It is argued
that the introduction of strangers brought up under other laws, and
the increase of population, will be adverse to good order; the
increase arises from their using the sea and having a crowd of
merchants coming and going, and is inimical to good government.
Apart from these considerations, it would be undoubtedly better,
both with a view to safety and to the provision of necessaries, that
the city and territory should be connected with the sea; the defenders
of a country, if they are to maintain themselves against an enemy,
should be easily relieved both by land and by sea; and even if they
are not able to attack by sea and land at once, they will have less
difficulty in doing mischief to their assailants on one element, if
they themselves can use both. Moreover, it is necessary that they
should import from abroad what is not found in their own country,
and that they should export what they have in excess; for a city ought
to be a market, not indeed for others, but for herself.
Those who make themselves a market for the world only do so for
the sake of revenue, and if a state ought not to desire profit of this
kind it ought not to have such an emporium. Nowadays we often see in
countries and cities dockyards and harbors very conveniently placed
outside the city, but not too far off; and they are kept in dependence
by walls and similar fortifications.
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