New-York tribune., 1903-06-14

dian products in retaliation for the higher duties
Canada has made the German exporter pay
when compared with the British exporter. And
this for more than and for obvious reasons.
Inasmuch as Mr. Chamberlain's British
tarin scheme is IN q measure involved in this
trln quarrel between Canada and this empire.
ana lnaSmuch as Germany is very much con-
cerned ia this Chamberlain scheme itself, il may
not be af1Iss TO trace the situation as 1t strikes
here.
1t may be remembered that England, on July
50, -S3l (as one Of the outcomes OF the British
Colonial Congress at the Queens jubilee, and of
the pourparlers had at that time in London be-
tween Colonial Secretary Chamberlain and the
of Canada. gave notice of terminating her COM
mercial treaty of 1860 with Germany SAID
treaty covering also Canada a year later,
July 30 1898 the treaty actually expired. with
out having been renewed or replaced by another
one. Since then as modus ViVendj the terms
ot the old treaty have been allowed to subsist
until another measure shall have proved mutu-
ally satisfactory. One of Chamberlain's objects
IN this-f not perhaps, the principal one-was
10 enable the British colonies, particularly Can
ada, to give henceforth better tariff terms to
British products than to those of other
tries, notably Germany, France and Italy Can
cent of her tariff duties on all British products.
Germany, under the of the still practically
existing treaty, insisted a like reduction.
Canada made answer that this tariff remission
matter between her and England was family
affair, A thing concerning not foreign nations,
but only the mother country and its colony Ger
many olnered from this view. pointing out that
this. Interpretation cOntravened the terms of
treaty. Canada has. however, persisted in her
view and has continued TO make German prod
ucts imported in CT NADIA pay :i l., per cent
more duty than British ones. Germany threat
ened retaliation and theoretically / said. the
war is on on both sides; but in practice Ger
many has so far refrained from retaliating- This
may possibly be due to two facts The German
exports TO Canada are much larger than the
Can dian exports to Germany In 1902 the en-
pre- sent S10,920O0o worth to Canada, against
Canadas S1,3oU,Nho. Approximately, or relative
~ this has been all along the balance of trade
In favor of Germany. Besides which. the Ger
man Government appreciates the fact that her
trade with Canada has been constantly growing,
ana that IT Is likely to grow still more rapidly.
Notwithstanding the tariff entente between
canada and the mother country Again, Canada
threatens to apply punitive tariff rate to Ger
Tnany's products If the empire should really dis
crlrIllnate against her Thus matters rest for
the time.
Germany is. OF course. very much interested
in the ideas. speeches and seni-programmes rel
ative 10 abandonment of Englands time
honored free trade policy and the substitution
therefor Of a policy favoring 4 closer and more
mutually profitable commercial intercourse be
tween the mother country and her colonies,
which Mr.. Chamberlain has developed for some
time and with which he appears before
the public in apparently serious mood. England
has been for years Gernany's best customer,
Germany has been Engiand's. exports and i'm
ports between the two countries just about
balancing all along. and amounting since 1888
to an average yearly S4oOOo0.0O0. Now. II is
no secret tnat there is scarcely any particular
affection between Joseph Chamberlain and the
German people Personally. believe that this
is largeIy-indeed, almost wholly-due to mis-
apprehension and a lack Of understanding
both sides His case is in small way the
existing between the English and the Ger
man people. But, however that may be, Mr.
Chamberlain in some of his more recent utter
ances tried TO make his novel tariff scheme
more palatable TO the British public by insinu-
ating in rather sly way that one OF its incl
dental effects would be to hit hard Germany
Tariff matters. however. and especially plans
~ such gigantic and far reaching scope as this
one of Mr.. Chamberlains unquestiOnaby is
must not be approached with the heart. but with
the head alone They deal with stubborn, cold
facts, telling on the pockets of d nation, not
their sentiments. It is not TO be seriously sup
posed that a statesman of such original and
sbrevd mind as Mr. Chamberlain will forget
this axiom. that the British people will for
get it. And what are these cold and undeniahle
facts in the matter?
They show that in 1901 England imported
from foreign countries f417, 7,615,o00 worth of
commodities, l. p, so per cent of her total inn
ports Of the remaining 20 per cent Z fall TO the
share of British India, and less than i per cent
TO Australia, Canada and South Africa COM
bined. The figures for British export are cor
responding 63iz per cent go TO foreign countries,
IA per cent 10 India, and 1872 per cent TO Aus
tralia, Canada and South Africa British India,
however. must be eliminated from this account
far the present purpose goes, as that en-
pire is committed TO q policy of free trade. Pref
erential tariffs could then be established-if the
he adnn+e5 nv the British vatio7l~onlv for coun-
tries taking 1S1 per cent of English exports
and sending l. per cent of English imports
That is the matter in 4 nutshell Here in Ger
many nobody seriously thinks that such policy
will become the dominant one in England, as It
would mean jeopardiZing the whole fabric on
Which British prosperity has been bu1lt ana on
which it now rests, for the sake of possibly I'M
proving, enlarging strengthening one OF It's
side walls upper stories. The German Gov
ernrnent is certainly not counting on seeing TINS
Chamberia idea become reality in the near
future The only strength there seems TO be in
this chiInera its imperialistic side issues.
Lord Beaconsfield first demonstrated that per-
sonaly profitable game can be INDUCED in for
years by adroitly Juggling with this vague con
ception Of imperialism. Maybe the game VIII
prove a second time entertaining but here
sober Judges Of the temper of the English people
of to-day doubt it
highly significant event is the closer con
solidation Of the Evangelical Church in Ger
many Just effected The different branches of
Professionalism from the uncompromisngiy
orthodox Lutheranism in the South and in Ger
tain parts of Northwestern Germany, TO the
more liberal and progressive wings of which
Professor Harnack is the best known mouth
piece have at last effected sort of central or
ganiZation, whose seat is TO be In Berlin, allG
whose main object is TO he. in a general way,
the common defensive and offensive in such
cases where the interests of German Protestant
ism as a whole seem involved. well as joint
and harmonious representation Of the whole body
toward foreign countries or organiza tlons- Ihere
were made previous efforts TO bring about such
a consolidation, but they had always falled, de-
sirs ble though it was admitted in principle such
a step would prove. 1t seems that the bolder
attitude of the Catholic Church in Germany. po-
li+irallv and socially. has at last removed all
scrllples in various quarters. especially too,
the jealousies felt by the South German evan
gelical districts.
In a certain sense It is as significant that the
movement for either greater moderation in or
total abstentfon from alcoholic beverages, q
movement which for many years had been go
impetus Not alone did the international Ienl-
nerance Congress. held in Bremen a few weeks
ago show that the German mind is now ripe for
considering this movement in a more serious
light than formerly but the gradual and steady
increase in the number of total abstalners, the
formation of clubs societies furthering the