TARIFF WARS.
The financial dislocation caused by these enormous international payments has been greatly aggravated by the war of tariffs which has been increasingly waged since the termination of actual hostilities in the field. It is entirely apart from all questions of fiscal controversy to say that in this matter Great Britain has been particularly handicapped at every turn because, while she has taken the lead in fulfilling all her contractual obligations, including the preservation of the full value of the pound sterling, and has been indulgent to her debtors, she has had to stand up not only against non-fulfilment of contracts by various debtors but against such factors as the wiping out of the old German mark and the de-valuation of the French franc, while finally, so far from the lead she has given in the matter of free trade being accepted and followed by other countries, tariff walls have been heaped up- by these foreign countries, and most notable of all by the country (the United States) which should have done everything possible to facilitate foreign debtors discharg- ing their obligations through the export of goods and services.
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