In former times a merchant who gave an order involving the transportation of goods over considerable distances took a leap in the dark. He was fortunate if he could estimate with some accuracy the expense of transportation; he was almost helpless in estimating the time that would be consumed. So dependent were men on wind and weather, heat and cold, war and peace, and all the manifold conditions of nature and man, that loss was frequent and delay was constant. The element of chance, great by nature, was heightened by man; carriers were emboldened to make the most of their opportunities and to extort from the merchant all that the difficulties of his position might force him to pay. Contrast these conditions, as they existed in the period before 1800, with conditions at the present time. The modern system of transportation has been likened to clockwork. The modern merchant feels aggrieved if a telegram is delayed a few minutes, a train a few hours, a steamer a few days. His expectations, indeed, are seldom disappointed, and even then he is often informed of the probable duration of the delay, and is enabled to prepare for it. The rates of transportation now are relatively stable, and, for the most part, are a matter of public knowledge. We have not yet reached perfection in this respect, as is shown by the wide-spread complaints against American railroad managers, but we have approached nearer to it than would have been imagined possible a century ago. =386. Regularity.=—Certainty brings with it regularity. Steamers which are sure to arrive within a certain period can be advertised to leave on certain days. Merchants and producers are encouraged to make their preparations, and the whole body of people is stimulated to new activity and efficiency. Consider the following example, which, however trivial in itself, is typical of the course of development in the nineteenth century. “Before the establishment of steam-vessels, the market at Cork was most irregularly supplied with eggs from the surrounding district; at certain seasons they were exceedingly abundant and cheap, but these seasons were sure to be followed by periods of scarcity and high prices, and at times it is said to have been difficult to purchase eggs at any price in the market. At the first opening of the improved channel of conveyance to England (the steamer), the residents of Cork had to complain of the constant high price of this and other articles of farm produce; but as a more extensive market was now permanently open to them, the farmers gave their attention to the rearing and keeping of poultry, and, at the present time (1838), eggs are procurable at all seasons in the market at Cork, not, it is true, at the extremely low rate at which they could formerly be sometimes bought, but still at much less than the average price of the year. A like result has followed the introduction of this great improvement in regard to the supply and cost of various other articles of produce.”