Exports to Germany On Tuesday the President of the Board
of Trade told an approving House of Commons that he proposed to take powers immediately to ensure that any ships which British owners wished to sell abroad should first be offered to the Government. Since Mr. Stanley has, rightly, taken this decision, there is some apparent inconsistency in his replies to further questions as to whether he would prevent the export to Germany of material apparently designed for war purposes. His answer was in the negative, the reason being that to interrupt trade relations would make war inevitable, that many materials were equally in demand for war and peace purposes, and that to withhold them would amount to an " encirclement " of Germany. Ships are no doubt a special case, for the motive there is not so much to keep them out of Germany's hands as to keep them in our own for our own potential war-time needs. And anything like a general refusal to export to. Germany could hardly fail to precipitate war. But to reserve to the British Government the right of pre-emption in the case of various key-materials would be both justifiable and wise.
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