International  Transportation. — Perhaps  a  more  express-
ive headline  would  be  "  The  World  Market."  Before  trying  to
tell  what  it  is,  let  us  see  how  it  has  sh6wn  itself.  The  hop
market  of  the  east  is  not  regulated  by  the  hop  crop  of  New
York;  nor  is  the  hop  market  of  the  west  fixed  by  the  crop  of
Oregon  or  Washington.  The  crop  of  every  section  of  every
state  has  something  to  do  with  fixing  the  price  of  hops  for  the
American  continent,  but  it  is  only  a  factor  after  all.  The  crop
of  England  or  Germany  has  just  as  much  to  do  with  the  mak-
ing of  the  price.  The  crop  of  every  section  of  every  country  of
the  earth  governs  the  price  of  hops.  The  same  thing  is  true
with  all  agricultural  products.  It  is  true  also  as  to  all  staple
manufactures.  The  combined  product  of  the  world  regulates
the  market,  and  the  world  is  the  market  of  every  farmer  and
of  every  manufacturer.  Dakota  wheat  is  mixed  in  Liverpool  bins
with  Eussian  and  Indian  wheat.  Ohio  mutton  hangs  side  by  side,
in  London  stalls,  with  frozen  mutton  from  Australia.  Adam
Smith  told  the  English  farmers,  not  long  ago,  that  they  never
need  fear  competition  in  the  production  of  »  commodity  like


A    WORLD  ECONOMY.  233

beef,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  transportation.  The  beef
production  of  England  has,  now,  hardly  anything  to  do  with
fixing  the  price  of  beef  there.  The  introduction  and  use  of
great  i-efrigerator  compartments  in  ships  has  truly  made  the
whole  world  the  market  for  the  beef  of  every  farmer.
