Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1905-05-04
TREATY OF TRADE
GERMAN TARIFF AGREEMENT
ENDS IN 1906.
FORMAL NOTICE FROM BERLIN
New Treaties Negotiated with other
Countries Cause of the Action
Contention Raised that the Benefits
Are Not Now Reciprocal

BERLIN-The imperial government
preparatory to excluding the United
States from the privileges of the new
reciprocity treaties signed recently
with seven European states has for
mally notified the American govern
ment that the tariff agreement be-
tween Germany and the United States
Of July 10, 1900, will terminate March
/, 1906, the day the new treaties go
into effect, but that Germany stands
ready to negotiate a reciprocity treaty
with the United States.
This notification, made by Foreign
Secretary Won Richthoff March IA,
after the decision of the cabinet said
that the treaties concluded with Rus
STA, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Aus
tria-Hungary, Roumania and Servia
form new basis" so reads the text,
"for the commercial relations Of Ger
many, and the imperial government
holds itself prepared to enter into ne
gotiations for the conclusion of a new
commercial treaty with the United
States"
The German view as held at the
foreign Office and at the ministery of
the interior is that the United States
cannot reasonably expect to share in
special benefits given by Germany to
certain European states in exchange
for other specific tariff reductions.
Should the United States have the
same advantages without giving any
thing in return the treaty countries
could justly complain that they were
in effect Disseminated against because
from them certain things were exact
ed by bargain which were freely given
to the United States. But if the United
States desires to take up the general
tariff question and arrange recipro-
cal against the German government
will be very glad to do so. Otherwise
Germany's new general tariff, which
also goes into effect March 1, 1906,
will be applied to imports from the
United States.
The government in terminating the
present modus vivendi has done what
agrarians have steadily asked for since
the new commercial treaties were con-
cluded. Public opinion in Germany has
also been fully prepared for the gov
ernment's act by publications of the
Commercial Treaty association and
the Central European Industrial league
and articles in the principal financial
periodicals written by persons in affil-
| iation with the ministry of the inter
ior although the news is not yet pub
lished here.
Washington has not yet replied to
| Germany's proposal.
WASHINGTON-It is admitted at
the State department that pourpariers
have been in progress for the last
three months between the American
embassy at Berlin and the German
foreign Office respecting the effect up,
on the existing reciprocity agreement
America and Germany of the opera
ton of the new trade treaties conclud
ed between Germany on the one side
and Belgium, Italy Austria-Hungary
Roumania, Russia, Switzerland and
Servia on the other, but so far Am
bassador Tower has not notified the
department that the German govern
ment has decided to terminate the
existing agreement The effect of 6
formal declaration of that kind would
be very serious it is feared.