Evening star., 1935-02-17
Trade Compact Between
Ireland and Germany
BY A. G.. GARDINER.

BY A. G. GARDINER.
LONDON, February l6.-The trade
agreement arrived at between Ger
many and the Irish Free State illus
trates the difficulty which President
De Valera Is experiencing In finding
adequate substitutes for the declining
trade between Britain and the Free
State.
Germany has always been regarded
as the most hopeful direction in which
this new trade can be organized. 1t
was to Germany that the Free State
turned even under the Cosgrave
regime for the construction Of the
great Shannon electrical undertaking,
and imports from the Reich into the
Free State rose from f888, 1888 in 1925
to e. 2,276, 5l9 in 1884. But there has
been no response from Germany to
this very substantial overture. Ex-
ports from the Free State to Germany
have always been negligible and they
have shown no disposition to increase
asa result Of the practical advances
from Dublin.
Obviously this could not 60 on. The
finance Of business is not De Valera's
strong point, but so fragrant an ex-
ample of one country doing all the
buying and the other country doing
all the selling is too much for him.
There had to be some redress Of the
balance Of trade between the two
countries il that trade was to con-
tinue, and the new agreement is the
result of the negotiations between
Dublin and Berlin.
Instead Of the present ratio Of some
20 to l, it has been agreed that
ratio Of to ! shall be established for
1885 as between Irish Free State i'm
ports from Germany and Irish Free
State exports to that country. The
arrangements include provision for
the expectation Of cattle, eggs, butter,
wool, hides and skins and other prod
ucts to Germany. The agreement is
to be revised at the end Of the year
and will be continued from year to
year.
It is plain that this Is q part Of a
general change of policy to which De
Valera Is being driven by events. Since
the dispute with Great Britain began
the adverse trade balance of the
Irish Free State has increased at an
alarming rate. In the nine months
from January to September last it
amounted to fl5,699,970, compared
with fl0,75l, ,955 in the same period
Of 1891. the year preceding the dis
pute. Between the two periods ex-
ports have fallen from f26 ,592,l73 to
ELS, ,409, 1888, while imports have fallen
from f37,353,l2s to f29,1os.153.
It Is, Of course, the Irish farming
industry that has been most stricken.
The export Of agricultural produce
has fallen in value from f1S.712,7 ,731 to
f8.626,2l2, or considerably more than
half. Still more serious has been the
slump In live stock. This trade has
been almost obliterated, the compare
tive figures being fl2,537,949 and
f411, lao.
A catastrophe decline Of this sort
in the export trade cannot be bal
anced by an equivalent decline in i'm
ports without grave effects upon the
standard Of living. Hence the swell
ing volume Of the adverse balance.
The explanation is, Of course. the un-
happy quarrel between Britain and
the Free State. Broadly speaking.
Great Britain Gncluding Northern
Ireland) has been the only external
market for the Irish farmer in the
past. It Is still his only external mar
ket. This is shown by the figures for
1888. the last year for which we have
complete returns. In that year Irish
Free State exports were valued at
f19,650, 800, and Of this total Great
Britain and Northern Ireland took
over f18.500 900, leaving only f1 ,o00.-
900 for all the rest of the world.
The plain fact Is that this trade
| cannot be canalized in other direc-
| tions, especially at q time when all
| the continental countries are strug-
Cling to make themselves self-sufflc-
ing, particularly In the matter OF food
supplies. Germany cannot open its
market to Irish butter and bacon any
more than France can without COM
ing In conflict with the great agricul-
tural interest of her own people.
| Inc COrOllhTy VI IIc aBtcciicHt 10
to be found in another recent pact,
| that by which the Irish Free State
has undertaken to purchase the whole
of her imports of coal from Great
Britain. The quid pro quo is that for
| every pound which the Irish Free
State spends on British coal over and
above the present imports, Great
Britain will spend an equivalent
| amount on Irish cattle.
This is unwelcome news to the
Welsh farmers, who have profited by
the present impasse, but 1t Is well
coined by the general public as the
first hint of the breakdown of eco
nomic hostilities between two coun-
tries so economically dependent on
each other as Great Britain and Ire
| land. And the new agreement be-
/ tween the Irish Free State and Ger
many conveys the same meaning.
However grudging the approaches to
o compromise between England and
Ireland may be. they cannot be re-
sisted Economic facts must in the
end prevail over political bad tempers.
(Cepyrighs 19S6J