The alterations in the tariff of the Zollverein, which the
Spectator gave notice of from a private source some weeks back, have been officially pub- lished by the German papers. The decision of' the Congress that assem- bled finally at Berlin was duly communicated to the other states. The free city of Frankfort, in notifying its assent to the alteration made, adds, notwithstanding, a cutting remonstrance °lithe change from the original de- sign of the Zollverein now visible. That design was to raise the largest revenue with the smallest possible inconvenience to the trader. The pro- tection of any branch of trade or manufacture never entered into the no- tions of the first projectors of the Zollverein. As a novel course, the Senate of Frankfort protests against it, and expresses the hope that it will speedily be modified. Freedom of trade has thus found a representative amongst the Governments of Europe in addition to that of England; and more con- verts may be looked forward to.
With high price of rye and potatoes in the greater part of Germany, a correspondent prophecies that great distress may be expected to result from the scarcity of water. Most of the tributaries of the Rhine have not been navigable for some months. On the river Ruhr, the coal-pits are at a stand, as no boats can pass from the upper district to the Rhine. The Neckar has long been almost dried up. The countless little iron smelting- houses, foundries, and sheet-hammers, that are scattered over the Rhenish provinces of Prussia and Westphalia, are all obliged to stand idle. Great apprehensions of the winter are entertained.
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