=184. Persistence of medieval conditions in the modern period.=—From the modern standpoint no better field could be found for the use of this power than in the reform of internal conditions. Centuries after feudalism had lost its controlling position the local differences and the spirit of separatism which marked the feudal period remained to plague the merchant and the statesman. Commerce was hindered by local variations in laws and in weights and measures; by the persistence of barriers to the development of trade and manufacture which had grown up in the medieval system of tolls and gilds; by the maintenance of the class distinctions marking feudal society, and putting on a different basis the merchant, the agriculturist, and the noble. A country like England, which early threw off the most oppressive of its medieval institutions, gained a great start over countries where they were allowed to continue. Statesmen in these other countries recognized the need of reform, and made attempts to realize it from time to time; they made slow progress, not only because the task of reforming old customs was at best tedious and expensive, but also because their attention was distracted from the task for much of the time by the pressure of foreign affairs. =185. Attempts at reform, leading in many cases to over-regulation.=—All the European governments in this period did pay attention to the development of internal resources. One of the chief features of the mercantilist theory, that animated government policy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was the emphasis laid on the circulation of money and wares inside the country. The new national governments helped to further internal commerce by repressing disorder, and by reforming, to some extent at least, the system of laws and courts to which business men could appeal for the settlement of disputes. Most of the governments paid considerable attention also to the development of the postal system. Governments could serve their people well in ways like these, but unfortunately they expended their energy on other objects that were useless or harmful. “The state moulds men into whatever shape it pleases,” was an idea of the time, which led to an enormous amount of government regulation. In few states of the Continent was a man free to seek his profit where he would; he was entangled in a network of government regulations that fixed the rules of his trade, the prices of his wares, even the articles which he might or might not consume. An excellent example is furnished by the grain trade, which governments regulated so strictly that in many cases laws caused the very famines which they were designed to prevent.