Till'', WEALTH. OK NATIONS.

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duced the whole quantity of capital employed in that tradebelow what it. naturally would have been in the case of a freetrade. But, by lessening the competition of capitals in thatbranch of trade, it necessarily raised the rate of profit in thatbranch. By lessening too the competition of British capi-tals in all other branches of trade, it necessarily raised therate of British profit in all those other branches. Whatevermay have been, at that particular period, since the establish-ment of the act of navigation, the state or extent of the mer-cantile capital of Great Britain , the monopoly of the colonytrade must, during the continuance of that state, have raisedthe ordinary rate of British profit higher than it otherwisewould have been both in that and in all the other branches otBritish trade. If, since the establishment of the act of navi-gation, the ordinary rate of British profit has fallen consider-ably, as it certainly has, it must have fallen still lower, had notthe monopoly established by that act contributed to keep itup.

But whatever raises in any country the ordinary rate of pro-fit higher than it otherwise would be, necessarily subjects thatcountry both to an absolute and to a relative disadvantage inevery branch ot trade of which she has not the monopoly.

It subjects her to an absolute disadvantage: because insuch branches of trade her merchants cannot get this greaterprofit, without selling dearer than they otherwise would doboth the goods of foreign countries which they import intotheir own, and the goods of their own country which theyexport to foreign countries. Their own country must bothbuy dearer and sell dearer; must both buy less and sell less ;must both enjoy less and produce less, than she otherwisewould do.

It subjects her to a relative disadvantage ; because in suchbranches ot trade it sets other countries which are not sub-ject to the same absolute disadvantage, either more above heroi' less below her than they otherwise would be. It enablesthem both to enjoy more and to produce more in proportionto what she enjoys and produces. It renders their superi-t* nt y greater or their inferiority less than it otherwise woulde- l y raising the price of her produce above what it other-wise would be, it enables the merchants of other countries toundersell her in foreign markets, and thereby to justle her0ut °t almost all those branches of trade, of which she hasuot the monopoly.

Gur merchants frequently complain of the high wages of