Omaha daily bee., 1898-02-04
GERMAN COMMERCIAL HOSTILITY.


The German agrarians have scored an
other success in inducing the govern
ment to prohibit the importation Of
American fresh fruit. The fruit trade
of the United States with Germany has
| been steadily growing, the value of the
exports last year, according to the latest
! figures of the bureau of statistics, be
ing between S1OOO,0O0 and S2,OOO,00O
and greater than to all the rest of
Europe outside Of the United Kingdom.
a large part of this trade has been in
green apples and it is chiefly against
| this fruit that the latest decree is aimed.
OF course the claim is set up that the
exclusion is ordered on sanitary grounds,
1t being asserted that California and
other vcrmin threaten fruit trees, but
there can be no doubt that this is mere
prctcXt, just as was the profeSSed
reason for excluding American meats.
In taking this action without previous
notice to the American ambassador and
summarily shutting out shipments of
American fruits that were about enter
ing the country, the German govern
ment distinctly manifested n spirit of
hostility to the commercial interests of
the United States which can hardly fail
to strengthen the sentiment here In favor
of retaliation.
There has been some talk of contem-
plated negotiations between Germany
and the United States looking to n reel
procity agreement but the latest blow
of the German government to our trade
with that empire does not indicate
desire to promote closer commercial re-
lations. There is no doubt that there
exists in Germany Il very general and
influential sentiment in favor of dis
eliminating against American products
in every practicable way. This is not
due solely to the differential duty in our
tariff on German sugar but also to the
fact that nearly all German industries
have been hurt by the American tariff.
There has been a great falling off in
the exports of German manufactures
to the United States since the Dingley
law went into effect, the decrease in
somc lines amounting to more than 30
per cent. This is in part explained by
the large exports in anticipation of the
new tariff, but the Germans have made
up their minds that for several years at
least they cannot have so large a share
Of the American market as they had
been having and this feeling strengthens
the aglarian demand for discrimination
against American products. The janu-
ary consular reports contain an extract
from Il German paper. sent by the
American consul at Chemnitz in which
1t is said that the universal opinion IA
vors retaliation. "The government must
ba given full power to put reprisals in
operation" declared this paper. We do
not believe this is the universal feeling
in Germany. but it is the feeling of the
class that evidently has the greatest in
fluence with the government and it is
to be expected that there will be
further concessions to this element.
1t is not probable that the protest of
the American ambassador against this
hostility will amount to anything. I'm
doubtedly the decree will stand. The
expressions at Washington favorable to
retaliatory measures will doubtless be
widely approved, but that is a matter
for very careful and serious conSidera-
ton. Obviously, however, this country
will have to make such concessions as
Germany wants or meet retaliation with
retaliation.