SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY

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As the T'ang dynasty did not adapt a policy of levying tax on trade, only an exceptional trade tax was levied under the name of 雑税,率税,検税,雑検税. At the end of the T'ang dynasty when administrative machinery had broken down, 藩鎮 levied a tax on trade in the domain for the purpose of strengthening military power. This trade tax was called 商税. The central government, however, tried in vain to abolish such a local trade tax. Throughout the period of political disorder at the end of T'ang age, such small cities as 草市,津渡 became independent from the central government and were able to defend themselves with their own army corps, thanks to the 商税 an indespensable financial source. By the end of the T'ang dynasty, the system of 商税, levied by local governments, had spread over the country. Under the Sung dynasty, which succeeded the T'ang and unified whole country, 商税 came to be levied directly by the central government. It is important to remember that the strong centralized political power of the Sung dynasty depended heavily on the revenew from 商税.

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The article examines the roll of an entrepreneur in the middle of Nineteenthcentury America through the life and works of William E. Dodge (1805-1883). Dodge was born into a middle-class family and brought up under the influence of Presbyterianism. In business and industry, he was active in such fields as Land-speculation, railroads, lumbering, metal industries, and metal and cotton trades. In government service, he greatly contributed to the development of the economy of the state of New York. A typical entrepreneur of the day, he assumed leadership in transforming the United States from a rural to an industrial society. Through his life, this article emphasizes an aspect of the economic development of New York City, as well as the roll of entrepreneurial aactivities in econnmic development in general.

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