5G8 THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF

sumption into a round-about one; and in some cases, fromall foreign trade of consumption, into a carrying trade. Itlias in all cases, therefore, turned it, from a direction in whichit would have maintained a greater quantity of productivelabour, into one in which it can maintain a much smallerquantity. By suiting, besides, to one particular market only,so great a part of the industry and commerce of Great Bri-tain , it has rendered the whole state of that industry andcommerce more precarious and less secure, than if their pro-duce had been accommodated to a greater variety of markets.

We must carefully distinguish between the effects of thecolony trade and those of the monopoly of that trade. Theformer are always and necessarily beneficial; the latter alwaysand necessarily hurtful. But the former are so beneficial, thatthe colony trade, though subject to a monopoly, and notwith-standing the hurtful effects of that monopoly, is still upon thewhole beneficial, and greatly beneficial, though a good dealless so than it otherwise would be.

The effect of the colony trade in its natural and free state,is to open a great though distant market for such parts of theproduce of British industry as may exceed the demand of themarkets nearer home, of those of Europe , and of the countrieswhich lie round the Mediterranean sea. In its natural andfree state, the colony trade, without drawing from those mar-kets any part of the produce which had ever been sent tothem, encourages Great Britain to increase the surplus con-tinually, by continually presenting new equivalents to. beexchanged for it. In its natural and free state, the colony tradetends to increase the quantity of productive labour in GreatBritain , but without altering in any respect the direction ofthat which had been employed there before. In the naturaland free state of the colony trade, the competition of all othernations would binder the rate of profit from rising above thecommon level either in the new market, or in the new em-ployment. The new market, without drawing any thing fromthe old one, would create, it one may say so, a new producefor its own supplyand that new produce would constitute anew capital for carrying on the new employment, which inthe same manner would draw nothing from the old one.

The monopoly of the colony trade, on the contrary, by ex-cluding the competition of other nations, and thereby raisingthe rate of profit both in the new market and in the new em-ployment, draws produce from the old market and capital