Naturally the German Government will still continue its tariff policy,
but these tariffs operate equally on all foreign goods, and not merely on British goods. But the present Treaty has in a protocol gone a step beyond any commercial treaty negotiated up to the present, in that it makes. provision for further negotiation between the two Governments if any tariff policy does have the effect of discriminating against the goods of one of the parties. Altogether we congratulate both sides on a businesslike arrangement. This country has again shown that she is the first to realize that Germany was not eliminated by the War, and that sooner or . later we must resume relations with her on a basis of equality. What is more, the Treaty is a clear recognition of the facts of international trade. Its makers seem to -have realized that the prosperity of both countries will 'best be served by an increase in the total number of exchanges between their peoples, not by feverish attempts by either party to grab more than its own share of the trade. We congratulate the Unionist Government on their first commercial act, which would have won the approval of Mr. Cobden himself. It was Cobden who set the great precedent for all these international arrange- ments by his great commercial treaty with Napoleon III.
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