But though British ships were to a great extent excluded from the trade of the Baltic, the Orders in Council enabled them in the long run to obtain almost a complete monopoly of the other portions of the carrying trade of the world. England at this time had practically exclusive possession of the East and West Indies; and the colonial produce brought in her vessels was, in spite of the efforts of Bonaparte, distributed at a great profit over the whole of the continent of Europe. It is unnecessary here to enter into a dissertation as to the general effect of a monopoly produced by war on prices or on the interests of the consumer; nor is it necessary to lay down the principle that, in the long run, a state of peace must, in these days at least, prove far more profitable to the shipowner than a state of war. But during the latter period of the great French war, whatever diminution may have taken place in the building of ships, it is certain that at no period was British shipping more prosperous, or employed at higher freights. Scarcely a ship belonging to any other nation could sail without a licence, which, following the example of France, the British government had rendered imperative.[279] The whole of the exportable produce of the East and West Indies, and a large portion of that from South America, now came to the ports of Great Britain, either for consumption or re-exportation; and any effort of Bonaparte to exclude these necessary articles from the continent proved nearly, if not altogether abortive. England now, to all intents and purposes, obtained a monopoly, costly it is true, but she can never again hope to carry on hostilities with any of the great powers of Europe and bring, as it were, under her dominion at the same time all the material riches of the world.[280] But while the cost of articles imported from the continent of Europe was enhanced by the difficulty of communication, and the circuitous routes it often became necessary to adopt, similar causes raised the price of colonial produce, and of some descriptions of British manufactures, to a still greater proportionate height on the continent, so that the severity with which the decrees of the enemy were enforced operated more directly against imports from England than against exports to that country, and many curious instances besides those we have just mentioned are given of the extraordinary rates paid for freight.[281] [Sidenote: Ingenuity of merchants in shipping goods.]