The _Early History of the Levant Company. By M. Epstein,
M.A. (G. Routledge and Sons. 2s. 6d. net.)—The Levant Company was the third in order of time of a series of trading corporations, its predecessors being the "Turkey Company" (1581) and the "Venice Company" (1583). The Levant Company came into being in '1592. In 1605 it received a permanent charter, under which it conducted operations for more than two centuries. Its establishment was taken over by the English Government in 1821, and the charter was surrendered four years later. The period included in Mr. Epstein's narrative is 1592-1640. The story is worth telling all through, but perhaps the most interesting part is chap. 10, "Pirates, Interlopers, and Factors." Interlopers were comparatively easy to deal with; the pirates were more of a difficulty. The Levant Company was asked to subscribe to the fitting out of a fleet for the defence of commerce. This did not suit it. It preferred to run the chance either of escape or successful resistance. Even worse than the pirates were the factors. Business had to go through their hands. And they contrived, regulations notwithstanding, to make considerable profits for themselves. It is interesting to see that Tariff Reform controversies were rife in the seventeenth century. Then, too, the Englishman was less favourably situated than the foreigner. The Englishman buys a hundred thousand pounds of currants for 41,250. and pays 4530 for impositions and duties, while the "merchant stranger" pays only 4262 18s., leaving him with an advantage of 4267 2s. A rival calculation, however, seems to show that the Englishman makes 41 108. per hundredweight more than the Venetian. The difficulty of getting at the truth in these matters is manifestly secular.
Previous page
