Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/235

Rh , in its monetary form of transfer, is as much a as the more usual articles of ; and when a   large sums to another, the same effects are produced on the rates of  for the time being, and more protractedly on the general course of import and export, as would be produced by an equivalent amount of goods exported by the. The imports of the, during the period of of the , will increase; and the exports, though they may not diminish, will lose in some measure their previous proportion to the imports. These are consequences worthy of observation in the general conduct of, but they also go farther. The free of  from  to, with its incidents of higher rates of , and a certain degree of , is legitimate. By this means the richer parts of the help to develop the poorer, as well as to increase their own prosperity; and when the s thus contracted become valid and transferable, they are an important element in equalizing  where temporarily disturbed. But the extreme looseness with which this branch of commerce is conducted almost exceeds belief. The proceedings of the recent have thrown some light on the subject. As long as and  of repute put  on the  without care as to their objects or, or an exercise of the least  judgment as to the probable effect of the  on the value of requisite , and with the view simply of making some large immediate  to themselves, and dropping the whole charge and s, often by deceptive means, into the hands of a helpless public of , the most deplorable consequences must ensue. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that in the 1869–72 the foreign  and other undertakings thus launched were such as there were not  in the s of the whole  to carry through, without an enhancement of values that should not only render the undertakings themselves hopeless, but seriously cripple much well-established. In the more solid class of foreign, bearing the of not unprosperous , it has frequently happened that nearly the whole  of the  was derived from. While the proceeded, the imports of the  increased, and the  flourished, giving a  to the ors. When the had been expended, and the return  and s had to be paid, the imports suddenly declined, and the   on which the  had been  disappeared, throwing the  themselves into much commercial embarrassment, in some cases into  convulsions. This subject cannot here be further pursued, but its bearings on are sufficiently apparent.

It may be said, in conclusion, that commerce has acquired a security and extension, in all its most essential conditions, of which it was void in. It can hardly ever again exhibit that wandering course from route to route, and from one solitary centre to another, which is so characteristic of its, because it is established in every quarter of the, and all the and ways are open to it on terms fair and equal to every. Wherever there is population,, , , and skill, there will be international. Commerce will have many centres, and one may relatively rise or relatively fall; but such decay and ruin as have smitten many once proud seats of wealth into cannot again occur without such cataclysms of, , and disorder as the growing  and reason of , and the power of , , and common interest forbid us to anticipate. But, with all these advantages, it must not be supposed that the future course of is free of difficulty. The very magnitude of commerce now suggests what serious work devolves on all who are engaged in it. If in it was thought that a foreign  required to be not only a good man of, but even a , it is evident that all the higher faculties of the   must still more be called into request when imports and exports are reckoned by hundreds instead of fives or tens of millions, when the s are so much larger and more numerous, the competition so much more keen and varied, the problems to be solved in every course of transaction so much more complex, the whole range of affairs to be overseen so immensely widened. It is not a of, having a , and doing whatever they please, whether right or wrong, that now hold the commerce of the  in their , but large  of free s in all parts of the , affiliated to rs and producers equally free, each under strong temptation to do what may be wrong in the pursuit of his own interest, and the only security of doing right being to follow steady lights of information and  common to all. The triumphs of commerce and its auxiliaries have been exhibited in the present article. Easy of goods by  and, prompt  from every point of the , general prevalence of   and safety, have all been accomplished; and the world is opened to trade. But intellectual grasp of principles and details, and the which is the root of all commercial success, have to be severely tested in this vaster sphere. (Author:Robert Somers)  

 COMMERCY, a town of France in the department of Meuse, at the head of an arrondissement, on the left bank of the Meuse, twenty miles east of Bar-le Due. It possesses n castle built in 1708 and now used as cavalry barracks, a Benedictine convent occupied by the prefecture, a hospital rebuilt in the 18th century, and a cloth-market. Its public walks are very fine, and lead out in various directions to pleasant suburban villages. The industrial establish ments include foundries, lime-kilns, and a cotton factory ; and the trade runs mainly on cattle, grain, wood, and basket-work. Population, 4191.

1em  COMMODUS, (-), emperor of Rome from  to, was born at Lanuvium in , and was the son of the philosopher-emperor M. Aurelius, and of the younger Faustina. His teachers were carefully selected; but all the pains bestowed on his education did not prevent him from choosing the society and the pursuits of profligate favourites and common gladiators. Blind to his faults, however, his father gave him the title of emperor when not more than fifteen years of age; and at sixteen he shared the imperial power in every department except the chief pontificate. On the death of Aurelius, whom he had accompanied in the war against the Germans, Commodus hastily concluded peace, and hurried back to the pleasures of the capital. From the first he gave 