Mutual understanding is brought about by the transmission
of intelligence, either fixed in writing or expressed in conven-



THE OBJECTS OF WORLD ECONOMY 63

tional symbols or in recent times by actual word of mouth,
as can now be done with greater promptness and ever-
decreasing cost between the most widely separated points
on the earth's surface. The interchange of goods, of persons,
and of intelligence appear as the three great branches of
commerce; and for them special transportation faciHties,
such as railroads, navigation hues, mail service, telegraph
and telephone systems, must be provided.
Commerce, however, in this sense, does not serve economic
ends exclusively, but the purposes of general culture as well.
Goods are transferred not merely for the sake of making
a profit, but unselfishly also, in the interest of the common
good or that of other individuals. People travel and com-
municate with one another to transact business or to seek
opportunities of work, but also for the purposes of recreation
and of culture. These extra-economic relations have economic
effects, in the first place because they help to bring about
the creation and maintenance of institutions important
for the production and exchange of goods, and further
because the spiritual culture promotes the material, for it
creates new wants and teaches the means of satisfying them.
