On the whole these agreements have strengthened rather than weakened
Mr. Runciman's position. As he himself has handsomely acknowledged, the spade work has been largely done by Major Colville and Dr. Burgin, the latter of whom happens to be , an exceptionally proficient linguist. But it creates a great impression when a President of the Board of Trade can come down to the House of Commons and rattle off a long list of agreements. Moreover, when and if these agreements are studied they will be found to be very far from sacri- ficing British interests. Though only the German agree- ment has yet been 'discussed, and is of an exceptional character in that its chief virtue is the preservation of a dying export trade in coal, the rest are believed to be very similar to each other and to preserve the power to regulate the volume of imports.
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