=396. Contrast of the character of association in commerce and in manufactures or transportation.=—A previous section, describing the specialization of merchants in the nineteenth century, suggests the gain which commerce has made in the way of cooperation. The tendency, however, has been to split tasks up into small pieces, and to distribute these among individuals or small groups, rather than to associate great numbers of men under one management. We do not find in strictly commercial undertakings the tremendous aggregations of men and capital which have become characteristic of modern transportation and manufactures. Modern trusts, it is true, have invaded the field of commerce to a certain extent, and have effected some of their chief economies in improved methods of marketing their products. What the development may be along the line thus indicated is an interesting subject for speculation, but a subject which cannot be allowed to detain us here. Mercantile enterprises are still, for the most part, carried on by individuals, by partnerships, or by corporations in which the personal and local element is predominant. =397. More efficient utilization of capital in modern trade.=—The middleman, therefore, cannot as a rule secure the capital which he needs for carrying on his business by offering securities for public subscription through the stock exchange. He seems, in this respect, at a disadvantage in comparison with the manufacturer, the railroad, or the steamship operator. He is, however, better off in at least two respects than his predecessors of an earlier time. First, he can do much more business with the same amount of capital than was possible under the old conditions. The great technical improvements have resulted in a much more rapid “turn-over” of capital, and a merchant now sells out and replenishes his stock far more rapidly than he could formerly do. The instance of the India trade, given in a section above, illustrates this fact. The “merchant princes” who once ruled this trade by their great capital have given place to many smaller merchants, who can make less capital suffice by its rapid turn-over.