In 1826 he joined the German Zollverein and in 1829 created a civil fund for orphans, widows, and servants.
The original agreements that set the foundation for Zollverein cemented economic ties between the various Prussian and Hohenzollern territories, and ensured economic contact between the non-contiguous holdings of the Hohenzollern family, which was also the ruling family of Prussia.
Warmly supporting the customs union (Zollverein), he acted in 1851 as one of its commissioners at the great industrial exhibition at London, and published an elaborate report on the woollen goods.
In 1860, at an economic conference in Cologne, the free trade movement was successful in getting essential reforms put forth to the Zollverein.
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The (liberal) merchants in the port cities of Prussia suffered from the protectionist measures of the Zollverein, and Prince-Smith soon found himself becoming political active, becoming one of the more outspoken proponents of Manchester capitalism free trade.
A lot of the projects of Urbane Künste Ruhr are co-productions with partner institutions, such as Regionalverband Ruhr, Emschergenossenschaft, Schauspielhaus Bochum, ETH Zurich, PACT Zollverein, Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Ringlokschuppen Mülheim, and many more.