The following address was prepared for and used as one of a series of lectures offered by the University Extension Department of the University of Chicago, in the winter of 1905. It was given in Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City and St. Joseph, Missouri; Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was later delivered before various audiences. For a discussion which must close before bedtime, a speaker may not follow the example of Diedrich Knickerbocker, who began his famous History of New York with the creation of the world. We are obliged to assume that some things have been settled. I will ask that these four be so assumed: First, the institution of private property; second, the right and duty of organized society to control that institution; third, the advantages, individual and social, of the division of labor; fourth, the advantages, individual and social, of exchange. These granted, it is evident, or will be after a little reflection, that at some time in the social evolution the trader must appear. Before the trader, however, came the market. The researches of Sir Henry Maine and others have revealed the origin of the market, for the Aryan or Indo-European family of mankind at least. Within those primitive village communities into which our remote ancestors were grouped, the exchange of products was merely a matter of neighborly accommodation. This man had fish, a kinsman had game, to spare. They exchanged. Both were gratified; neither thought of an advantage gained over the other. Doubtless custom, which in primitive communities stands for law, moderated the trifling transactions. Exchanges, however, arose between adjoining communities and a custom grew of resorting to convenient gathering places on the common border line-the mark they called it. Here on the mark-the market came to be held at customary times and seasons. Here the dealings were no longer those of fellow tribesmen, but of strangers; and, among all primitive men, stranger and enemy were the same. To get the better of the bargain was not merely allowable, it was meritorious. Unmitigated competition was the rule of the market, and absolute title passed to every article which changed hands. "The general rule of law [the common law of England], is that all sales and contracts of any thing vendible in fairs and markets overt, [that is, open], shall not only be binding between the parties, but also be binding on all those that have any right or property therein."1 But, the gathering of the clans for purposes of barter could not continue indefinitely. That meant the suspension of industry, absences from home, and weary marches. It meant great loss of time and anxiety while demanders waited on the market for suppliers who should possess the specific goods desired, and themselves be wanting the articles offered by the parties of the first part. Long delays occurred while the parties were pairing off and often the sun would go down on many who had waited in vain. Plato in his Republic has perfectly described the remedy for such a state of things.2 The merchant-the marketmanappeared. Pitching his tent or booth at some ford or crossroads he announced himself as a general receiver and distributer of commodities. Had he come bare-handed his advertisement would have been mere wind. He did not come emptyhanded. He brought two bags, which gave him a power beyond that of any magician-a bag of money, and a bag of weights and measures. Standing behind his pile of coin, with his balances and weights and cubit measure, he could do business. He could buy of all sellers, and sell to all buyers, in any desired quantities. Did the trader invent these tools of his craft, measures and weights; and coins, which are a species of weights? This question is disputed. My guess is that he did. If so, how great a debt is due him! Can you think of any invention of greater moment to humanity, except that of language? Because the primitive market was open only on certain days, probably determined by phases of the moon, the early merchant was itinerant and journeyed from market to market. He took with him his two bags, and such merchandise as he might expect to sell or exchange at the next stand. Here we have the origin of the mercantile fairs of the Middle Ages, of which we have notable survivals still in the book fair of Leipsic and the great general fair at Novgorod in Russia. Although the local market place and day, and the traveling merchant continued in existence much longer than most of us would suppose, they have disappeared. Every city, village, and hamlet is a market place; all days but Sundays are market days; and |