Switzerland to Adopt Protection It is significant and distressing to
note that Switzerland, according to her delegate at Geneva, intends to adopt Protection in self-defence, while Holland is increasing her revenue tariff to balance her Budget. On Saturday the German delegate protested very strongly against the Swiss proposal. One in every four Germans, he said, was out of work. Germany would suffer heavily from any changes in her neighbours' policy and " would defend herself to the last " against such changes. If Switzerland adopted a tariff, she might lose her German markets. The Swiss reply was that Germany last year imported goods worth £37,000,000 into Switzerland and bought less than half as much from her, and that Swiss industries must be preserved from such competition. France is alarmed at the prospect of a British tariff. Thus the trade depression and the fierce struggle for markets are building up new tariff walls in Europe just when there appeared to be a general reaction against such hindrances to trade. M. Briand's ideal Europe seems sadly remote from the reality.
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