state precedes the consumer society. It is interesting, 
therefore, to read an American account of Freedom of the  
Press in England, 1476—1776: The Rise and Decline of  
Government Controls , by F. S. Siebert, for it provides a fine view 
of the relative advantages in producer-imposed versus  
consumer-created uniformity. It is the perpetual and ironic 
alternation of these two positions that gives to Alexis de 
Tocqueville’s Democracy in America  its rich fascination. The 
same contrast between the interests of centralized government 
and those of settlers is the theme of The Fur Trade in Canada  
by Harold Innis. For, writes Innis (p. 388), it was the interest of 
the centre to organize the margins for the production of 
staples, not of consumer goods:

     Large scale production of raw materials was encouraged 
     by improvement of technique of production, of marketing,