s very ti me — the se cond h a l f o f the s ixte enth
c entury and the sev ente e nth c entury
was an ep oc h wh i c h
gave every i nduce me nt fo r an econ o m i c trans formati on
Th e way was already c le ar out o f the narrow c irc le o f th e
small terr i tory i nto the large r un i on o f force s p oss ibl e o nly
i n th e great state
A n i mm easurabl e hori z on had be en
op ened to th e worl d s trad e i n I nd i a and A me ri ca ; the
posse ss i o n o f sp i ce colon i e s and o f the new gold and s i l
ver countri e s prom i se d m easure le ss ri che s to those state s
that understood how to se i z e the i r share o f the booty But
i t was clear that fo r such purpo se s i t was ne c e ssary to have
p ower ful fl e e ts and e i the r great trad i ng compani e s or
e quivale nt state organ i sati ons
A t home also e conom i c
change s o f no le ss i mp ortanc e to o k plac e The new p ostal
serv i ce s create d an a l toge the r new syste m o f c o mmunic a
ti on
Bi l l s o f exchange and the large e x change ope rati ons
at c e rtai n fai rs toge the r w i th th e banks whi c h we re now
mak ing t he i r app e arance produce d an e normous and far
re ach i ng mach i nery o f cre di t Th e ri se o f the p re ss g ave
b irth to a new ki nd o f publ i c op ini on and to a crowd o f
newspap e rs whi ch co op erate d wi th th e p ostal servi c e i n
trans fo rm i ng the m eans o f communi cati on
M ore over
th ere now t o o k place i n the several countri e s a ge o graphi
cal d ivi s i on o i lab o ur wh i ch broke up the o ld many si de d
ne ss o f town i ndustry ; h ere the woollen manu facture was
group ing i tse l f i n ce rtai n ne ighb o urhoods and around
c ertai n towns there the l i ne n manu facture ; here the
tanning trade the re the hardware trade
The ol d hand i
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A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
47
.
cra ft ( H a ndw e rk) began to c o nvert i tse l f i nt o a domesti c
1
i ndustry (H a usindus trie) ; the ol d stap l e trade carri e d on
i n p erson by the trave ll i ng m erchants began to assum e I ts
m o dern shap e w i th agents comm i ss i on deal ers and
sp ecu l ati on
The se fo rc e s all converging i mp elle d soci e ty to som e large
e con o m i c re o rgan i sati on o n a broa de r b asi s and po i nte d
to the c reati o n o f nati o nal state s wi th a c o rre sp o nd ing
pol i cy
Germany i tsel f had made a bri ll i ant start i n many
re sp ects
i n th e matter o f tra ffic o f m anu facturi ng proc
e sse s and d ivi s i on o f labour and eve n i n i ts fore ign
trade ; but ne i ther i ts i mp eri al or H anseat ic c i ti e s nor
as a ru l e i ts terri tori al states were capable o f making
the most o f i t
S ti ll less d i d th e i mp eri al power know
how to se t about th e gre at task o f the e conom i c consol i da
ti o n o f th e emp i re wh i ch was now so urgently ca l le d fo r
i n the sixte enth century i t was e xclus ive ly occup i e d in th e
mai ntenance o f the re l ig ious p eac e ; i n the seventee nth
c entury i t was altoge ther subservi e nt to the A ustri an and
C athol i c p ol i cy o f the H ap sburg dynasty
England s
cloths were floo di ng th e G e rman marke t
S we de n and
D e nmark were organ i sing them selve s as mari ti m e and
comm erc i al powers : S pai n Portugal and H o l land d ivi de d
the c o loni al trade b e twe en them selve s
Eve rywhere sav e
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,
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’
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,
r ms wh i h m t b m
p l y d n G r m ny nd E ng l nd t d sign t th i nd s tr i l n di ti ns d
th r
t n d b y th
F t y Sy t m t w hi h th y p r s nt d th
s tr y d
n tr s t h t th w r k w d n n th w r km n s h m B t th y
n w
S d by
n m i hi s t r ns m r
l ss t h ni l t r m s t d s rib
s t g in i nd s tr i l d v l pm nt m r k d b y th r nd v n m r imp r t nt
t r i ts
F
n
u nt fth s f ll w i ng th u rr nt G rm n l ssifi ti n
A sh l y E
n m
H i t y i p t ii ( in A m r
d
l ii ) pp
9
q ]
1
o
[ H a us z ndustr z e
a nd
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21
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ca
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se
.
,
TH E
48
MER CA N TIL E S YS TEM
i n G ermany econom i c bod i e s we re stre tchi ng out and
be com ing pol i ti ca l ; eve rywhe re new state system s o f econ
o m y and fi nanc e were ari si ng
ab l e to m e e t the new ne e ds
o f the tim e
O n l y i n our Fatherland d i d the old econom i c
i nsti tutions b ec o me so p e tri fi e d as to lose all l i fe ; only i n
G ermany we re th e fore ign trade the m anu factur ing ski ll
the supply o f cap i tal the good e conom i c usage s conne c
tions and trad i ti o ns whi ch the country had p osse sse d up
to 1 62 0 more and more c o mple te ly lo st
A nd i t was not si mp l y the e x ternal l oss i n men and
cap i ta l wh i ch brought about th i s re trogre ssi on o f Germany
duri ng a p eri od o f more than o ne c entury i n comp ar i son
wi th the Powers o f the We st ; i t was no t eve n the trans fe r
e nce o f the world s trad i ng rou te s from the Me d i terranean
to th e oc e an that was o f m o st c o nsequence ; i t was the lack
o fpo l i ti c o e conom i c organi sati on the lack o f consol i dation
i n i ts force s What to e ach i n i ts t ime gave ri che s and
sup er iori ty fi rst to M i lan Ve ni c e Flore nc e and G eno a ;
the n later to S p ai n and Portugal ; and now to H olland
Franc e and Eng l and and to som e extent to D enm ark and
S weden was a s ta te pol i cy i n e conom i c matters as superio r
to the terri tori a l as that had be en to the muni c ipal
Thos e state s began to we ave the great e co no m i c im
m
n
f
the
ti
m
e
i
nto
the
i
r
pol
i
ti
cal
i
nsti
tuti
ons
and
v
r
o
e
e
t
s
o
p
p ol i cy and to bri ng ab o ut an i nti mate re lati on b etwe en
the one and the o ther
S tate s arose form i ng uni ted and
there fo re strong a nd weal thy e conom i c bod i e s qu i te
d i ffere nt from e arl i er cond i ti o ns ; i n the se qu i t e un l ike
e arl i e r ti me s the state organi sati o n ass i ste d the nati o na l
e conomy and th i s the state p o l i cy ; and qui te un l ike
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A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
49
.
earl i e r ti me s too publ i c finance se rved as th e bond o f
un i o n be twe e n p ol i ti ca l and e con o m i c l i fe
I t was no t
on l y a que sti on o f state arm i e s fl e e ts and c iv i l serv i ce s ;
i t was a que sti on rather o f un i fying syste m s o f financ e and
e conomy wh i ch shoul d encompass the fo rce s o f m i l l i o ns
and whole countri e s and g ive un i ty to the i r soc i al l i fe
There had always b e en great state s ; but they had bee n
bound togethe r n e i ther by tra ffic no r by th e organ i sati on
o f labour nor by any other l ik e
force s
Th e que sti on
now was — wi th a great soc i e ty d i vide d i nto s o c i al classe s
w i de l y d i fferent one from anothe r and compl i cate d by
the d iv i si on o f labour
to bri ng ab out as far as pos
s ibl e on the b aS I S o f common nati o nal and re l igi ous
fe el i ngs a un i on fo r e xte rnal d e fenc e and fo r i nternal
j ust ice and adm in i strati o n fo r curre ncy and cre d i t fo r
trade i ntere sts and the wh o l e e conom i c l i fe whi ch should
be comparabl e wi th the ach i evem ents i n i ts ti m e ,o f th e
muni c i pal g o ve rnmen t i n re la t i o n to the town and i ts
e nvirons Th i s was no m ere fancy o f th e rulers ; i t was the
i nne rmost ne ed o f the h ighe r c iv i l i sati on i tsel f that such
enlarge d and strengthe ne d forms o f s o c i al and e conom i c
commun i ty should c o m e i nto e x i stence Wi th the growi ng
commun i ty i n sp ee ch art and l i terature w i th the gr o wth
o f the sp i ri t o f nati onal i ty wi th i ncre as i ng c o mmuni cati on
and comme rc e wi th m o ney transacti ons an d cre d i t trans
acti o ns b ec om i ng un iversal the o ld m e d i aeval forms o f
l o o se assoc i ati on no l onger su ffice d ; and al l the ri gi d local
c o rporate c l ass and d i str i ct organ i sati ons o f an e arl i er
time b e cam e i ntolerabl e h i nde rance s to e con o m i c pr o gre ss
O ut o f m ise ry and co nfl i ct o f every ki nd had ar i se n i n
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E
A ND
HIS T ORICA L SI GNIFICA NCE
I TS
51
.
state m aki ng i n th e m o de rn sense wh i ch create s out o f the
p o l i ti cal c ommun i ty an e c o nom i c communi ty and so g ive s
i t a he ightene d m eani ng Th e e ssence o f th e syste m l i e s
not i n s o m e doctri ne o f money or o f th e ba l anc e o f trade ;
no t i n tari ff barri e rs prote cti ve duti e s o r navi gati o n laws ;
—
but i n som e th i ng far greater
name ly i n the total trans
fo rmati o n o f s o c i ety and i ts organi sati on as well as o f the
state and i t s i nst i tuti ons i n th e replac i ng o f a l o cal and
terri tori al e c o n om i c p o l i cy by that o f the nati onal state
Wi th th i s accords th e fact re ce nt l y p o i nte d out w i th regard
to the l i terary h i story o f the move ment that what i s p e c u
l i ar to al l the m e rcanti l i st wri ters i s not So much the
regulati ons o f trade wh i ch they propose fo r the i ncrease o f
the pre c i ous m e tal s as the stre s s th ey lay o n th e active
1
c i rculati o n o f m o ney e sp e c ially wi th i n the state i tse l f
Th e struggle agai nst th e gre at n o b i li ty th e towns the
corporati ons an d p r o v i nce s the e conom i c as well as
p o l i ti cal blend i ng o f the se i so l ate d gr o up s i nto a l arger
whol e the struggle fo r un i fo rm m easure s and co i nage fo r
a we l l ordere d syste m o f currency and cred i t fo r uni form
laws and uni fo rm adm i ni strati on fo r fre er and more ac tive
tra ffic wi thi n the land —
th i s i t was wh i ch create d a new
d ivi si on o f labour a new prosp eri ty and wh i ch l ibe rate d
a th o usand force s towards pr o gress A s the te rr i tori al
p o l i cy had re ste d on the o verthrow o f i ndep endent l o cal
an d town p o l i c i e s o n the l i m i tati on and m od i ficati on o f
l o ca l i nsti tuti ons upon th e i ncre asi ng strength o f the
ge neral i nte re sts o f the wh o l e te rri tory so now th e re fo l
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T his
is
th e
M e r ka ntil i s m us ,
m ain p o in t in B ide rm ann s ins truc tiv e l e ctur e
I n nsb r u c k 1 8 7 0
'
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e
er
den
52
TH E
MER CAN TIL E S YS TEM
l o wed fo r c e nturi e s a struggl e b e twe en state and d i stri ct
be t we e n princ ipa l i ty and p rov i nc e —
a
tas k wh i ch was
doubly d i fficul t i n those case s wh ere the state d i d not ye t
i nclud e the whole nati o n
Th i s struggl e was p ri ari ly an
ec onom i c o ne ; i t had to d o wi th the re moval o f all the old
e conom i c and fi nanc ral i nsti tuti o ns and w i th th e cre atio n
o f new j o i nt i ntere sts and o f ne w and un i te d i nsti tuti ons
I t was a proce ss whi ch i n I taly and G ermany reache d i ts
ful l conclus i on o nly i n our own d ay
wh i ch i n France
was not q ui te fi n i she d i n 1 7 8 9 ; wh i ch even i n Gr e at
Bri tai n was no t c ompl e te d ti ll late ; and i n th e R epubl i c
o f the Un i te d N e therl ands halte d m i dway i n i ts course
I t i s now to b e noti ce d that i t was th e enl ightened
mo re o r l e ss desp oti c monarchy o f th e sevente enth and
e ighte e nth centuri e s by wh i ch thi s m ove m ent was i n i ti ate d
and pushe d forward
I ts whol e activ i ty c e ntre d i n e co
nomi c m easure s ; i ts gre at admi ni strative re form s we re
anti mun i c i pal an d anti provi nc i a l an d ai med ch i e fly at
the cre ati on o f large r e c o n o m i c organi sms
Wi th th e se
pri nc e s m ercanti l i st p ol i cy was not s o m e th ing subsi d i ary ;
all that the y planne d and p er forme d n e cessari ly too k thi s
d ire cti o n
I m enti one d above that i n th e Un i te d N e therlands
wh i ch attracte d such universal adm i rati on ab o ut the
mi ddl e o f the s evente enth c en tury
the to wns and p rov
inc e s retain ed a great deal o f the ir o ld i ndep endenc e ;
and the local and provi nci al sp i ri t there so strong had
eve n certai n favourabl e cons eque nce s ; but i t c ou l d le ad
to greatne ss p owe r and wealth only so long as i t was
o verri dden by th e opp osi te movement towards c entral i sa
,
,
,
,
m
.
,
.
.
"
,
,
.
-
-
,
.
‘
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICA L SI GNIFICANCE
53
.
t i on
Eve n the Burgund i an pri nce s had done much fo r
th e e con o m i c uni ty o f the land by the i r enl ightened
adm i ni strati on ; i n later ti me s H olland and A msterdam
preponderate d so gre atly i n powe r and re source s that
the i r v o i c e was freque ntly de c i s ive and a l one c on si dere d
M o re however was don e fo r consol i dati on by th e E ighty
Y e ars War o f I ndep endenc e a nd by the H ouse o f O range
i n the vari o u s comp l i cate d o ffi c i al re lati ons i n wh i ch
i t stoo d toward s th e d ec i s ive e con o m i c que sti ons o f the
ti m e The A dm i ralty Board ( Ooe ra d/nira litiits co llegium)
re mai ne d i n exi ste nc e only fo r a fe w ye ars ( 1 58 9
but a fter th i s th e H ouse o f O range re mai ne d at the head
o f the A dmi ralty i n th e separate state s ;
and upon the
A dm i ralty dep ende d no t o nly the fl e e t but also the whole
tari ff system and i nd e e d a l l mari ti m e trade
C olon i al
po l i cy navigati on p o l i cy th e regulati on o f th e L evant
trade o f th e h erri ng an d whal e fi she ri e s and the l i k e
were all c e ntral i se d
A glanc e i nto th e r i ch contents o f
th e R e soluti on Boo k o f th e H igh an d M ighty L o rds the
”
S tate s General o f the Un i te d N e therlands (Pla ca e t B o eck
.
'
,
"
.
,
,
’
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
"
-
-
de r ko c/z moge nde n H
' ’
e r re n
S ta a te n- G e ne ra el de r
e
t
ve re ini
g
Ne de rla nde) shews us to how large an exte nt th e e conom i c
and c ommerc i al po l i cy o f th e flour ish i ng ti m e o f the re
publ i c was th e outc o m e o f a common N e therland i sh
ego i sm
I ts rap i d declensi on b egi ns w i th the p eri od
during wh i ch there was no governor
and
th e most signal cause o f th i s de cl i ne was the prep onder
anc e i n o ne fi e l d a fter an o the r a fte r about 1 650 —
1 700,
o f bourge o i s loca l i sm an d prov i nc i al i sm
.
,
.
1
[ 650
1
-
1
67 2
]
TH E
54
[ ME R CAN TIL E
I t i s a cons i derati on
S YS TEM
f
the e con o m i c h i story o f France
that most clear ly bri ngs o ut the fac t that the m ercanti l i sm
that was everywhere maki ng i ts way was at l eas t as m uch a
matte r o f trans formati on and uni on at hom e as o f barri ers
agai nst the world outsi d e L oui s " I ( 1 4 6 1 —1 4 8 3) cast d o wn
th e great house s o f Burgundy and A nj o u o f O rle ans and
Bourbon re si sted the narrow se l fishne ss o f the corp ora
ti ons sought to bring about uni form we ights and m easure s
i n Franc e and fo rbade the i mportati on o f fore ign manu
fac ture s
The e di ct o f 1 539 wh i ch i ntroduc e d fre edom
parti cularly
o f trad e i n c orn i n the i nteri or o f France
b e twe e n the severa l prov i nce s se ts out wi th th e asserti on
that i n a un i te d p o l i ti cal body th e seve ral d i stri c ts shou l d
at a l l ti mes he l p and support one an o the r The d eclara
ti on i n 1 5 7 7 that trade and i n 1 58 1 that i ndustry b e
longe d to the dro it do ma nia l had no t so much a fi scal as a
1
c e ntral i s ing sign i ficance ; as was the case generally w i th the
ord inance s dating fr o m the ti m e o f the gre at de l H Op ital
C
hance
llor
i
chel
i
eu
s
raz ingo fthe fortre sse s
1 560
R
(
2
o f the nob i l i ty
has o fte n b e e n exto l le d as one o f the most
i mportant ste p s toward s i nte rna l fre ed o m o f i nte r course
wi th i n Franc e ; h i s active m easure s fo r th e creati on o f a
o
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
‘
,
,
’
’
di ct o f Fe bru ary 1 57 7 a du ty u n de r th e n a m e o f tra ite
w a s im p o s e d o n th e e xp o r tati o n o f g r a i n w i ne c l o th a nd
d m a nia l
w o o l ; b y ano th e r o f Ju l y 1 57 7 a ou e u d fi na nc w a s e s tabl is h e d in
c o m p o s e d o f tw o t r e a s u r e r s f
o r t h e d o m a i n ( in th e na r
e ac h g e néra lit
r o w e r s e ns e ) and tw o r e ce iv e r s g e n e r a l fo r th e c us to m s Th e d i c t o f
1 58 1 co m p e ll e d a ll a r tis a ns a s ye t u n o r g ani s e d to fo r m th e ms e l v e s I n to
m et s a nd to pu r c h a s e le ttr de m tr ise fr o m th e g o v e r nm e nt b ut g a v e
m a s t r c r ftsm e n a w i de r r ang e fo r th e e x e r c is e o f th e ir tr a d e th a n h a d
pr e v i o us l y b e e n p e rm i tte d ]
2
6
n
t
f
f
es
F
ra nce
Bri
g
1
6
2
h
e
s
u
b
j
e
c
t
o
t
h
is
p
a
r
a
gr
a
p
h
o
H
d
O
[
J
u nde
R ic/re lie u a nd Co lbe rt
E di nburgh
1
[B y
o
an
e
,
,
,
e,
,
,
r a
,
,
es
,
es
'
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e,
-
.
,
ier
e
es
,
'
ai
,
a
.
r
e
,
.
,
.
.
.
,
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
A I VD
55
.
French mari ne were am o ng the m o st i mp o rtant c o ntrib u
ti ons towards the deve lopme nt o f an i ndependen t com
C o l bert s
m e rc ia l p o l i cy i n re l ati on to o ther countri e s
adm i ni s trati on ( 1 662 —1 68 3 ) was p ri mari ly a strugg l e
agai nst the muni c i pal and p rovi nc i al author i ti e s ; o f
1
wh o m C h er ne l says that i t was they really who h i ndere d
e con o m i c progre ss and the i mproveme nt o f trade and
manu facture s
Th e subm i ssi on o f the towns to a uni
form o rd inanc e ,the parti a l ab o l i ti on o f the prov inc i al
Estate s the d i m inuti on o f the powe r o f the provi nc ia l
govern o r and h i s repl ace ment by the inte nde nt ; the se
were m easure s wh i ch l ike h i s great r o ad and cana l
works hi s i ntere st i n posts and i nsurance i n te chni cal
and arti sti c e ducati on i n exh ib i ti o ns and m ode l bui l d
i ngs c re ate d by the sta t e i n private and pub l i c model
i ndustri al e stabl i shm ents h i s re fo rm o f rive r t o l l s h i s
uni o n o f th e i nner pr o v inc e s i n a un i form customs system
al l ai me d at th e o ne th i ng to make o f the Fre nch
p e opl e unde r i ts b ri l l i ant monarchy a n o bl e and uni te d
b o dy un i te d i n c iv i l i sati on as we l l as i n g o ve rnm ent and
w o rthy o f th e nam e o f nati on
Th e great laws o f C olbert
the o rdo nna nce civile o f 1 667 th e edit ge ne ra l s u r les e a ux
e t le s fo re ts o f 1 66
the
o rdo nna nce crirnine lle o f 1 6 7 0
9
the o rdo nna nce de co mme rce o f 1 6 7 3 fo u nde d th e legal
as we l l as th e econ o m i c un i ty o f France ; even e con o m i
ca l ly th ey are more i mp o rtant than th e tari ffs o f 1 664
and 1 667 fo r the se d i d no t succe ed eve n i n re movi ng
’
.
,
,
'
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
'
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
'
'
,
‘
,
,
,
,
1
[ A C h é rue l
Fra nce
( 1 87 8
e tc
]
.
.
,
a
the
th e
H
u th o r
H
o
f th e H i s to ir e de l
m o na r c/z igue
a dm inz s tr a tio n
L
en
Fr a nce p e nda nt la m ino r i te de o u i s " I V
de Fr a nce s o us te m inistere M az a r m ( 1 8 8 2
i s to i r e
i s to i r e
’
de
'
56
TH E
ME R CAN TIL E S YS TEM
the d i ffe re nce s betwe e n the p ays
d éle ctio n
’
d e ta ts
and the pays
1
.
A ustr i a , as late as
had not go t beyond a ve ry
loose assoc i ati on o f provi nce s
I t was then determ i ned
i n i m i tati on o f the Prussi an adm i ni strati on that th i ngs
should b e d i ffere nt The Prussi an g o vernment had b e e n
abl e s inc e the days o f the Great El ec tor ( 1 64 0
and
sti l l more during the re ign o f Freder i ck Wi ll i am I ( 1 7 1 3
to create a fi nanc i al econ o m i c and m i l i tary whol e
such as the re was no other o n th e conti ne nt and thi s
out o f the most re fractory materi als out o f te rri tori e s
lyi ng far apart and almost ho sti l e o ne to anothe r What
i s more th i s was succe ss fully c arri e d through at the ve ry
p e ri o d when the adm i ni strati o n had se t be fore i tsel f the
purpos e o f re tri evi ng lost ti m e w i thi n th e terri tori e s
the mselve s and se curi ng what many other d i stri cts o f
Germany had already obtai ne d by 1 60 0 that i s the i r
un i ty and se l f suffi c ie nc y A t the very ti m e that i t was
engaged i n Brandenburg Pom erani a Magdeburg East
Prussi a an d th e R h i ne p rovi nce s ( C leve s and Mark)
i n subj e cting the towns and the nobl e s to the a uthori ty
o f the state
and i n creati ng a un i te d p ro vincia l adm inis
1 Th e p a
y d ét t w e r e th o s e p r o vin ce s o f Fra n ce in whi c h a ss e mb l i e s
[
1
8
4
,
7
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
-
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
’
s
a s
su r viv e d and r e tain e d s o m e a u th o ri ty T h e m o s t imp o rtan t o f
t h e s e w e r e L a ngu e do c B r i tta n y Bu r gund y Pr o v e n ce A r to is H a in au l t th e
C a mbr esis and B é arn T h e s e w e r e all fr o nti e r pr o v i nc e s w h i c h h ad b e e n
br o ugh t un de r th e dir e c t a uth o ri ty o f th e Fr e nch c r o w n at a c o mp a r ati v e l y
l ate date and h ad b e e n a ll o w e d to r e ta in a g o o d de al o fth e ir o ld a uto n o m y
C o l b e rt was un ab l e to s e cu r e the r e m o v al o f th e c us to m s b ar r i e r s b etw e e n
t h e s e p r o vin c e s a nd th e r e s t o f Fr a n ce w h i c h was k no wn a s p ays d et c
tio n fr o m its divis i o n i nto dis tr i cts fo r p u r p o s e s o f fi na nc i l a dm i ni s tr a ti on
fi c i a l s l us ( i e pp o nt d f r th e p ur p o s e ) w h o
ca ll e d ele ct o ns a fte r th e o f
e si de d o v e r th e m ]
r
p
of
E s tate s
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
e
,
a
,
'
i
,
,
.
e
.
.
a
i
e
o
,
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
57
.
i t took i n h and the task o f givi ng the wh o l e group
and e c o n o m i c
o f p o o r l i ttl e terri tori e s a real p ol i ti cal
un i ty o f taki ng part i n Europ ean po l i ti cs and o f se curi n
g
by an i ndep e ndent pol i cy i n trade and i ndustry fo r these
northern lands bare as they were o f m en d evo i d as they
were o f mari ti me c o mmerce o r m i ne s o r consi de rab l e
manu facture s a p lace by the s i de o f the o ld and wea l thy
Great Powers Th e whol e character o f the Prussian adm i n
istrat io n from 1 68 0 to 1 7 8 6 was de term i ne d by the way i n
whi ch thi s state w i th i ts small and broke n ge ograph i ca l
basi s se t about c omb i ni ng a na tio na l p ol i cy i n pursui t o f
G erman Protestant and m ercanti l i st ob j e cts wi th th e tasks
o f te rrito ria l rul e hande d d o wn to i t by the past ; and by
th e way i n wh i ch i t carri e d out i n war and p eace i n
adm i n i strati on and e conomy a nati onal s ta te pol i cy i n th e
”
gre at styl e wi th scarce l y more than te rrito ria l me ans
O ur p re sent task has on l y be e n to shew how cl o se was the
c onne cti on i n Pruss i a as e lsewhere be twe en on the one
s i de re fo rm and c e ntral i sati on at h o m e th e trans forma
t i o n o f terri t o rial e con o m i e s i nto a na tio na l e con o my
Vo lks
w irt z s ckaft ) and th e m ercanti l e syste m on the
other ; h o w h ere as e lsewhere dome sti c p o l i cy an d fo re ign
p ol i cy supp l e me nte d one anothe r as i nd i spensabl e el ements
i n one system
tratio n,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
-
,
,
,
,
"
.
,
,
,
,
,
’
r
,
,
,
.
If
we pause fo r a whi le to cons i der th i s fore ign and
external e con o m i c pol i cy o f the Europ ean state s o f th e
seve nte enth and e i ghte e nth centuri e s — wh i ch i t has
h i thert o be en the cust o m to regard as the e ssential feature
o f the m e rcanti l e system — it i s no t o f c o urse
our pur
,
,
,
,
A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
59
.
grasp th e fundam ental i deas o f the syste m ; wh i ch natu
ra ll y found varyi ng expressi on here in h igh duti e s there
i n lo w here i n th e p reventi on there i n the enc o urage ment
Th e thought pursue d everywhe re was
o f the corn trade
thi s : as c o mp et i ti o n wi th othe r countri e s fluctuate d up
and d o wn to cast the we ight o f the p owe r o f the state
i nto the sca l e s o f the ba l anc e i n the way de mande d i n each
case by nati o na l i ntere sts
I n p r o p o rti o n as the e con o m i c i nterests o f whole state s
a fter much agi tati on o f p ubl i c O p i ni o n fo und a rallyi ng
p o i nt i n ce rtai n generally acc ep te d p o stulate s there could
not fai l to ar i se th e th o ught o f a nati o nal po l i cy o f p ro te c
t i o n by the state agai nst the o uts i de w o rld and o f the sup
p o rt by the state o f gre at nati o nal intere sts i n the i r strugg l e
wi th fo re ign co untri e s The c o ncepti o n o f a nati onal agr i
culture o f a nati o nal i ndustry o f nati o nal sh i pp ing and
fi sheri e s o f nati o nal currency and banki ng syste ms o f a
nati o na l d ivi si on o f lab o ur and o f a nati o na l trade mu st
have ari se n be fore the ne e d was fe lt o f trans fo rm ing ol d
muni c i pal and te rri t o r i al i nsti tuti ons i nto nati onal an d
s tate o ne s
But as s o o n as that had take n p l ac e i t m us t
have se e med a matte r o f c o urse that the whol e p o we r o f
the state i n re l ati o n to othe r c o untri e s as we ll as at h o m e
sh o uld be place d at the se rv i ce o f the se c olle ctive i nte re sts
j us t as the p o l i ti ca l p o wer o f the t o wns and terri t o ri e s had
se rve d the i r muni ci p al and d i str i ct i ntere sts The struggle
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
'
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
p r t f th s h m k n wn th M r nti l S ys t m whi h w r ig i n l t
nd th
E ng l nd
r n r s t n fE ng li s h pr sp r i y F A d m S mi th s
r g m nts g i ns t th b nt
l V it/ f N t n b k iv
h v ( d
R g rs ii 8
nd f M
r i i ism nd Pr f ss r C unning
H w i ns
h m s r j ind r E n m i 7 n l ii 698 ; iv 5 ]
a
o
e
a
u
a
o
a
e
'
a
e
.
e o
e
"
a
,
,
e
c
e co
a
e
1
a
e
,
as
o
co
e
-
ou
or
o
c
o
e
e
e
ca
e o
o
/
y, se e
oar
a
,
z
ea
’
e
r.
e
.
c
o
t
e
a io
t c
.
as o
c
a
I 2.
”
.
s,
or
.
o e
a
o
’
a
.
o
c
.
.
e
.
60
TH E
fo r
M E R CA N TI L E
S Y S TE I LI
e x i stenc e i n e conom i c l i fe i n p arti cular as i n soc i al
l i fe i n gene ral i s nec e ssari ly carri ed o n at al l tim e s by
smaller or large r gr o up s and c o mmuni ti e s That wi l l also
be the case i n a l l ti me to come
A nd th e practi c e and
the o ry o f those ti me s answer ing as they d i d to th i s un i
ve rsal tendency we re nearer real i ty than the the o ry o fA dam
1
S m i th , and so al so were the mai n i de as o f Fre deri ck L i st
We are no t h o wever c once rn e d just no w w i th th i s
unive rsal tendency ; what we want i s to unde rstand th e
parti cular fo rm i n wh i ch i t the n exp re sse d i tse l f and the
reas o n fo r i t , and why it c o uld i n l ater ti me s give way
so far be fo re o the r tende nc i e s
Th e gre at state s o f an e ar l i e r ti m e d i spl ay no commer
c ia l p o l i cy i n
the styl e o f the m ercanti l e system no t
b ecause th e Ut o p i a o f a pure l y i nd ivi dua l i s t i c e conomi c
l i fe posse sse d more real i ty then than late r bu t because
they we re no t uni te d e cono m i c b o d i e s ; as soon a s they
becam e such the inheri tance o f suc h e conom i c bod i e s as
had p rev i o us l y ex i sted and ab o ve all o f the town p ol i cy
passe d ove r to the m I t was not b ecause m o ney and money
paym ents or i ndustry o r tra de sudden l y p l aye d an alto
ge ther new r ol e i n th e days o f C romwel l an d C o lbert that
i t occurre d to p e o pl e to guid e the course o f exportati o n
and i mp o rtation and co l oni al tr a de and to sub j ect them
to gove rnm e ntal contro l
O n the c o ntrary i t was because
j ust then o ut o f the e ar l i e r sma l l e r c o mmun i ti e s great
nati onal commun i ti e s had gr o wn up whose power and si g
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
i
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
1
1
91
[S e e
—94
1
3d e d ,
.
,
th e
a nd
pp
.
69
u nt o f th e m in I ng r a m H story of Po litical E co no my
r e m ar ks o fPr o fe ss o r M a r s h a ll in Pr inc p l s f E cono m ics
a cc o
th e
,
i
,
i
e
o
,
A ND
I TS
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
61
.
re ste d on the i r psychol o gi cal and soc i al conce r
t
that they began to i m i tate no t What C harle s V had d one
1
i n S pai n but what al l t o wns and terri tori e s o f earl i e r
tim e s had d o ne from Tyre and S i don fr o m A thens and
C arthage onward to carry over what P i sa and Ge noa Flor
ence and Ven i ce an d the Ge rman H anse towns had d one
i n the i r ti me to the broad basi s o f wh o l e state s an d nati ons
The wh o l e i de a and do ctri n
e o f th e B alan
as
i t the n arose was on l y th e se c o ndary c onse q ue nc e o f a
concepti o n o f e con o m i c pr o ce sse s wh i ch gr o upe d the m
acc o rdi ng to state s
ust
as
up
to
th
i
s
tim
e
at
enti
on
t
j
had be e n fixe d o n th e exp o rtati on from and i mportati on
so now p e o p l e tri e d
to parti cular towns and terri tori e s
to grasp i n the i r m i nd s th e trade o f the state as a whol e
and to sum i t up i n such a way as to arrive at a better
understand ing o f i t and at s o m e prac ti cal c o nclusi on
S uch a group ing and comb i nati o n were ve ry ev i dently
sugge ste d i n a country l i ke England where on acc ount o f
i ts i nsular p o s i ti on and th e mo de rate si z e o f the land
th e nati o nal e conomy had early d i splaye d i ts e x ports and
i mp o rts i ts supply o f money and o f the pre c i ous me tals
2
as a c o nne cted whol e to the eye o f the o bse rver
A ll e c o nom i c and p o l i ti cal l i fe re sts up on p sych i cal
mass movem e nts mass —
senti me nts and mass concep ti ons
grav i tati ng ar o und c ertai n centre s That age coul d begi n
to thi nk and ac t i n th e sp i ri t o f fre e trad e wh i ch had le ft
so far beh i nd i t th e to i l som e wo r k of nati onal developme nt
1
[A r fe r e n c to a co m m o n ss e r ti o n fo u nd fo r i ns t n ce in B lanqu is
nifi canc e
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62
MER CAN TIL E S YS TEM
TH E
that i t regarde d i ts b est re sul ts as matters o f course and
forg o t th e struggl e they had cost ; an age whi ch w i th
c osmopoli tan sentim ents wi th great i nsti tuti o ns and
i ntere sts o f i nternati onal tra ffic w i th a hum ani sed i nter
nati o nal law and an i nd ivi d ua l i st l i tera ture eve rywhere
d i ffuse d was a l re ady begi nn i ng to l ive i n th e i deas and
te ndenc i e s o f a world e c o n o my
Th e
seve nte enth c entury had j ust manage d to fight i ts way up
from local sen ti me nt to nati onal senti ment ; i nternati o nal
l aw as ye t scarce l y e x i ste d
Th e o l d b o nds wh i ch had
held together C ath o l i c state s had b e e n br o ke n ; all the
i nte lle ctual m o vem e nt o f the ti m e c entre d i n the new
nati o nal l i fe ; and th e stronger and sounder beat th e pu l se
the more i t fe l t i ts i nd iv i dual i ty the more
o f that l i fe
i nevi tabl e was i t that i t should bar i tsel f agai nst the world
o utsi de w i th a harsh eg o i sm
Each new p o l i ti cal c o m
muni ty that form s i tse l f must b e carri e d a l o ng by a str o ng
and exc l usive fe e l ing o f c o mmun i ty ; the se are the r o o ts o f
i ts strength The struggl e fo r se l f suffi c ie nc y and inde p e n
d enc e i s as natural to i t as the sp i ri t o f v i ol e nt rivalry
wh i ch he si tate s at nothi ng i n order to c o me up wi th
to surpass and to crush th e r iva l s i n wh o m i t a l ways
se e s e nem i e s
I t was the law o f autarchy by wh i ch the
c o mm erc i al p ol i cy o f th o se ti me s was exc l us ive l y gui de d
1
The e ndeavour a fte r autarch y natura ll y s h ews i tse l f i n an
e sp e c i a l l y v i o l ent and one s i de d form i n th e youth o f
nations
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17 0 0 7 19
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f
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
A z VD
63
.
Th e doctri ne o f the natural harm o ny o f the e c o n o m i c
i nterests o f al l state s i s j ust as fa l se as the op i ni o n then
entertai ned t hat an advantage to o ne state i s a l ways a
d i sadvantage to an o the r The latte r was an o p i n i o n whi ch
not on l y had i ts r o ots i n the e arl i er stubb o rn strugg l e s
be twe en towns and terri tori e s but was strengthene d j ust at
thi s ti me by the c i rcum stance that th e p osse ssi on o f c o lo
n i e s o f the I nd i an S p i ce I s l ands and o f th e si lver m i ne s
o f A meri ca had fa l l en to the seve ral nati o ns o n l y as the
re su l t o f war and b l oodshe d
I t se em e d unav o i dable that
one nati o n sh o u l d have to re cede when an o th e r pre ssed in
I n rea l i ty a l l s o c i al b o d i e s and there fore econ o m i c bod i e s
among them —a t first t o wns and d i stri cts and a fterward s
nati o ns and state s —stand to o ne an o ther i n a doubl e
relati o n ; a re l ati o n o f act io n an d reac ti on by wh i ch they
mutua l l y supplem ent o ne an o the r and a re l ati o n o f d ep e n
de nc e exp l o i tati o n and strugg l e fo r sup rem acy Th e
latter i s th e origi nal o ne ; and o n l y sl o wly i n th e course
i s th e antag o n i sm so fte ne d
o f c enturi e s and m i l l e nn iums
Eve n to day the great e conom i c Po wers se ek to uti l i se
the i r e conom i c sup er i o ri ty i n al l the i r internati onal rela
ti o ns and to re tai n weaker nati ons i n dependenc e ; eve n
—
among whom
to day any ha l f c ivi l i se d nati on or tribe
th e Eng l i sh o r Frenc h e stabl i sh themse l ve s i s i n danger
fi rst o f a sort o f slavery fo r deb t and an un favourabl e bal
anc e o f trade and fo ll o wi ng cl o se l y i n the wak e o f po l i ti
cal anne xati o n and e conom ic e xpl o i tati o n
th o ugh th i s
i nde ed may turn i nt o an e con o m i c e ducati o n fo r i t
I n th e sevente enth and e ighte enth ce nturi e s th e re l a
ti ons and e sp ec i a l l y the e c o n o m i c re l ati ons b e twe en
.
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ME R CAN TILE
TH E
64
S YS
TE M
state s were p arti cularly h o sti l e an d harsh b ecause the
ne w ec onomi c o p o l iti cal cre ati ons were fo r th e fi rst ti me
tryi ng the i r streng th an d be cause i t was th e first tim e that
such cons i de rabl e p ol i ti cal fo rce s we re avail able fo r the
pursu i t o f comm erc i al agri cultural an d i ndustri al e nds
force s whi ch m ight se e m if only properly employe d to
pr o m i se unto l d wealth to every state
all
age
s
h
i
st
n
o ry
I
has be e n wont to tre at nati ona l p o wer and nati onal wealth
as s i sters ; p erhap s th ey were n ever s o c l o se l y ass o c i ate d
as then The te mptati o n to the gre ater state s o f that ti m e
to use the i r p o l i ti cal power fo r c on fl i c t wi th the i r e c o
nom i c c omp e ti t o rs and when they c o u l d fo r the i r de struc
ti on was to o gre at fo r the m not to succumb ti m e a fte r ti m e
and e i th er to se t i nternati ona l l aw at naught or twi st i t to
the i r p urp o se s
C ommerc i al c omp e t i ti on e ve n i n time s
n o m ina l l y o f p eace degene rate d i nto a state o f undeclared
h o sti l i ty : i t p l unge d nati o ns i nto o ne war a fter anothe r
and gave all wars a turn i n th e d ire cti o n o f trade i ndustry
and co l o n i al gai n such as the y n eve r had be fore or a fte r
I t has be e n o fte n en o ugh re marked that th e p e ri o d o f
the wars o f re l igi o n was fo llowe d by o ne i n wh ich e c o
n o m i c an d commerc i al i ntere sts governe d th e whol e
I t i s tru e that eve n
fo re ign po l i cy o f Europ ean state s
th e expe d i ti on o f Gustavus A do l phus to G ermany was a
m o ve i n th e game whi ch was be i ng p layed fo r th e trade
I n l ike manne r th e late r wars o f S we de n
o f the Bal ti c
ai m ing at the c o nque st o f P o land and th e aggre ssw e
move ments o f R ussi a towards the S we d i sh and German
p rovi nce s o n th e Bal ti c were a l l d i re cted towards the
acqu i si ti on and dom inati on o f the Balti c trade
,
-
,
’
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A ND
HIS T ORICA L SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
A s i n th e East I ndi es th e anc i ent sourc e
65
.
supply fo r
O ri ental ware s fo r p earl s and sp i ce s the Portugue se
vi ol ent l y pushed the i r way i n first anni h i late d A rab i an
trade wi th unheard o i brutal i ty and i mp o se d up on all th e
A si ati c tribe s and state s the rul e that they sh o uld carry o n
trad e w i th P o rtuguese alone ; s o i n late r t i me s th e Dutch
were able to drive th e P o rtugue se out to ge t fo r the m
selve s a l ike m onopo l y o f the sp i c e trade to ke ep othe r
Europ eans away by cra ft and by m e rcanti l e tal ent
—if ne e d were by i ns o l ent v i ole nce and bloodsh ed
and to ho l d the p e o pl e o f the East i n c o mmerc i a l sub
o
i
e
c
t
o
n
Th
e
he
r
i
c
struggl
e
o
f
the
Dutch
f
rel
igi
ous
o
r
j
l ib erty and fo r fre e dom from the S pani sh y o ke d i splays
”
i tse l f wh e n l o oked at i n a dry l ight as a ce ntury l o ng
war fo r th e conque st o f East I ndi an colon i e s and an
e qua l l y l o ng p rivate ering assaul t on the s i lve r fl e e ts o f
S pai n and th e S pan i sh A m eri can coloni al trad e
These
Dutch s o l aude d by th e naif fre e trade r o f our day on
account o f the low customs duti e s o f the i r e arly days were
from the fi rst the sterne st and most warl ike o f monop ol i sts
a fter the m e rcanti l i st fash i on that th e worl d has eve r s e e n
A s they su ffere d no trad ing sh i p wh e the r Eur o p ean or
A si ati c i n East I ndi an waters wi thout a Dutch pass to
b e b o ught onl y wi th g o l d as by force o f arm s and by
treaty they kep t the Be l gi an p o rt A ntwerp shut up
agai nst commerc e
as they crushe d the Prussi an col ony
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c l aus e s in th e T r e aty o f W e stp h al i a 1 64 8 p r o vi di ng fo r th e
s e ag o ing v e ss e l s w e r e fo r bi dd e n to a s ce nd to A nt
c l o sing o f th e S c h e l d t
T h e y mus t u nl o a d a t a D ut c h p o r t a nd th e n c e fo rw r d th e ir m e r
we rp
T h e S ch e l dt wa s re o p e n e d by th e
c h andis e to A ntw e rp by riv e r b a rg e s
Fr e n c h in
1
[ B y th e
,
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A ND
HIS T ORICAL SI GNIFICANCE
I TS
67
.
England and H o l land i n concert aga i nst the growi ng
i ndustr ial and c o mmerc i al preponderance o f Franc e and
agai nst the danger o f the un i on o f Fre nch trade wi th th e
1
c o l on i al p o we r o f S pai n
I t was a struggl e fo r the lucra
t ive S pan i sh A m er ican trade wh i ch m ai nly o ccas i one d
the antag o n i sm o f Eng l an d and Franc e ti l l a fter the m i ddl e
Th e supply o f th e S p ani sh
o f the e ighte enth c en tury
A m eri can co l on i e s w i th E uro p e an m anufac ture s could
o n l y take place by means o f the great We st I nd i an smug
gl i ng trade or through S pai n i e the S pan i sh p ort towns
A s S pan i sh i ndustry supp l i ed on l y a part o f th e n e ed the
que sti on was whom S p ai n w o u l d a l l ow to share i n th e
trade
whe ther i t w o ul d wi nk at smuggl i ng and if so
to wh at ex tent and by wh o m ; whether France cou l d c i r
i n S pai n and the
o r England France
c umv e nt England
We st I nd i e s The war a l so o f England w i th S pa i n from
i n 1 7 4 4 turne d i tse l f i nto a war
1 7 3 9 to 1 7 4 8 — wh i ch
w ith S pai n and Franc e
had i n the ma i n no othe r ob j e ct
than th i s to o b tai n a fre e c o urse fo r the Engl i sh smuggl i ng
2
trade wi th S pan i sh A me ri ca ; i t was general ly n i cknam e d
”
by publ i c op i ni o n th e S mug gle r s War
The S eve n Y ears War had its origi n as everyone knows
i n th e co l o ni a l riva l ry o f Eng l and and Franc e i n N o r th
A m eri ca
Wh ether th e O h i o and M i ssi ss ipp i should
furni sh the R o manc e race o r the Teuton i c w i th a fi el d fo r
c o l oni sati on and trade whether mar i ti m e and comme rc i al
sup remacy fo r th e next hundre d o r two hundre d years
1 C f th e i ns tr u c ti v e l i tt l e p ap e r o f H M e i nb r g
( s ugg e s te d b y s o m e re
o
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G le z c/zge w z c/z trrys te m
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gl is c/z e H a na e lsp o lz tié ,
[ Cf e c y, H isto ij/ of E ngla nd in M e E
’
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II I
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.
68
TH E
M E R CA N TI L E
S YS
TE M
shoul d b elong to England o r F r ance
that was the far
reachi ng e conom i c quarre l i nto wh i ch the great king o f
P russ i a was drawn be cause he woul d not su ffe r h i s ol d ally
Franc e to attack h i s old ene my England i n H an o ve r i e i n
Ge rmany I n de fe nd ing Ge rmany s neutral i ty i n th i s com
m e rc ial an d coloni al war h e was drawn i nto it hi msel f;
and whe n h i s brave t r oop s de feated the Fre n
ch at R o ssbach
1 7 57
and
e
lsewhere
they
de
c
i
de
d
at
the
sam
e
ti
m
e
the
)
(
gre at que sti ons o f th e worl d s trade and o f future coloni al
development
W i thout the v i c tor i e s o f the Prussi an
grenadi ers and the Engl i sh fl e e t England woul d not to
day have i ts world wi de trad e and the Uni te d S tate s o f
A meri ca woul d not e x i st I t i s probabl e that French woul d
now b e sp oke n al ike o n the O h i o and the M i ss i ssipp i at
C alcutta and Bombay
Engli sh comme rc i al greatne ss and supremacy date from
the succ e sse s o f th e war o f 1 7 56—1 7 63 But the cl imax
i n i ts care e r o f c ol on i al c o nque st by force o f arms and o f
i ntenti onal de struc ti o n d i ctate d by trade j ealousy o f the
comp e ti ng m e rcanti l e navi e s o f Franc e H olland Germany
and D e nmark was reache d by Gre at Bri tai n during the
N ap oleon i c war
The c ommerc i al struggl e be t w
e e n E ng
land and France the shamele ss brutal i ti e s o f the Engl i sh
fl e e t on the on e s i d e and the conti nental blockade o n
the othe r form the terribl e c o nclud ing d rama i n the age
H e nce fo rward anoth er sp i ri t begi ns
o f comme rc i al wars
to make i ts way i n comm erc i al p o l i cy and i n i nterna
t io nal moral i ty ; alth o ugh th e o l d tradi ti o ns have no t
ye t b e e n e nti re ly o verc o me and i nde ed can neve r be
e nti re l y o verc o m e so l o ng as th e re i s such a thi ng as
,
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A ND
HI S
I TS
T OR I CA L
S I GNI FI
CA NCE
69
.
i ndep e ndent p o l i ti co e conom i c l i fe wi th sepa r ate nat i onal
i nteres ts
-
.
Th e
l ong wars each lasti ng several ye a r s , or eve n de c
,
ades wh i c h fill th e who l e p eri od from 1 60 0 to 1 8 0 0 and
have e conom i c obj e cts as the i r m ai n ai m ; the op en de c la
rati on by the Grand A ll i ance in 1 68 9 that the i r obj e c t
was the d estructi o n o f Fre nch c o mmerc e ; the proh ib i ti on
by the A l l i e s o f a l l trade eve n by ne utral s wi th France
wi thout the s l ighte st regard to i nte rnati onal law ; al l th i s
shews the sp ir i t o f th e ti m e i n i ts true l ight
Th e
nati onal passi o n o f e conom i c r ivalry had be en rai se d
t o suc h a he ight that i t was o nly i n wars l i k e the se
that it c o u l d find i ts fu l l expre ss i o n and sati s fact i on
To be c o ntent i n th e i nterme d i ate years o f p eac e to
carry o n the con fl i c t wi th prohi bi ti on tari ffs an d nav i
a
t
i
n
laws
i
nste
ad
o
f
w
i
th
se
a
fights
to
give
as
they
o
;
g
d i d i n the s e years o f p e ace somewhat more atte nt i o n
to th e i n fant vo i c e o f i nternati onal law than i n ti m e
o f war — th i s was i n i tsel f a moderati ng o f i nte rnati onal
passi on
Th e very i de a o f i nte rnati onal law i s a pro te st agai nst
th e exce sse s o f na t i o na l riva l ry
A l l i nternati onal law
rests o n the i dea that the several state s an d nati ons
fo rm fr o m th e moral p o i nt o f vi ew on e com mun i ty
S inc e the m e n o f Europ e had l o st the fe e l ing o f com
mun i ty that had b e e n create d by the Papacy and Emp i re
they had be e n se ek ing fo r som e othe r the o ry whi ch m ight
se rve to support i t ; and th i s they fo und i n the reawaken
”
i ng l aw o f nature
But the parti cu l ar i deas fo r wh i ch
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70
TH E
MER
CA NTI L E
S YS
TE M
i n the first i nstanc e men strove and fo r whi ch they sought
argum e nts p ro e t co ntra i n the l aw o f nature were mai n l y
pro ducts o f the e conom i c and comm e rc i al struggle then
p roce ed i ng
I nasmuch as the state s that were the first to obtain c o lo
n i e s o n a l arge scal e S p ai n and Portugal had se cured fr o m
th e Pop e a p arti ti on o f th e wh o l e o ceani c w o rld and i ts
de signati on by h i m as the i r exclus ive prop erty the l aw o f
nature whe n i t m ad e i ts appe arance pu t forward the
doctri ne o f M a re lioe rnm But wh i l e i n th i s way H ugo
Grotius i n 1 60 9 cre ate d a l egal j usti fi cati o n fo r h i s Dutch
fell o w c o untrym e n i n push ing the i r way into the o l d p o s
se ssi ons o f th e P o rtugue s e and S pani ards th e Eng l i sh
mai ntaine d th e op po s i te the ory o f M o re cla nrnm an d o f
the exclus ive l ordshi p o f England ove r the Bri ti sh seas i n
o rde r to fre e the i r ne cks from the compe ti ti on o f th e
D utch i n nav igatio n and the fi sheri e s
D enmark appea l e d
to i ts s o vere ignty o f the s ea as a j ustifi cati o n fo r i ts o p p re s
s ive tolls at the S ound ; and the o ther Ba l ti c p owers
s o ught o n the sam e ground to fo r b i d the Gre at Elector to
bu i l d a fle e t Th e great pri nc i p l e o f the fre edom o f th e
sea d i d inde e d sl o w l y g a i n gene ral currency ; but at first
each nati on o nly re cogni sed th e particular theory that
pr o m i se d i t som e advantage
A lmo st all the wars o f th e ti m e were wage d i n the nam e
”
o f the Europ ean
Balance
A nd who wi l l deny that th i s
i de a had i ts j usti ficati o n and that i t lai d th e foundati on
fo r th e p eac e fu l future o f a g r
eat c o mmuni ty o f state s ?
But at first i t was a mere phrase take n from i nte rnati o na l
law and use d to j usti fy eve ry capri c e o n th e part o f the
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I TS
A /VD
HI S
T OR I CA L
S I GNI
FI
CA NCE
71
.
Great Powe rs every i nterventi on i n th e relations and eve ry
i nte r fere nc e wi th the fate o f the sma l l er state s : i t was th e
cloak whi ch h i d the si l e nt c o nsp iracy o f the we stern Powers
to prevent the ri se o f a new Power l ike the Pruss i an and
to ke e p its trad e and i ts wh o l e e conom i c l i fe i n the bonds
o f dependence
The gradual gr o wth o f the m i lde r princ i pl e m o re
fav o urabl e to th e small state s wh i ch i s summ ed up i n the
”
phras e fre e sh i ps fre e g o ods out o f the me d i aeva l p ri n
1
whi ch al l owe d th e
c ip le f
o und i n the Co ns o la to a e l M a re
confiscati o n o f th e e nemy s pr o p erty eve n o n fr i end l y
neutral sh i ps i s o ne o f the gre at gai ns i n i nternati o nal law
i n the e ighte enth century
But Eng l and has never ac c o m
m o date d hersel f to i t and has wi th unhe ard o f assurance
and wi th de ci s i o ns o f the C ourt o f A dmi ralty abou t
prize s wh i ch can have b e e n de term i ne d by nothing but
nati onal e g0 1 sm succ e e de d i n i nj ur ing the trade o f
neutral s everywhe re i n t i me o f war eve n when i t c o uld
2
3
not de str o y it
B tisc h
sh ewed i n 1 7 97 that o f the
last one hundre d and forty fo ur years Eng l and had spen t
s ix ty si x i n th e most sangui nary naval wars
Th ey had
a l l bee n more or l e ss conc erne d o n the one si de w i th
the conque st o f c o l on i e s by forc e o f arms o n the o ther
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s e e m i ngl y a c o ll e cti o n o fth e m ar i tim e u s ag e s o f
th e tr a ding p e o p l e s o fth e M e d i t r r a ne an s e a b o a r d m a d e at B a r c l o na ab o ut
th e m i dd l e o f t h e fo u rt e e n th c e n tu r y
T A W a l k r S e nce f I nte
na ti n l L w
p 395 S e e a l s o H all a m M ddle Ag ch ix p t
2 F r a di f
fe r e nt vi e w o fth e a c ti n o f E ng l a nd a nd o fth e
r e fl e ctio ns
[
th a t h a v e b e e n c a s t
g r e at A dm ir a l ty
u p o n th e j u di c i a l im p a r ti a li ty o f th
j udg L o r d S to w ll s e e W a l k e r p c t pp 395 s e q ]
3
a n i nfl u e nti a l p ubl i c is t a nd wri t r o n
[J o h nn G e o r g B us ch 1 7 2 8
tr a d e ]
[ Co nso la to
1
’
o el
M a re
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e
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o
a
a
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i
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e
M E R CA N TI
TH E
72
LE
S YS
TE M
w i th th e d e structi on o f the neutral trade i e th e trade o f
the small er state s
The blows o f the Engl i sh are ne are st to us i n ti me ; they
have al so vi tally a ffe cte d G e rmany ; and ac cord i ngly
we are i ncl i ned
m easuri ng wi th the standard o f to
day —to condemn the m most
O n the wh o l e h o weve r
the y we re naugh t e l se than what al l th e more p ower ful
commerc i al p owers allowe d the mse lve s i n th e i r tre atment
o f the weake r
A nd although we c o ndemn the wh o l e p er i od
fo r e x ce sse s i n the p ol i ti co co mmerc i al strugg l e and se e
everywhe re much i nj usti c e and err o r m ingle d wi th i t ye t
w e must allow that p ass i ons and blunde r s such as the se
were the n ec essary concom i tants o f the new state pol i cy
o f the deve lop i ng nati onal e conom i e s ; we must fe el that
thos e state s and governm ents are not to b e p rai se d wh i c h
d i d not pu r sue such a p o l i cy but those who knew how to
apply i t i n a m ore ski l ful energe ti c and systemati c way
than o the rs
For i t was pre c i se ly those gove rnm ents
wh i ch understood how to put the m ight o f the i r fle e ts and
adm i ralti e s the apparatus o f custom s laws and navigati o n
laws wi th rap i d i ty boldne ss and cle ar purp o se at the
serv i ce o f the e conom i c i ntere sts o f the nati o n and state
wh ic h o btai ne d thereby the le ad i n the struggl e and i n
ri ch e s and i ndustri al prosp e ri ty Eve n if they frequently
we nt to o far and were l e d by the ori e s that were only ha l f
true and gathe re d r i che s by vi o lenc e and expl o i tat ion
ye t at the sam e tim e they gave the e conom i c l i fe o f the i r
p eopl e i ts n e ce ssary basi s o f powe r and a c o rresp o ndi ng
i mpulse to i ts e con o m i c m o vem ent ; they furni shed th e
nati onal striving wi th great ai m s ; they created and l iber
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A ND
I TS
HI S
TOR I CA L
S I GNI
FI
CA NCE
73
.
ated forc e s wh i ch we re ab se nt o r slumb ere d i n the state s
they ou tstripp ed A nd i t was natura l that what i n the se
strugg l e s was bruta l and unj ust should b e l o st to si ght i n
e ach nati on i n th e glow o f nati o na l and e conomi c suc ce ss
We can unde rstand that the several p e ople s aske d o n l y
whether a C r o mwell o r a C o lbert o n the wh o l e furthere d
nati onal prosp eri ty and no t whether h e d i d i nj usti c e to
fore igners i n som e one p oi nt
A nd h i st o ri cal j usti c e doe s
no t de mand more : i t give s i ts appr o bati on to systems o f
g o vernmen t wh i ch he l p a p e o ple to re ach the great g o al o f
nati onal greatne ss and m o ral un i ty at a give n ti me and wi th
the me ans o f that t im e at h o m e and abr o ad ; syste ms more
over wh i ch have re d e eme d the harshne ss o f nati onal and
state ego i sm as regards ne ighbouri ng p e opl es by a model
adm i ni strati on at home
A t any rate o ne th i ng i s cl ear ; a s ingl e c o m mun i ty could
not w i thdraw i tse l ffr o m the great curre nt where i n the wh o l e
group o f Europ ean nati ons was be i ng swep t a l ong ; and
least o f all one o f the smal le r state s wh i ch was sti ll maki ng
i ts way upward
I n such a ti m e o f harsh i nternati onal and
e conom i c struggl e s he who d i d no t put h i mse l f on h i s
de fence would have be en remorsele ssly crushe d to p i e ce s
A s early as the sixte enth ce ntury i t be cam e apparent what
a d i sadvantage i t was fo r Germany that i t had ne i ther th e
nati onal and p o l i ti c o comm erci al un i ty o f Franc e no r the
mercanti l i st regu l ati ons to whi ch b o th England and
France were b e gm ning to re sort A nd th i s was sti l l m o re
pparent
i
n
the
sevente
enth
cen
tury
The
m
i
l
i
tary
and
a
mari ti m e P o wers o f the We st no t o nly dr o ve th e Ge rmans
out o f the fe w p o s i ti o ns they had at first o btai ned i n the
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I TS
AAD
'
HI S
T OR I CA L
S I Gz V/ FI CA NCE
75
.
War but o ne two o r thre e ge ne rati o n s late r ; wh en the
we stern Powers had firm l y e stab l i she d th e i r ne w pol i ti c o
e con o m i c i nsti t uti o ns
Wi th naive p l easure i n the i r
mar i ti m e and c o mmerc i a l strength w i th the supp o rt o f a
bruta l i nternati o na l l aw and a d i p l o macy wh i ch fo rced
upon weake r and l e ss exp e ri e nce d p e op l es by eve ry art o f
i ntri gue unpro fitab l e and p e rfi dio us co m merc ial tre ati e s
they open l y adopte d th e ha l f—t ru e ha l f—fa l s e do ctrine that
t h e trade advantage o f o ne state alwa y s was and a l ways
must be the d i sadvantage o f an o the r
I n the p er i od
fr o m 1 6 7 0 to 1 7 50 the b i tte re st l amentations we re h eard i n
Germany ab o ut th i s c o mm e rc i a l dep endenc e abo ut French
manu fac ture s ab o ut the traders from every pri nc e s l and
that ove rran the country : the t o rrent o f comp l a int t o uch
i ng th e p i tiable cond i ti on o f the i mpe ri a l g o vernment
whi ch was unab l e to give any assi stanc e i ncre ase d l ike an
avalanche
Th e state o f c o mmerce i n G ermany cri e d
the most d i st ingui she d e c o n o m i c wri ter o f the ti m e
dep e nds up on the i nterest take n i n i t i n the R e i chstag at
R ati sbon
At last al l the vo i ce s a l ike o f sch o lars and o f
the p e o pl e cam e toge th er in uni son : There i s but one
way o ut o f i t ; we must do what H o lland France
and England have done be fo re us ; we must exc l ude the
fore ign ware s ; we must o nce m ore be com e masters i n o ur
own h o use Facts had taught the m wi th i nex o rabl e clear
ne ss that
at a ti me wh en the m o st advance d
nati o ns
were carryi ng on the c o l l e ctive struggl e fo r ex i stence wi th
the harshe st nati o na l ego i sm w i th a l l th e weapons o f
finance o f legi slati on and o f fo rc e w i th navigati o n l aws
and p rohib i ti o n l aws wi th fl ee ts and adm i ra l ti e s w i th
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76
M E R CA N TI L E
TH E
S YS
TE M
compan i e s an d w i th a trad e unde r state guidanc e and
d i sci pl i n e
those who would n ot b e hamme r woul d
assure dly b e anv i l
The questi on i n Germany i n 1 68 0 —
1 7 8 0 was not whe ther
a m ercanti l i st p o l i cy was n ec e ssary and de s irab l e ; about
that there was agre e me nt and p ro p e rly so
The i deal s
th o ugh they may have b e e n pr e se nte d i n
o f M ercanti l i sm
an e x agge rate d form and too sharply expre sse d i n one
s i de d econom i c the ori e s m eant p racti cally noth ing but
th e energe ti c struggl e fo r the creati o n o f a sound state and
a sound nati onal e co nomy and fo r th e overthrow o f local
and pr o vi nci al e co nom i c i nsti tuti ons ; they m eant the
b e l i e f o f G ermany in i ts o wn future the shak i ng o ff o f
a c o mmerci al d epe ndence on fo re igners wh i ch was con
t inually be c o m i ng m o re o ppre ssive and the e ducati on o f
the country i n th e d ire c ti on o f e c o nom i c autafc hy Th e
v i ctori e s o f the Pruss i an army serve d the s am e e nd as
the financ i al and comm erc i al p ol i cy o f the state ; b e
twe en th em they rai se d Prussi a to a p lac e among th e
Great Powers o f Eur o p e
Th e di fficulti e s i n the i nternal e co nom i c p o lic y o f the
c ountry cons i ste d i n th i s : that the Pr ussi an state inste ad
o f be i ng a nati o n i nclud ed only a l i m i te d number o f pr o v
inc e s ; and that at the sam e ti me as i t a dop te d a p ro
te c tive syste m agai nst France H olland and England i t
al so e x cluded i ts German n e ighb o urs The real explana
ti on i s that th e Prussi an state was sti ll but hal f way out o f
the p er i od o f terri tori al development ; was sti ll so to spe ak
i n the e arl i er c entury o f commerc i al d i spute s wi th H am
burg L e i p z ig and D anzi g w i th Po land S a x ony and
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A ND
I TS
HI S
T OR I CA L
S I GNI
FI
CA NCE
77
.
othe r ne i ghbour i ng terri to ri e s ; and i t could make use o f
i ts natural sup eri o ri ty as c o mpare d w i th n e ighbours l ike
the se only by b ind ing i ts provi nce s t o ge the r i n an e nclo se d
and e x clus ive co mb i nati on
,
,
.
We ha ve reache d the end o f the se general cons i de rat i ons
as to th e h i stori cal signi ficance o f the m ercanti l e syste m
O ur argument re ste d o n the p r o p o s i ti o n that i n sp i te o f
the fact that i t i s the i nd ivi dual and the fam i ly that labour
pr o duce trade and consum e i t i s the larger soc i al b o di e s
wh i ch by the i r c ommo n atti tude and acti on i n
te lle ctual
as we ll as practi ca l create al l tho se e con o m i c arrange
me nts o f soc i e ty i n relati on both to those w i th i n and those
wi th o ut up o n wh i ch dep end the e conom i c p ol i cy o f eve ry
age i n gene ral and i ts c o mme rc i al p o l i cy i n parti cular
We saw that the fe e l i ng and re cogni tion o f e con o m i c s o l i
dari ty i n regard al ike to those wi th i n and those wi thout
ne cessari ly created at the sam e ti m e a c orporate ego i sm
Fr o m th i s ego i sm th e c o m merc i al p ol i cy o f eve ry age
rec e i ves i ts i mpu l se
We have i n the ne x t p lac e l ai d e mphas i s o n the propo
s itio n that h i stor i cal p rogre ss has consi sted mai nly i n the
e stabl i shme nt o f eve r l arger and larger co mmuni ti e s as the
controllers o f e c on o m i c p ol i cy i n pl ac e o f small
Th e
sevente enth and e ighte enth c en turi e s se eme d to us the
b irth h our o f m o dern state s and mode rn nati onal e con
o m ie s
and there fore to have b e en n e ce ssari ly char
ac t e ris e d by
a se l fi sh nati o nal commerc i al p ol i cy o f a
harsh and rude k i nd
Whe the r such a p o l i cy was r igh t l y
d ire cte d i n de tai ls dep e nde d on the i n formati on and
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78
TH E
ME R
CA N TI L E
S YS
TE M
sagac i ty o f the p ersonage s who gui de d th e state ; whe t her
i t was to b e j usti fie d as a whole whe the r as a who l e i t had a
p r o bab i l i ty o f succ e ss that dep ended the n as ever o n the
que sti on whe ther i t accompan i e d a great upward moving
stream o f nati onal and e conomi c l i fe
The progre ss o f the n ine te enth ce nt ury beyond the m er
—
t
l
o
pol
i
cy
f
the
e
ighte
e
nth
dep
e
nds
ke ep i ng to
a
n
i
i
s
t
c
thi s th o ught o f a succe ssi on o f ever l arger soc ia l c o m mun i
t ie s — o u the creati o n o f league s o f state s o n a l li ance s i n
the matter o f custo ms and trade, on the m o ra l and l egal
c o mmuni ty o f al l c iv i l i se d state s such as mod ern i nter
nati onal law i s m o re and more bri ng ing i nto exi ste nc e by
m eans o f a ne twork o f i nternati ona l treati e s
But o f c o urse by th e s i de o f th i s stands another and
no t l e ss i mp o rtant chai n o f conne cte d phen o mena wh i ch
also help s to explai n the c o ntrast b e twe e n th e n1 ne te e nth
ce ntury on the o ne s id e and the seventeenth and e igh
t e e nth o n th e o the r
The struggl e o f soc i al bodi e s wi th
one another wh i ch i s at ti me s m i l i t ary at o ther ti m e s
mere l y econom i c has a t endency w i th the p r o gre ss o f
c ivi l i sati on to assume a h ighe r characte r and to a bandon
i ts coarse st and most brutal weapons
The i nsti nc t
b ecom e s stronge r o f a c ertai n s o l i dari ty o f i ntere sts o f a
b e ne fi c e nt i nteracti o n o f an exchange o f good s fr o m wh i ch
b o th ri va l s gai n I t was i n th i s way that the stri fe o f t o wns
and terri t o ri e s had b ee n so ftene d and m o de rate d wi th ti me
unti l o n the fo undati on o f sti l l greater soc i al bod i es the
state s i t had passe d i nt o a moral i nfluence and an o b l iga
ti o n to e d ucate and assi st th e weake r m embers w i thi n the
large r c ommuni ty
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I TS
A I VD
HI S
TOR I CA L
S I GI VI
FI
CA JVCE
79
.
the e ighte enth c entury i de as o f a hum ane cosmopol i
t anism began to i nsti l i nto men the th o ught o f a change o f
po l icy i n the e conom i c strugg l e s o f Eur o p ean state s at the
very ti m e whe n th e i nternati o na l r iva l ry had re ache d i ts
h ighe st p o i nt A fte r th e War o f I ndep endence o f the
Un i te d S tate s a fte r th e l iberation of the S o uth A m eri can
col o n i e s fr o m th e m o th er countri e s a fte r i t be cam e inc re as
ingly d i fficu l t to maintai n the o l d harsh co l oni al p ol i cy
a fter i nternati o nal l aw had made pr o gre ss ( fo r wh i ch no
one fo ught m o re energe ti ca ll y than Fre der i ck th e Great)
and a fter th e pr o m u l gati o n o f the doc tri ne o f mutua l gai n
i n i nternati o nal trade there ar o se th e p o ssib i l i ty o f a m o re
humane c o nte st Undoubte d l y we must regard th i s m o ve
ment —whi ch reache d i ts first gre at h i gh wate r mark
though acc o mpani e d by exce ss ive and o ne si ded eu l ogy i n
as on e o f the gre at
the Fre e Trade p eri od 1 8 60 —1 8 7 5
advance s made by manki nd
O ne m ight say that th e
sevente enth and e ighte e nth c e nturi e s cre ated the m o dern
nat i ona l e con o m i e s and that the n i ne tee nth ha s human i se d
the i r re lati o ns to o ne an o ther Th i s be ing o ur p o i nt o f
V i ew we are ab l e to rai se o urselve s above the susp i c i o n o f
de siri ng w i th o ut qua l i fic ati o n to repre sent th e e mb i ttere d
c o mmerc i al stri fe the pr ivate eri ng and c o l ony c o nqueri ng
wars o f Eng l and the proh ib i ti o n and nav igati o n laws o f
the e ighte enth c entury as pre se nting an i deal fo r our own
day
Y e t must we dec l are wi th e qual emphas i s that the
l i terary i de o l o gi ca l m o vem ent that assai l e d th e o ld m er
c antile
syste m se t o ut fr o m Ut o p i as wh i ch use fu l as
they were as a l e ave n fo r th e trans formati on o f publ i c
So
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80
7 392? AI ZZR CZ4I V7 3LL E?
S I CS YUEAI L
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p i ni o n were neverthe less very remote from real l i fe
D o e s i t not sound to us to day l ike the i r o ny o ffate that the
sam e Engl and wh i ch i n 1 7 50 —1 8 0 0 re ache d the summ i t o f
i ts com m erc i al sup re macy by means o f i ts tari ffs an d naval
wars frequently wi th extra o rd i nary v i o lence and a l ways
wi th the m o st tenaci o us nati onal se l fis hne ss that that Eng
land at the ve ry sam e tim e ann o unc e d to the wor l d the
doctri ne that on l y th e ego i sm o f the i nd ivi dual i s j us
t ifi e d and never that o f state s and nati o ns; the d o ctri ne
wh i ch dream t o f a state l e ss c o mp e ti ti o n o f a l l the ind i
v iduals o f eve ry land and o f the harmony o f th e e conom i c
intere sts o f a l l nati on s ?
To our own ti m e has the task b e e n give n to survey both
peri od s fr o m a h igher standp o i nt ; to give the i r due va l ue
to the theori e s and i dea l s the rea l p sychi cal m o tive s and the
practi cal results o f bo th age s ; and so to understand the m
o
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S e pt
A PPE
PR U SS I A N SI L
TH E
K
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ND
ND
I
I "
U STR Y
CE NTU R Y
I
.
N
E I G H TE E NTH
TH E
.
already attempte d som e years since to shew that
the whole m ercantilist p olicy can only b e und erstood when
it is regarde d as a stage and a m eans in th e creation o f a
large r e conomic and political community A s the medi aeval
city state s and the great lordship s be cam e more and more
incap able o f se rving as adequate organs o f social li fe as
their c o nte sts one with anothe r d egenerate d into a chaos
o f anarchy it b ecame neces sary that a l l concei vable means
should be e mploye d — if ne e d b e through blood and
ir o n
to e re ct territoria l and national states Enlightene d
princ e l y desp otis m was th e representative and le ader o f this
great p rogre ssive move ment ; a move ment which was d e s
tined to annihilate th e fre edom o f the E states and corpora
1
tions to establish free dom o f trade an
d great markets at
home and to combin e all the resources o f the country
e conomic as we ll as financial and mi l itary in face o f th e
fo reigner
Thos e states mo st quickly be came p ower ful and
rich which carrie d out this centralising tendency with th e
I
H AVE
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,
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bk
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[ I n th e s e ns e in whi c h A da m
i
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c h . x .,
pt
G
S mi th
us e s this
te
rm ; W a lt/z of Natio ns
e
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l e o vt
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,
NDI "
A PPE
I
3
.
O n this path th en Fre derick William I and his ministers
.
,
,
entere d with conscious purpose and energy and out o f this
schoo l came Fre de rick I I who pursue d the sam e obj e ct
with greate r boldness and genius To the question ho w it
was that Fred erick regarde d the silk industry as occupying
so very important if not the most important place in su ch
1
a po l icy Dr H intze give s a si mple and conclusive answer
S tarting with the generally re c o gni se d fact that b e fore
our modern age o f iro n and coal th e c entre and summit o f
industrial develop ment we re to be found in the fine r texti l e
manu factures D r H intz e shews us how e conomic supre m
acy passed from Byz antium to I taly fro m V enic e Genoa
Florenc e and L ucca to th e greater I talian states Milan and
Piedmont from I ta l y to S pain and France and the nce to
H ol l and and England 5 and how this trans ference was a l ways
accompanied part l y as e ffect part l y as cause by th e rise o f
the si l k industry by th e sid e o f th e wo o l len i nd ustry I n no
c ase w as the p roducti o n o f raw si l k itsel f th e cause o f the silk
indu
stry as is som etime s suppose d ; the actual production
an
o f silk took place elsewhere
d even in I taly and Franc e
it was a conse quence o f th e silk industry an d came com
France and England h ad create d their silk
p arative ly late
industries with all th e p olitica l resourc es at their disposa l
and with the greatest sacrifice s I n L yons in 1 66 7 there
were c o unte d 2 0 0 0 l ooms in 1 7 5 2 94 0 4
I n the great
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i n t is th u th r f th g d v l um f D i p m l S i
nin
t i p u bl is h d ( thr
gh P r y B rl n) b y th R y l A d m y f
th
fi r s t i ns t l m n t f A t B
S i n s
89
i
D né m al
P
l n St
t
w lt ng m 8
I n thi s v l m
fD
D r s t ll ng
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b s d p n th d cum nts
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in th fi r s t tw v l um ]
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re us s z s c z e
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84
M E R CA N TI L E
TH E
S YS
TE M
e conomic struggle o f England against France the prohibitio n
in 1 68 8 o f the importation o f French silk wares into Eng
land was perhaps a fter the N avigation L aws and the victories
at sea the most telling blOW Up to that time si l k goods to
the value o f
had eve ry year gone from Franc e to
England ; in 1 7 63 the English silk industry gave e mploy
?
m ent to
p ersons
But not only the g re at states th e
sma l ler ones also desire d at any p rice to have a si l k manu
The I ta l ian traders who first brought
facture o f th ei r own
the silk wares were followe d by I talian weavers and d y ers
Zurich and Basel Ulm A ugsburg and N ure mberg had a
g o od many silk workmen as early as th e si x te enth century
I n A nt werp in the sevente enth century 2 0 0 0 looms were
at work
I n th e N etherlands A mste rdam H aarlem and
Utre cht becam e rich through this industry and from thenc e
it passe d to H amburg Belgian and French re fuge es j oine d
th e I talian workme n in bringing it to D enmark S weden
and R ussia A bout 1 7 0 0 L eipzig had already a consid er
able velvet and silk business ; in 1 7 50 a thousand looms
I n the Palatinate in Munich and in Vienna
were at work
2
Joachim
B
ech
er
had
mad
e
various
attempts
to
call
a
J
silk industry into existenc e by me ans o f companie s ; a l l
through the eighte enth century like attempts were made in
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r e m ar k e d in 1 7 7 6 th at th e si l k p e rh aps is th e m anu
fa c tur e whi c h w o u l d su ffe r th e m o s t b y fr e e d o m o f tr a de We a lth of
Na tio ns b k iv ch ii Fo r th e r e su l ts o f th e w i th draw a l o f pr o te c ti o n s e e
:
e
o
fl
u
th e acc o un t o f th e si l k m anufac tu r e in C B o o th s L a bo ur a nd L i
fi f
1
[A da m
S mi th
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p
Pe o le ,
v o l.
i]
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a univ e rs a l g e ni u s
J o hn J o achi m B e ch e r ( 1 62 5
Na t n l
and s o m e wh at o fa c h a rl atan is giv e n in R o s c h e r s Ge s clz iclz te a
oko no m ié p 2 7 0 ; o n whi c h is b a s e d th e no ti c e in Pa l gr a v e D ictio na y of
2
[A n a cco u nt
of
’
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Po litica l E
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A PPE
NDI "
I
85
.
every Ge rman capital But they succe eded on any c o n
scale onl y in Prussia and there e special l y in
side rable
Ber l in I t can certai nly be m aintaine d that tho ugh H am
burg and L eipzig Kre feld and Utre cht had greate r facilitie s
in reaching a market in a l l other respe cts Be rlin was as
well fitted as many othe r place s to support a flourishing
silk industry ; and also that according to the ide as o f
the eighteenth c entury i t was b o un
d to m ake th e atte mpt
as soon as th e p rovince s o f Brandenburg and Prussia were
conceive d o f as forming an indep endent e conomic body
ready fo r rivalry with H olland and England and France
.
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Then
f
ollows
an
account
o f th e m easures o f the gove rn
[
m ent and o f the organisation and p rogress o f the manu
factur e ]
,
We have watch ed the foundation upon a stubborn soil o f
an industry which reache d at last a high degre e o f te chnical
e x ce l lence ; and this by th e use o f a l l the m easures that a
consistent mercantile po l icy could prompt I n scarcely any
oth er case have like measure s be en applie d with so wide a
swe ep and such steady persistency I n scarcely any othe r
case have they be en so care fully step by step adapte d
to the concrete conditions
What we h ave had under
our conside ration has been a d omestic industry which
had a l re ady partially gone ove r to the factory form but
yet in which the workpeop l e we re prote cte d by gild
regulation state control and governmental insp ection
We have had to do with an industry p roducing fo r a
great inte r state and foreign marke t and with unde r
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A PPE
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87
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the fine r ware s th e y we re behind Kre feld S witzerland
and H o ll and ; but they had caught up with H amburg and
S a x ony
They had not y e t got so far in 1 8 0 6 as to be
able to me e t with unconcern the fluctuations produced by
th e great war — a p eriod o f long and terrible impove rish
ment togethe r with the sudd en abolition o f th e gild system
o f the o ld regulations and o f all state supp ort as we l l as
the removal o f the prohibition o f importation But sinc e in
the p rovinc e o f Brandenburg 1 50 3 l ooms were again at
work in 1 8 3 1 and as m any as 30 0 0 in 1 8 4 0 —1 8 60 it i s
c l ear a ft er all that m ost o f the busine ss conce rns that had
take n root be fore 1 8 0 6 were ab l e to m aintain themselve s
fo r at least a c o upl e o f generations eve n in th e current o f
A nd th e fact that in the
fre e international comp etition
si x tie s and seventies as living be came deare r in Berlin and
the compe tition o f Kre feld and o f foreign countries becam e
more inte nse most o f th e Berlin m en o f business capita l ists
—
and workm en turne d to o ther occupations
while some
p arts o f th e old industry like th e business o f dyei ng
maintaine d th emselve s in an even m ore flourishing state
—this fact i s no p roo f that th e Be rlin silk industry o fth e
eighteenth c entury was not in its place
The task se t be fore th e m en o f that ti m e was to s ecure fo r
th e real centre o f the Prussian state a share in the industries
and in th e forms o f industry th at constitute d th e essen
tial features o f th e higher civilisation o f we stern Europ e
of
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in this s e ns e ; b ut e a c h i ndu s try h ad its o wn p a rti c ul ar w o r d fo r m e n i n th is
p o s i ti o n as g th e cl t/z i o f th e w o o ll e n m an u fa ctur e o f th e w e s t f
Pu tt
E ngl and
o t (t e
o f l o o ms ) w hi c h w as u s e d in th e h o si e ry t r a de
o f No tti ngh a m i s p e rh a ps th e m o st e xa c t e uiv al e nt o f Verl
e j
q
g
,
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e
o
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e r-
,
a
o
e rs
.
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,
e
.
r
TH E
88
M E R CA I VTI L E
S Y S TE I lI
.
The pr o sp erity o f th e si l k manu facture in a distant and iso
lated fragment o f the state close to the Dutch frontier
name l y Kre fe l d c o uld not mak e up fo r its absenc e in the
east A gain and again did Fre derick the Gre at endeavour
to induce the von de r L eye h brothe rs to move eastward
with a part o f their busine ss ; b ut all in vain A nd s o he
had to make an e ffort to reach the same end in anothe r
I n the course o f his reign he spent som e two mi l lion
way
thalers ove r the si l k industry more inde e d than fo r any
othe r branch o f m anu facture
A nd what did he obtain
the rewith ? That h e had an industry which every year pro
duc e d wares worth two mi llion thale rs or more says the m er
—no " that he create d an industrywhich in th e
c antilist
n ine te enth century disapp eare d says th e fre e trade r I say
th e two mi l lion thale rs are to be l ooked up on as an e xp e n
diture fo r schooling as mone y spent on e ducation whi ch
engra fted on B e rlin and th e e astern province s thos e po wers
and aptitudes those manne rs and cust o ms with o ut which
an industria l state cannot endure / I n thes e feudal terri
tories with their impove rish ed c o untry towns and cra ftsm en
both the undertakers and the workmen were a l tog e ther want
ing who were indispensable fo r the finer manu facture s aim
ing at the world market
Th e intr o duction o f foreigne rs
and the laboriou s training o f natives c o u l d be th e work
on l y o f a p o l itical art which rea l ise d both its obj ect and
its material s I t is signi fi cant that at fi rst we are m et by
Frenchmen an d J e ws am o ng th e fact o rs and by foreigners
chie fly L yones e and I ta l ians among th e w o rkpe op l e whi l e
in 1 8 0 0 natives prevail in both classes I t might with truth
be said that by th eir s ervices to th e si l k industry the French
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A PPE
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89
.
and the J ews repaid the Prussian state fo r its m agnanim o us
to l eration I t was in th is way that th e best J ewish fami l ie s
o f Berlin the M en d elssohns and F rie dlande rs the V eits and
th e Marcuse s gaine d their reputation and socia l p osition
and at th e same tim e turned the purely me rcantile H ebrew
body into an industrial one : they th ems elves changed in
characte r in th e process and grew side by sid e with the
state and socie ty Mo st imp o rt ant o f al l Be r l in in 1 8 0 0
had a working class o f g
reat technical skil l and a body o f
busine ss m en p ossessed o f capita l and ability and this fact
remained the great result o fth e p olicy o f Fred e rick wh ether
o r no th e si l k industry survive d
And it was not the le ast m erit o f that policy that it con
stantly and with cl ear u nde rstanding
l aboured towards a
double end to create a flourishing industry by stat e initia
tive and po l itic al m eans and then as quick l y and as com
l
l
e
e
t
p
y as p o ssib l e to se t it on its own fe et and create
t hriving private busine sse s — and so rend er itse l f super
fl uo us
S imi l arly in a place like Kre fel d where th e favour
ing conditions a ffo rde d by the neighbourhood o f the D utch
created a c o nsiderable industry without protective tari ff
or subsidy or regulation the king did not think o f state
inte rvention : th e most he did was to support the practical
monopoly o f the von der L e ye n brothers because he saw
that this gre at hous e was cap ab l e o f elevating and guiding
the who l e industry in an e x e mplary fashi o n
More over his
administrative wisdom running no t a l o ng th e line s o f rigid
sche mes but in acc o rdance with the m e n and circumstances
be fore him shewe d itse l f precis e l y in this contemporary
app l icati o n o f such dive rg ent syste ms o f i ndustrial p o l icy ;
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A PPE
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91
.
sel ve s should yet entire l y se rve the state and that th e state
p ursuing its own ends sh o u l d at the same time p l ace a l l
its might and all its m embers in the true se rvice o f the
national e conomy The Prussian state —in its own fashi o n
and a fter the manner o f th e eighte enth ce ntury — more
near l y arrived at this idea l than any o f the othe r states
We may well ask wh ether we to day under
o f th e time
conditi o ns so much m ore di fficult have approache d it
more ne ar l y
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A PPE
PR I
NCE S
A ND
ND
I "
I I
.
T E R R I TO R I E S O F TH E
H OU S E
OF
H O H E NZO L L E R N
.
E
L E C TOR S
OF B R A ND E
NB
UR G
—
4 1 1 1 440
.
F R E D E R I CK I 1
This Fre derick ( o f H o h enzo ll ern ) th e si x th Burg
grave o f N ure mbe rg o f that name was m ad e
S tattha l te r o f the Mark o f Brandenburg by th e
Emp eror S igismund to whom the Mark had
fa l len in 1 4 1 1 and inve sted with the Margraviate
in 1 4 1 7
FR E D E R I CK I I 1 4 4 0 —1 4 7 1
R e covery by purchas e o f the Ne w M ar k ( o f
1 4 55
Brandenburg ) so l d to the Te utonic O rder by the
Emp eror S igismund
A L B E R T ( A CH I LL E S ) 1 4 7 1 —1 4 8 6
J O H N ( C I CE R O ) 1 4 8 6—1 4 99
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J O ACH I M I 1 4 99—1 535
H is broth er AL B E R T ( p 2 9) was A rchbishop o f Mag
de burg and be came l ater A rchbishop o fM ayence
and
so
E
l
ector
(
)
J OA CH I M I I 1 53 5—1 5 7 1
J O H N G E O R GE 1 5 7 1 —1 598
Final inc o rporation o f the N ew Mark ( which Joachi m
I had grante d as an app anage to a yo unge r son
J O H N o f Ciis trin)
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93
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J OA CH I M FR E D E R I CK 1 598 —
1 60 8
J OH N SiGiSM U ND 1 60 8 —1 6 1 9
f
1 60
O
p
ening
o
f
th
e
War
o
S
ucce
ssion
in
C
leves
9
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,
,
.
[ Th e
E
l
e c to
r
o
f Br a nde nbu
rg
th e
a nd
Prin c e
o
f Ne
uburg
.
dis
su cce ssi o n to a gr o up o f R h e nis h and W e s t
p h a li a n te rr i to ri e s —th e du chi e s o f Cl e v e s Ju l i e rs and
B e r g th e co un ti e s o f R a v e nsb e rg and M a rk : A n a tu r
a ll y o pu l e n t
C o un try o f fe rti l e m e ado ws sh i pping
ca p abil i ti e s m e ta lli fe r o us h i l l s ; a nd a t this tim e in c o n
s e q u e n ce o f th e D utc h S p a nish W ar and th e mu l ti tu de
o f Pr o te s ta n t R e fug e e s it wa s g e tti ng fi l l e d wi th ing e ni o us
in dus tri e s ; a nd r i si ng to b e wh at it s ti ll is th e busi e s t
q u a r te r o f G e rm any A C o u nt ry l o wing wi th k in e ; th e
hum o fth e fl ax s p i ndl e h e a r d in its c o ttag e s in th o s e o ld
days
A C o un try in o u r days whi c h is shr o ud e d at
sh o r t i nte r v al s wi th th e due c ano py o f c o al sm o k e and
l o ud wi th s o un ds o f th e anvi l and l o o m —C A R L Y L E
Th e dispu te b e ca m e inv o l v e d in th e l a r g e r s tr ugg l e b e
tw e e n th e Pr o te s tan t a nd C ath o l ic p a r ti e s whi c h br o ugh t
ab o u t th e T hirty Y e a rs W a r 1 61 8 1 64 8 a nd th e te rr i to r y
was o ccupi e d fo r ye a rs b y th e D u tch a nd S p anish tr o o ps ]
p ute d th e
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1
61 8
.
[A
S ucc ession to the Duchy o f Prussia
.
l b e rt o fH o h n z o ll e r n ( g r nds o n o fA l b e rt A chi ll e s thr o u gh
a
e
,
u ng e r s o n) h ad in 1 5 1 1 b e co m e G r a n d M a s te r o f
I t is a m o o ry
th e T e u to ni c O r de r r u l ing in Pr ussi a
fl at c o u ntry fu l l o f l a k e s and w o o ds l i k e Br an de n b urg ;
nd b o sk y wi l de r
S pr e a di ng o u t in to gr a ss y e x p a ns e s
n e ss e s humm i ng wi th b e e s ; p l e n ty o f b o g in it b ut pl e nty
a l s o o fa l l uvi a l m ud ; s a n d to o b ut b y no m e a ns s o high a
r ati o o f it as in B ran de nb u r g ; tr a c ts o f Pr e u ss e n a re
l u x u r i a n tl y g r ass y fr ugi fe r o us ap t fo r th e p l o ug h ; and
ar
th e s o i l g e n e r a ll y is r e c k o n e d fe r ti l e t h o ugh l yi ng s o f
n o rthw a r d —CA R L Y L E I n 1 525 th e O r de r was s e c u
la riz d Pr o te s tantism i ntr o du ce d a nd A l b e r t wi th th e
th e King o f Po l a nd b e c a m e
c o ns e nt
o f h i s su z e r a in
I n 1 569 J o ac h i m I I o f Br an de nb urg
D u k e o f Prussi a
s e c u r e d fr o m th e King o f Po l a nd th e c o e n fe o ffm e nt o f
th e e l e c to r l fa m il y w i th th e r i gh t o f u l tim ate su c c ssi o n
u p o n fa i l u r e o fh e ir s to th e Prussi an br a n ch ]
a
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A PPE
NDI "
I I
95
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F R E D E R I CK W I LL IA M L 1 7 1 3—1 7 4 0
A cquisition o f S te ttin and We ste rn
1 7 20
rania ( Vo r Pomm ern ) up to th e R ive r
and the is l ands o f Wol l in and Use dom
—
1
0
F R E D E R I CK I I the G rea t 7 4 1 7 8 6
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Thus at the acc essi o n o f Frederick the Gre at the Prus
sian te rrit o r ies fel l into three grou ps s eparated from one
anothe r by the lands o f other prince s ( I ) th e c entral and
most important group comp osed o f Brandenburg prope r
Magdeburg and H a l be rstad t and Pomerania ; ( 2 ) Prussia
prop er separated from ( I ) by a pr o vince o f the kingd o m o f
Po l and ( 3 ) th e R h enish territorie s C l eve s and Mark and
th e outlying R avensberg and Mind en
Th e subsequent
history o f Prussia has consiste d l arge l y in the su cc ess ful
e ffort to obtain poss ession o f the inte rve ning lands and so
to s ecure ge ographica l continuity
O f the e arly p olitical hist o ry o f Brandenburg the first
v o lume o f C arlyle s I I is to iy of Fre de rick tlze G re a t still
furnishe s by far th e m ost comp l ete as we l l as entertaining
account in English — E D
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