Political Economy for the People

The waters of a country also afford easy means of transportation, both of men and commodities; which is of so much importance, that hitherto there has been no large city in the world, and scarcely any second-rate one, which was not situated on the water, so that it could derive from a distance a part of its supplies by means of this cheap mode of transportation. It remains to be seen whether the new agent, steam, can furnish the like supplies with adequate cheapness.

The rivers of a country, and sometimes its lakes also, afford a cheap motive power for every species of mills, and for various kinds of manufacturing machinery.