Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/87

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III.]
ISLE PLEASANT.
77

could then use this money to buy the products of the labour of others. A man who had a pair of oars to dispose of and who wanted a coat, had no longer to search here and there for a man who had a coat to give and who wished to take the oars in exchange. He sold his oars to anyone who would buy them for money, and with this money he purchased the coat from anyone who had one to dispose of. As division of labour thus became more and more complete, shops were opened, so that everyone who wanted food, clothing, fishing-tackle, or any other commodity that was made by the inhabitants of the island, knew exactly where to go to buy it. In this way there was a great saving of time and trouble, and thus another addition was made to the industrial well-being of Isle Pleasant. For among the services which labour renders to production, must not be forgotten that of bringing commodities to the places where they are wanted, and to places where people who want them know where to find them. It is a great waste if a man, whose labour can in one day produce