[IO COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 
and the regulation of timber cutting and pasturage. Also here 
belong the consular services, by which every progressive nation 
receives fresh information regarding markets, crops, new prod- 
ucts, and commercial conditions from all parts of the world 
for the benefit of the farmer, the miner, the manufacturer, and 
the trader. 
82. Social and economic conditions. Here fall matters belong- 
ing strictly in the realm of economics and sociology, which have, 
however, important bearings on the activities of commerce. Such 
are the restraints imposed by trade unions and by monopolistic 
combinations of capital. Here may be named again government 
subsidies and bounties, which interfere with the more appro- 
priate productions of a region or with the natural routes of com- 
merce. Cities having every natural advantage may be retarded 
by the retrogressive spirit of the people or the repressive policies 
of labor or capital ; or they may be brought to prosperity by 
special favor, in the face of natural limitations. It may well be 
doubted, however, whether a great and permanent center of com- 
merce can arise, if not favored both by nature and by man.