The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-21 00:00:00

she will benefit by the lesson which she is J3v
taught. Not that Austria has been without warp'
ings and examples sufficient, one would have
thought, to have convinced her that her system no'
commercial policy was radically bad. Years hag„o
she allowed Prussia to strike the first of tu%
blows which eventually occasioned her exclusion
from the Confederation when she refused to be,,,,
member of the Zollverein. One by one the
various German States recognised the soundness ui
the advice given them by Prussia, and made an
accepted those mutual concessions which were re
to
Pr
quired from those who joined the customs nnlo
But Austria persistently stood aloof. She saw, l
she could not help seeing, the commercial advantages
which resulted to those States which joined the ne::
league, but she refused to believe that by adopting ;
similar course she would share in them herself.o
was it any success which attended her protectn,
policy that could have rendered her thus obdurati..
In all Europe there was not to be found a Stela
whose finances were in a worse condition, wil°s
trade was at a lower ebb, or whose credit was be'd
in less estimation on the Exchanges of Europe. Year
after year Austria added largely to her debts, with-
out either developing her industrial resources or
bettering her position. Making every other eonsiii
deration subsidiary to the object of holding, at 3A
hazards, dominions which were useless to her, an
sacrificing everything to the prosecution of a tern;
tonal grandeur which was a source of weakness, an
an
not of strength, Austria continued to maintain,:
struggle which exhausted her treasury without afferuf
ing the slightest prospect of creating the germs °
future greatness. The long-continued and disheart"
ening struggle is now at an end, and it is net t°.°A
much to know.that the willingness which she seemb,"
to evince during the past two or three years to re-
trieve her past errors will be shown now in a et..t
more marked manner, and that one of her first
steps towards reformation will be a spontaneous
entrance into that great league which already nut°.
bers amongst its members almost every civilised State'
Austria is almost the only Continental State
whose industrial resources may be said never yet to
have had fair-play. Without possessing in an elcl
traordinary degree the elements of great natural
wealth, it may be said that she is at all events
endowed with the means of providing in the west
ample manner for her own necessities. All that
she needs is to direct her expenditure into different
:
channels, and to open her markets to the rest e;
the world. The jealousy which so long subsist
between her and Italy is now at an end, and w".
may expect to see the speedy restoration of th 0.6,.:
commercial relations between the two country
which were brought to an abrupt termination ,e
short time since. Austria and Italy respectively
produce commodities of which the other has neet:,
all
Italy can give to Austria her wine and timber, 011
and fruits, in exchange for manufactures, and
:3
that is necessary to facilitate the exchange is til
removal of the restrictions by which such a bartft,
e
is at present rendered almost impossible. On
part of Italy it is needless to say no unwillingn'
will be manifested to adopt a policy which has been
left her as an heirloom by one of her greatest states-
men. Cavour was one of the first to recognise tb'be
merits of a free trade policy, and, to his credit
it spoken, he left no opportunity untried of securil
for his country the benefits which he knew would
flow from its adoption. Antipathy to a Govern"
ment or to a State did not prevent him seeking °
form commercial alliances. In this respect his con-
duct was notably different from that of the states"
men who have always ruled in the councils
L°.
Vienna. However, it is of the future and not a -
past that we desire to speak. Austria, we believei
has a prosperous future before her if she will bu
abandon the selfish and suicidal commercial polio/
which she has so long pursued.