Who is responsible for a failure to discover the existence
of the important Commercial Treaty between Spain and Germany, by which the goods of the latter are admitted at rates thirty or fifty
per oent lower than those paid by Englishgooda? The Brad- ford merchants are, we observe, very properly a little wroth with the Foreign Office for not warning them of the existence of a Treaty which, though it came into operation only in the begin- ning of this month, dates some years back. Sir John Walsham, who has represented England at Madrid since Mr. Layard left, has protested against the unfair treatment of English goods ; but what can we do ? We cannot with any grace claim, under our old Treaties with Spain, containing a " most-favoured-nation clause," the same rates as Germany, when the Howie of Commons in 1845, at Mr. Gladstone's bidding, deliberately refused to put upon that clause the construction which then suited the interests of Spanish sugar-growers, and would now suit the interests of English woollen manufacturers. We cannot hope to convince the Spanish Government of the folly of high duties on English yarns, fur the Finance Minister and the Cortes are Protectionist. The refusal to recognise in any way the new tariff at Gibraltar would lead to some unpleasant collisions, and unless Sir Stafford Northcote thinks it worth his while—which is improbable—to revise the wine duties in the way the Spanish dealers have long wanted, Sir John Walsham is likely to protest to no purpose.
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