§ Another class of middle-men now come into existence, namely, Shopkeepers. The evils already pointed out still exist. One of the questions, it is true, need not be asked, for the quantity of an article held by a retail dealer, is usually much larger than the wants of any individual customer; but the question of price still remains. The removal of all these difficulties may be accomplished by the adoption of one simple plan—let the price be affixed to each article. Other advantages result from the publicity thus given to price. Many who would not otherwise inquire the price, thinking it might be above their means, will now become purchasers. Others, not themselves intending to purchase, may incidentally cause their friends to purchase by quoting the prices they have seen affixed to certain articles. Others again, may be induced by the cheapness of an article to purchase it for uses for which it was not originally intended,—as, for instance, a beautiful chintz for papering a room. § In almost all works of industry, whatever may be the kind of excellence of an article exhibited, it is possible to produce one of greater excellence. Take for instance a sheet of window-glass; its size might be adduced as the ground of excellence. The beautiful process of “_flashing_” by which it is made, is preceded by another in which the workman blows a large globe of glass. The size of the expanded flat circle of glass, called a “_table_,” depends on the magnitude of this sphere, which again is limited by the power of the workman’s lungs. But when larger tables were wanted, an observant workman found that if his mouth had been previously washed out with water, a greater sphere was produced. In fact, a small portion of the water, carried over with his breath, became converted into steam by the heat, and thus increased the pressure within. This led to a new limit, and there can be no doubt that by means of expensive mechanical contrivances, still larger spheres might be blown. § Now the whole merit of any such new process, in the eye of the manufacturer, would depend on the _price_ at which the produce could be sold. The same principle prevails in almost all works of the civil engineer. With the talent now existing in that profession, scarcely any undertaking is impossible. The real and most important limitation is the _price_ of execution. § In the fine arts also the ultimate object still is the acquisition by the public of the productions submitted to their examination. If, however, the price is not stated, it may happen that a person of moderate means, more capable of appreciating a work of art than richer men, might be prevented from acquiring it by a feeling of delicacy. For not liking to ask the price, and thinking probably that it is beyond his means, the object may be sold to a richer competitor at a lower price than he would himself willingly have given.