The class _Producer_, therefore, is not only comparatively small, but has really a very divided interest, arising only from the difference between the personal and the class interest of the individual. § The class _Middle-man_ is more extensive, comprising merchants, brokers, factors, wholesale and retail shopkeepers, hawkers, &c. The profits of this class are generally regarded by the public with some degree of suspicion. It is often thought that their profits are exorbitant. But in truth this is not frequently the case. The division of employments necessarily produces middle-men, and the public in the long run obtain the articles they require with more convenience and economy, and at a less fluctuating price, than it would be without such agency. But the number of intermediate agents in any commerce is itself subject to change, in different trades and at various times: it is quite possible that these changes may not have taken place with sufficient promptitude, and thus the public may have suffered for a time either by an excess or a defect in the number of middle-men. The interests of middle-men are, individually, the same as those of consumers. As a class, the extension of commerce is for their advantage, because they are paid according to the amount of exchanges made. But they have also another and a very powerful interest. They fear that if the public were acquainted with the manufacturing price of articles, it would consider the difference between that and the selling price as a tax imposed by the middle-man upon the consumer. The middle-man therefore has a direct interest in preventing the public from arriving at a knowledge of the prices charged by the original manufacturer. It is also the interest of the middle-man that the manufacturer should not know the price at which his produce sells by retail: but, as it is in most cases impossible to prevent this, few attempts at concealment are made. § It appears, then, that the interests of these classes may be thus summed up— Consumers, including every human being, have a strong interest in the freest competition as producing the lowest price. Producers have an interest in selling their produce in the dearest market, and therefore claim free competition. But they have no advantage in selling it at the highest price: because a high price limits the extent of the sale. Their object is that the profit on each article, multiplied by the number sold, shall be the greatest possible. Middle-men, although usually adverse to competition, have yet a direct interest in the amount sold. CHAPTER VI. LIMITS.