Sir Francis Oppenheimer, the 13ritish Consul-General at Frankfort, has written
a very interesting Report on the trade of his district, and the present commercial position of Germany in general. His remarks are summed up in the saying that "Protection breeds Protection." The fostering of the agrarian interest raised the cost of living and the rate of wages in °thee industries. Then the manufacturers clamoured for assistance, and "though German industry," says Sir Franeis Oppenheimer, "is certainly strong enough to-day to compete ettecessfully at home and in the world's market, it is not easy to conceive any total or rapid abolition of the Protective duties, which have become the basis of calculation in the vast vested manufacturing interests." Meantime "the price of the poor man's loaf is rising more rapidly than the rich man's," and the results of Protection are causing discontent among the industrial population, since "any increase in wages is swallowed up in the increased cost of living."
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