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Sale or exchange of goods, generally on a large scale. During the Biblical period the Hebrews in Palestine had what is known as a natural self-sufficing economy (Benzinger, "Arch." p. 213)—that is, each household grew or made all the food, tools, and clothing it needed. A few articles of luxury or necessity, such as gold, silver, iron, and salt, which could not be found on the Israelitish farms, were supplied by merchants, who carried them round the country, and for that reason were known as "soḥer" (from a root meaning "to wander"). These merchants were almost exclusively Canaanites, probably Philistines. Hence, when the goodwife sells her wool (Proverbs 31:24) she disposes of it to the Canaanites (A. V. "merchants"). The Israelite tribes were mainly settledon the uplands of Palestine, and therefore were not touched by the streams of commerce which flowed by the two great caravan routes along the coast, through Tyre, Acco, and Gaza, to Egypt, and from South Arabia, through Petra on the east side of the Jordan, to Damascus (Herzfeld, "Handelsgeschichte der Juden," pp. 22, 23).

Solomon's Foreign Commerce.

The chief references to commerce in the Old Testament are, accordingly, to that of other than Israelitish peoples—to Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:25) and Phenicians (Isaiah 23; Ezekiel 27:27). It is only with the reign of Solomon that any signs are given of extensive external trade on the part of the Israelites. Solomon was himself a large exporter of wheat and oil, which he paid to Hiram, King of Tyre, for timber and the use of skilled workmen (1 Kings 5:25 [Hebr.]; 1 Kings 7). He doubtless obtained horses and chariots from Egypt (1 Kings 10:28,29) by similar payments. It is even recorded of Solomon that he sent ships of Tharshish every three years from Ezion-geber to Ophir, whence the fleet brought back gold, silver, iron, apes, and peacocks (1 Kings 10:22). Solomon's example evidently led to a general development of trading (1 Kings 10:15), but it was not followed up by his successors. Jehoshaphat tried in vain to revive the voyages to Ophir (1 Kings 22:48), and the Prophets when speaking of merchants identify them with Canaanites or Philistines (Hosea 12:7; Isaiah 23:11; Zephaniah 1:11; compare Job 41:6). It has been assumed from the songs of Deborah, Jacob, and Moses (Judges 5:17; Genesis 49:13; Deuteronomy 33:18,19) that the tribes of Dan, Zebulun, and Issachar were connected with the Mediterranean trade; but there is very little evidence of this, and the ships used were known by a foreign name as "ships of Tharshish."

There seem to have been some attempts to encourage foreign trade in the northern kingdom, as Ahab is reported to have obtained from Ben-hadad the right to have "ḥuẓot" in Damascus (1 Kings 20:34); in other words, the Israelites were allowed a special street or bazaar in the market of Damascus. A somewhat similar activity on the part of Judah is indicated in Isaiah 2:6 (Hebr.), where the "contracts made with the sons of aliens" refer, according to Cheyne, to the renewed commercial activity of the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham (2 Kings 14:22, 16:6). The treasures of the kings must have been obtained indirectly from commerce; the tribute of Hezekiah to Sennacherib, which, according to the Taylor cylinder, amounted to 30 talents of gold and 800 of silver, besides precious stones, must have been secured in this way. The luxurious feminine apparel indicated in Isaiah 3:18-24 must also have been obtained by commerce. Notwithstanding this, the merchant's profession was despised (Hosea 12:7; compare Ecclus. [Sirach] 26:29, 27:2). The few laws relating to business in the Pentateuch and dealing with weights (Leviticus 19:35,36), loans to the poor (ib. 25:36,37), usury (Deuteronomy 23:20), debts in the Sabbatical year (Deuteronomy 15:2), and slave-trading (Leviticus 25:44,45), show that very little business was done. The fact that even tribute was paid in kind (1 Samuel 16:20, 17:18) proves that not much attention was paid to commerce, as is also proved by the fact that no coined money was made till the time of the Maccabees (see See MONEY).

Exports and Imports.

The highlands of Palestine in Bible times do not seem to have supplied very much material for foreign commerce. Honey, balsam, wheat, and oil were forwarded to Phenicia (1 Kings 5:11; Ezra 3:7; Ezekiel 27:17), while spices, balm, myrrh, honey, pistachio nuts, almonds, and oil were forwarded to Egypt (Genesis 37:25; Hosea 12:1). In return timber was sent from Phenicia (1 Kings 5:11); corn, horses, and chariots from Egypt (Genesis 41:57; 1 Kings 10:29); gold, silver, spices, precious stones, ivory, apes, peacocks, armor, and mules from Arabia, OPHIR, and other Eastern countries. Wool and sheep were sent as tribute from Moab (2 Kings 3:4). Within Palestine itself salt was sent from the Dead Sea, cattle and wool from the pastures beyond the Jordan, corn chiefly from the plain of Esdraelon. These were sent up to the markets, one of which seems to have been at Jerusalem, at a place called "Maktesh" (Zephaniah 1:11); later on there was a market even in the Temple precincts (John 2:14).

Merchants carried wares to their customers or to the markets (Nehemiah 13:16) by caravans of camels, asses, mules, or oxen (Genesis 24:10, 42:26, 43:18; 1 Kings 5:7; 1 Chronicles 12:40); sometimes merchandise was carried by slaves (2 Kings 5:28).

After the Exile.

After the return from the Exile the small and impoverished Jewish community had little business to transact except at Jerusalem, and even there it was conducted mainly by Phenicians (Nehemiah 3:31,32; 13:15-20). When Jonah sailed for Tarshish he had to embark in a Gentile vessel, showing that little maritime trade was undertaken by the Jews. With the spread of Hellenism in the East, however, there were Greek mercantile settlements in Ptolemais, with connections with the coast of Palestine along the Gaza, Ashkelon, and Dor route (Schürer, "Geschichte," 2:15); and by the time of Hyrcanus I. Athenian merchants came regularly to Judea (Josephus; "Ant." 14:8, § 5; "Corp. Insc. Att." , No. 470). It was with the intention of developing the foreign trade of Judea that Simon Maccabeus took Joppa (I Macc. 14:5), and similarly Herod built Cæsarea for a port (Josephus, c. 15:9, § 6).

Markets.

By Maccabean times, indeed, it seems to have become a custom for the villagers to carry their products into towns once a month (I Macc. 1:58). Later on this became extended to twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays being traditionally set aside as market days; and the custom of having special services in synagogues on these days can be traced back to this period. Jerusalem became the commercial center of the whole country, and mention is made there of markets for horses and wool ('Er. 10:9), for ironware, clothing, lumber (Josephus, "B. J." 2:19, § 4; 5:8, § 1), and for fruit (Beẓah 5:8). Besides these, there were markets at Hebron, Emmaus, Lydda, Antipatris, Haishub, Patris, Beth Hino, Sepphoris, Tiberias, Scythopolis, and Botna, the last three being especially devoted to cereals, which were exportedthrough Kesib to Tyre (Yer. Dem. 1:3), and from Arab in Galilee to Sepphoris (Yer. Ta'an. 4:1); olives were sent to Italy (Shab. 26a; Josephus, c. 2:22, § 2), and olive-oil was sent to Syria and Egypt (Pliny, "Historia Naturalis," 12:54). The main ports engaged in these exports were Ashkelon, Joppa, Gaza, Ptolemais, Rephia, Yabne, Cæsarea, Dor, and Haifa.

Trade with Egypt.

Some outside trade in silk passed through Palestine into Tyre (Yer. B. Ḳ. 4:2, 6:7). Most of the more luxurious products were imported. As against 87 different materials produced in Palestine itself, Herzfeld enumerates 133 brought from almost all the known lands of antiquity: camels from Arabia (Ket. 67a); asses from Libya (Shab. 51b); byssus from Pelusium and India, to form the dress worn by the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Yoma 3:7); linen and "ḥimuẓa" from Rome (Yer. 'Ab. Zarah 2:10; M. Ḳ. 23a); a garment called a "gomed" from Arabia (Kel. 29:9), as well as pottery (Kel. 5:10; Men. 5:9) from the same place; spoons from Sidon and wines from Ammon and Media (Sanh. 106a; Pes. 2:1). Beans and linseed came from Egypt (Ma'as. 5:8); damsons from Damascus (Ber. 39a; B. Ḳ. 116b); palms, dates, and carpets from Babylon; timber, wine, and purple from Phenicia; wine, oil, and lumber from Syria. Specially important was the trade with Egypt, which probably took some of the cereals from Palestine in exchange for beans and writing-material. Philo speaks of several Jewish shippers and wholesale merchants in Alexandria ("In Flaccum," § 8). Many Egyptian Jews attained considerable wealth by this means. Arion is said to have lent Joseph the "publican" no less a sum than 3,000 talents (Josephus, "Ant." 12:4, § 7), and the alabarch Alexander lent 200,000 drachmas to Agrippa (ib. 18:6, § 3).

Salted fish was a specially favored article of commerce, as may be seen from the fact that Jerusalem had a fish-gate (Nehemiah 3:3); it was brought from Egypt (Maksh. 6:3) and Spain (Shab. 22:2) probably to Acco, whence the proverb "to send fish to Acco," corresponding to the English "to carry coals to Newcastle." Lake Tiberias was also the center of a great fishing industry. Josephus enumerates no less than 230 boats sailing upon it at one time ("B. J." 2:21, § 8). Several kinds of traders are mentioned—cloth-dealers, horse-dealers, and cattle-dealers (Kil. 9:5; M. Ḳ. 2:5; B. M. 51b; 'Ab. Zarah 1:6; Sheḳ. 7:2). These carried their accounts in books ("pinkes," from the Greek πινάξ) made of two boards joined together with a hinge, and covered with wax on which marks could be made. Markets were held every Friday (Sifra 140b), and at Gaza, Acco, and Botna there were great fairs where slaves and horses were sold (Yer. 'Ab. Zarah 1:4). Goods were sold by contract (Shah. 120b) and paid for by bills which themselves were sold for cash before maturing (B. M. 4:9). Merchants of different towns communicated by post (Shab. 10:4,19a), and there even seems to have been a kind of parcel-post (R. H. 9b). Prices seemed to be fixed by local authorities (B. M. 5:7), and any speculation in necessaries, such as corn, wine, or oil, was deprecated (B. B. 90b).

Prices.

Notwithstanding this evidence of considerable commercial activity, it can not be said that the Jews in early post-Biblical times were at all inclined to commerce. Josephus, indeed, says: "We do not dwell in a land by the sea, and do not therefore indulge in commerce either by sea or otherwise" ("Contra Apion," 1:12). Several of the chief sages of the Talmud, however, were traders. Eleasar ben Azaria dealt in wine and oil (B. B. 91a). Notwithstanding this, many sayings in the Talmud show that little importance was attached to commerce as a means of livelihood; e. g., "have little business" (Abot 4:14); or, "the less trading the more Torah" (ib. 6:6). It was recommended to lay out one's money in three parts: one-third to be invested in land; one-third in goods; one-third to be kept on hand (B. M. 42a). It may be of interest to conclude this account of trading among the Jews of Biblical and Talmudic times by the details given by Herzfeld relating to the prices of objects mentioned in these two sources, arranging the objects in the usual order: grain, cattle, fowl, fruit, wines, dress, slaves, beasts of burden, chariots, fields, vineyards, and houses, finishing with wages and fees. See accompanying table.

Hitherto there had been no signs of any special predilection or capacity for commerce shown by Jews, but they had developed special aptitudes in that direction by the early geonic period, when they are everywhere mentioned as merchants. As soon as the Teutonic nations had settled down after the great migrations of the fifth century, Jews are found mentioned together with Syrians as merchants at Narbonne and Marseilles (Gregory, "Epistles," 7:24,45). The Frankish kings bought goods from them (Gregory of Tours, "Hist. Gall." 4:12-35, 6:5, 7:23), and they occur as traders at Naples (Procopius, "De Bello Gallico"), Palermo (Gregory, "Epistles," 9:55), and Genoa (Cassidorus, "Epistles," No. 33). They even chartered ships: Gregory of Tours ("De Gloria Martyrum," p. 97) mentions a Jew who owned a vessel sailing between Nice and Marseilles. It is recorded of Charles the Great that, after watching a ship nearing Narbonne, he decided that it was not a Jewish, but a Norman, vessel (Pertz, "Monumenta," 2:737). The Visigoth king Egica, indeed, forbade them to engage in maritime commerce ("Leg. Visig." 12:2,18). They were particularly active in the slave trade (Agobard, "Opera," ed. Baluze, pp. 62-65), and Gregory the Great protested against their activity in this direction in North Gaul ("Epistles," 9:36). It has been conjectured that through their means England was brought within the pale of Christendom (Jacobs, "Jews of Angevin England," pp. 3, 4). SLAVE-TRADE.

The cause of this sudden commercial activity and predilection for trading is probably to be found in the rise of Islam and its control of the lands whence came most of the luxuries demanded in Europe. Christians could not trade in Mohammedan countries, nor Moslems in Christendom, consequently an opening was left for Jews, who were tolerated in both spheres as commercial intermediaries (Cunningham, "Western Civilization," 2:49, Cambridge, 1901). Within two centuries after the foundation of Islam the Jews appear to have almost monopolized thetrade between Europe and Asia. There is a remarkable passage in the "Book of Ways," written about 817 by Ibn Khordadhbeh (ed. De Goeje, in "Bibl. Geogr. Arab." 6:114), giving the routes adopted by these Jewish merchants.

Routes of the Jewish Merchants Called Radanites.

The name "Radanites" is a puzzle, but probably refers to the commercial metropolis of Persia—Rai (Rhaga), near Teheran, which was the commercial center for Armenia, Chorasan, and Chazaria (Ritter, "Asien," 6:1,595). The influence of the Radanites probably accounts for the adoption by the court of Chazaria of the Jewish religion (see CHAZARS), and it is also probable that the mission of a Jewish envoy from Charles the Great to Harun al-Rashid is connected with this extensive commerce. The Jews also appear to have taken wares from Byzantium to Prague, and to have exchanged them for corn, tin, lead, and slaves, from the Russians and Slavs who met them there (Ibrahim ibn Ya'ḳub, quoted by G. Jacob," Handelsartikel der Araber," p.9, Berlin, 1891). The large number of Arabic coins found throughout northeastern Europe (as many as twenty thousand in Sweden alone) shows the great extent of this Baltic trade with Chazaria, mainly conducted by Jews.

The spice trade appears to have been practically monopolized by Jews (Gregory of Tours, 4:12,35; 6:5); and this was of consequence because of the demand for condiments to flavor the salted meats and fish on which medieval Europe lived during winter. An indication of the extent of their Lyons trade is found in the complaint of Agobard that, to suit their convenience, the market-day had been changed from Saturday to another day in the week ("De Insolentia," p. 64); indeed, so important had their commercial position in medieval Europe become by the tenth century that a usual formula in charters and like documents was "Jews and other merchants" (Stobbe, "Juden in Deutschland," pp. 103, 199, 200, 231). The emperor Henry IV. gave them permission to sell wine, pigments, and drugs (ib. p. 231). In the tenth century the commercial rivals of the Jews began to take measures to restrain their activity. The Venetians, for example, forbade ships' captains to take Jewish passengers on their voyages to the Levant (Depping, "Histoire du Commerce," 2:22). Similarly as late as 1341 no Jew was allowed to pass from Aix to Alexandria, and only four each year for the Levant.

Influence of Crusades.

But the first systematic repression of Jewish commercialactivity began in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries during the Crusades. All trade in the towns began to be monopolized by the merchants' gilds, from which Jews were excluded. In England, for example, there is only one known instance of a Jew in a merchant gild (Kitchin, "Winchester," p. 108); so the only way in which Jews could obtain possession of merchandise was not by direct purchase, but as pledges for money lent. In this way, for example, Aaron of Lincoln came into possession of large quantities of corn at the time of his death (see "Trans. Jew. Hist. Soc. Eng." 3:164,165); and a large amount of corn was included in the property which escheated to the king on the expulsion of the Jews from Hereford (ib. p. 144-158). Heliot of Vesoul and his company similarly came into possession of stuffs and vestments which they transported by horses and carriages to various customers. They also sold wheat, soap, paper, wax, fur, leather, harnesses, kitchen utensils, spoons, forks, girdles, etc., besides horses and cattle (I. Loeb, in "Rev. Et. Juives," 9:39); but these sales, which took place in the presence of the provost, and, probably, were mostly sales of pledges, can not be regarded as the ordinary sales of commerce, in which the buyer competes in open market and afterward sells at his own time, and without intervention of officials. Whatever the commercial activity of the Jews in the Middle Ages and after the Crusades, it was incidental to their activity in See MONEY-LENDING and as PAWNBROKERS. W. Roscher traces to their activity in this regard the introduction into commercial law of three important innovations which indirectly affected commerce: (1) the making of loans on interest; (2) the retention of goods bought bona fide, which has been applied in later commercial law to bonds and other securities to bearer; (3) the introduction, or, at least, the extensive use, of bills of exchange ("Ansichten der Volkswirtschaft," 2:231, Leipsic, 1878). It is still, however, a doubtful point whether bills of exchange were not introduced quite independently of the Jews (EXCHANGE, BILLS OF).

Instances of Medieval Commerce.

Though, as a rule, Jewish commercial activity was from the twelfth century almost up to the nineteenth generally restricted to usury and petty trading, there are occasional instances of commercial dealings on a large scale, chiefly at the great seaports. Thus at Marseilles, between 1260 and 1299, a Jewish merchant named Mandrul, and others, traded in spices, cotton, find medicines, like sulfur and tartar, from Egypt, the Barbary States, the Balearic Islands, and Pisa, the chief trade being with Valencia, Acco, and Bougiah ("Rev. Et. Juives," 16:23). By this time Jews had lost their monopoly of the slave trade; only two cases of slave-dealing occurred at Marseilles at that period among Jews as against seven among Christians. Similarly, in 1248 there were twenty-nine money-changers among the Christians of Marseilles, but not a single Jew. Jews appear also to have been interested in the export of corn and wine from Vienna to Salzburg (Pertz, "Monumenta," 9:706), and the Jews of Laibach in 1368 are reported to have become rich through trade with Venetians, Hungarians, and Croats (Scherer, "Rechtsverhältnisse," p. 519). It was indeed found necessary at times to prevent their competition with Christian merchants; thus the Jews of Linz in 1396 were forbidden to deal as merchants with the citizens of that town (Kurz, "Handel Oesterreichs," p. 89). In Spain the practise varied: in Castile, Henry IV. allowed the Jews to trade with Christians (Amador de los Rios, "Historia," 3:134,135), and there is evidence of a considerable wool trade between Navarre and England, conducted by Jews (Jacobs, "Spanish Sources," Nos. 1563, 1573, 1639, 1647), besides notices of dealers in cloth, fur, leather, silk, spices, timber, horses, mules, and wine (ib. p. ); yet the Jews of Navarre were not allowed to sell anything without license from the king (ib. Nos. 1458, 1459). On the whole, fewer restrictions seem to have been placed upon the Jews in Spain than elsewhere; the silk industry was entirely in their hands (Grätz, "Geschichte," 5:396). This led to a remarkable extension of Jewish commercial activity when, in the fifteenth century, there spread throughout the world a class of persons which maintained intimate connections with Spain and Portugal at a time when those countries were receiving masses of the precious metals, which raised prices throughout Europe and gave abnormal profits to merchants, amounting, it is said, to between 300 and 400 per cent (Beer, "Geschichte des Welthandels," 2:147).

Marano Trade.

The commerce of the Maranos served an important function in the development of trade between Europe, America, and the Levant. Manasseh ben Israel, in his "Declaration" to the English Parliament, gives an interesting account of the wide extent of Jewish trade due to their family connections and common language (ed. Wolf, pp. 2, 3). The precious metals mined in America were transported to Spain and Portugal, and thence, in exchange for Oriental goods, were passed on to Antwerp, which thereby became the financial center of Europe. Jewish Marano families were especially active in all these countries. The Caceres family had members in Hamburg, England, Austria, the West Indies, Barbados, and Surinam in the middle of the seventeenth century. Similarly extended connections are found with the Conegliano and Alḥadib families. The Mendez family was connected at first with Antwerp, then with Constantinople, while a branch, the see GRADIS family, settled at Bordeaux, dominated French colonial trade. Benjamin Gradis sent out wine, alcohol, meal, and pickled meats to Cayenne, Martinique, and San Domingo, getting sugar and indigo in return. The Maranos were especially active in the American interstate trade. From Curaçao Joshua Mordecai Henriquez shipped to New Netherland in 1568 Venetian pearls and pendants, thimbles, scissors, knives, and bells. The Jewish trade from Jamaica became so extensive that the English traders of that island petitioned against Jews being allowed to trade from it unless they became endenizened. By 1753 the greater part of the British trade with the Spanish West Indies was in the hands of the Jews, especially the trade of Jamaica with the Spanish main ("Consideration onthe Act of 1753," p. 40). Aaron Lopez of Newport had no less than thirty ships engaged in this trade (see M. J. Kohler, in "Pub. Am. Jew. Hist. Soc." 10:62). This trade was naturally fostered by the Jews of New York, who were not allowed to engage in retail trade from 1683 (ib. ). From Marseilles an extensive trade with the Levant was maintained by Spanish Jews. In the ten years 1670-79 the firm of Joseph Vaez Villarreal & Company insured ships to the amount of 866,400 livres ("Rev. Et. Juives," 11:142). In 1693 merchants of Marseilles petitioned the intendant of Provence not to allow French subjects to lend their names to Jews bringing silk from the Levant, especially from Smyrna (ib. 12:270). The Gorneyim of Algiers practically monopolized the trade between that port and Leghorn in the seventeenth century. (Gränwald, "Juden als Seefahrer," 1902, p. 48).

Central Europe.

Meanwhile in Central Europe a special Jewish commerce was being developed in connection with the great fairs, especially during the Thirty Years' war. They purchased the soldiers' loot and thus acquired capital. The position of Jews as pawnbrokers led naturally to pedling. These pedlers often developed into traveling traders, purchasing the products of the villages, especially furs and leather, which they sold at the FAIRS, especially at the great fair at Leipsic, which, after the close of the Thirty Years' war, became a clearing-house for the wares of North Germany. During the last quarter of the seventeenth century, 15,620 Jews, with 2,362 dependents, visited the three annual fairs at Leipsic, making an average of nearly 240 Jews at each fair. These came from all quarters of Europe; not less than 321 places are mentioned by M. Freudenthal ("Die Jüdischen Besucher der Leipziger Messen," Frankfort, 1902). Chief among these were Prague, Hamburg, Halberstadt, Berlin, Dessau, Frankfort, and, beyond Germany, Amsterdam and Venice. As early as 1590 Jews used to import fur, leather, lumber, and grain from Moscow to Gnesen. The memoirs of Glückl von Hameln show that these visits to the fairs were of social as well as of commercial importance. The Frankfort fair became the center of the Hebrew book trade in the seventeenth century ("Rev. Et. Juives," 8:75). By this means new connections were made with different parts of Europe by the rising Jewish merchants, and the international trade of the continent became concentrated for a time in their hands. The fur trade in particular was monopolized by Jews, owing to their wide connections, ranging from Novgorod to Nantes ("Rev. Et. Juives," 33:97). Similarly the Jews of Avignon, in the seventeenth century, used to travel as far as Nimes and Montpellier (ib. 34:280), where they sold mules on credit, and thus took the business out of the hands of the Christian merchants of Languedoc. In 1738 the latter obtained a decree from the intendant of Provence prohibiting the sale of mules by Jews, though this decree was afterward withdrawn. In like manner German and Polish Jews, toward the end of the eighteenth century, settled in the chief English ports of the south and west as small pawnbrokers and shopkeepers, sending out agents from Monday to Friday to the neighboring villages (L. Wolf, "Family of Yates and Samuel," p. 2, London, 1901).

Restrictions on Jewish Trade.

The amount of trade conducted by the Jews depended in a large measure on the municipal or other authorities. In 1603 Henry IV. granted to Jews of Metz the right to trade, which was confirmed by Louis XIV. in 1657 (Jost, "Geschichte," 9:31). So, too, the Jews of Leghorn were permitted to trade from 1668 (Bedarride, "Les Juifs," p. 364); on the other hand, the Jews of Rome and Ancona were only permitted to deal in secondhand clothing (Vogelstein and Rieger, 2:198). As a rule, however, the right to trade was one of the municipal rights, and these were not granted the Jews till well on toward the middle of the nineteenth century. They were therefore generally confined to pawnbroking, pedling, and second-hand clothing, in which for a considerable time they had a monopoly. With the spread of colonization Jewish merchants found new spheres, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world, where there was little opposition to them. The firms of Montefiore in Australia, of Mosenthal and of Bergtheil in South Africa, were among the pioneers of those colonies, and a large proportion of the English colonial shipping trade was for a considerable time in the hands of Jews. On the continent of Europe Jews performed a special function in mediating between the domestic industries of the villages and the markets and manufactories of the chief towns. Thus in Vienna the woolen manufacturers obtained their raw material from Jewish traders who traveled round to Iglau, Reichenberg, and Brünn. Before the emancipation many expedients had to be resorted to before this centralization of the wool industry could be effected. Thus the firm of Tuchowsky used to have a Christian agent at Vienna to represent its interests. When he died one of the firm had to submit to baptism in order to reside in Vienna (S. Mayer, in Bloch's "Wochenschrift," Nov. 14, 1902).

Numbers Engaged in Commerce.

Owing to a variety of circumstances the number of Jews applying themselves to commerce is heavily in excess of their proportion to the general population. Thus in Prussia in 1861 among adult workers 58 per cent of Jews were engaged in commerce as against 6 per cent of the rest of the population (Legoyt, "Immunités," p. 34), while in Italy the proportion was as 55 to 5. These figures are somewhat misleading, as most Jews live in cities; but, after allowing for this factor, a large discrepancy still remains. At Berlin, e.g., in 1871 61.4 per cent of Jews were in commerce against 15.4 of the rest of the population (H. Schwabe, "Berlin in 1871," p. 100); in Vienna, 33.1 per cent against 11.5 per cent (Jeitteles, "Israeliten zu Wien"). Altogether it may be said that thrice as many Jews adopt commercial pursuits. The particular branch of commerce in which Jews appear to excel is mainly the "commerce of intangibles"—that is, dealing with money per se—and they excel as factors and shippers (BANKING; see FINANCE). The clothing trades seem to be largely in the hands of Jews, both as regards manufacture and the wholesale and retail trade. This may have developed out of the restrictionto the sale of second-hand clothing, but is probably due more to the economic pressure brought to bear in the Russian ghettos. The trade in furs and feathers is also largely in Jewish hands as a relic of the old peregrinations of the Jewish pedlers in East Europe, and can be traced back to the time of the Chazars. The fancy-goods trade is almost invariably a trade in imports, and here the cosmopolitan connections of the Jews have helped them to achieve conspicuous success. In England the fruit trade is wholly in the hands of Jews, because fruit can be sold on Sunday, and therefore the keeping of the Sabbath is not an obstacle to Jewish fruit-traders. In the United States the most striking characteristic of Jewish commerce is found in the large number of department stores held by Jewish firms.