(3) The export of money, as a specially valuable asset of the kingdom, was prohibited and its importation was favored. (4) The growth of native industries was stimulated by a variety of regulations. The English cloth manufacture was protected, for instance, in the following ways: the export of raw material (wool, teasles, etc.) was forbidden from time to time, that the home manufacturer might supply himself more cheaply; the import of foreign cloth was restricted; and the wearing of fur was limited to certain classes, that the home market for woolen manufacture might be larger. Among the protected industries was shipping. “Navigation acts,” requiring the use of native ships, were common, though they ordinarily remained in force but a short time and had not yet hardened into a system. (5) The foreign trade of a country was not only restricted, as at present, to certain points on the frontier where duties could be collected, but was often concentrated in one or more special places, the “staples.” The government could then oversee the trade more easily, could collect its dues, insure good quality, and protect merchants more readily, and it could also make better use of trade as a weapon of policy, directing the stream of goods where it pleased, and so rewarding or punishing other states. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 1. Review the sections on feudalism, and see how the modern system of government grew up from feudalism as the forces which had created feudalism were reversed. [Cf. Seebohm, Prot. Rev., pp. 15-21.] 2. Write a report on the rise or decline in power of the central government in one of the following countries, in the period 1100-1500: France, England, Germany, Italy, Spain. [Consult the current history manuals, or the encyclopedia.] 3. In connection with sect. 140 read the sections in a later part of the book, describing the advantages which have come to Germany and Italy in recent times by their union under strong central governments. 4. Write a report on medieval doctrines on one of the following subjects: (_a_) Loans at interest. (_b_) Profits in trade. [Cunningham, Growth, or Ashley, vol. 1, chap. 3; vol. 2, chap. 6.] 5. Write a report on “protection” in the medieval state. [See Cunningham or Ashley on commercial policy, or read J. S. Nicholson, The English corn laws.] 6. What has been the history of the meaning of the word _staple_? [Dictionaries, especially Murray’s New English Dict.; Cunningham.] BIBLIOGRAPHY The subject of this short chapter takes the reader within the bounds of political history, and he is referred to the many history manuals for further reading and references. The growth of the French monarchy has been well treated by Adams, Civilization, chap. xiii, or Growth of the French nation. PART III.—MODERN COMMERCE CHAPTER XV EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY