Page:Bearing and Importance of Commercial Treaties in the Twentieth Century, 1906.djvu/16

 development of our trade. If negotiations should be opened up for this purpose under the Liberal Administration, it will be well to keep in mind that the tarii is not the only matter which requires to be placed on a more satisfactory footing.

Sometimes reference is made to a difficulty in connection with negotiations with France, viz.: that she has bound herself under Article 11 of the Treaty of May 10th, 1871, commonly known as the Treaty of Frankfort, to grant Germany the most-favoured-nation treatment in perpetuity. This was thought to be a great achievement on the part of M. Pouyer-Quertier, the great French protectionist, who never dreamt the day would come when it might clog the footsteps of his own country.

With Germany, as with France, we have depended since 1897, when the old Treaty of May, 30th, 1867, was denounced, on a revocable enactment, granting us the benefit of the most-favoured-nation treatment.

For two years back the German Government has been ready to enter into negotiations with this country for the conclusion of a new treaty. When I was in Berlin in February of last year I had opportunities of discussing Anglo-German commercial relations with many leading members of the Handelstag, as well as with the competent official authorities, and I found the ground was ripe for negotiations. Even if the work of getting a treaty with Germany involved the exchange of notes and memoranda on the scale of the 3,700 exchanged during the two and a half years of negotiation between Berlin and the capitals of the seven Powers with whom she has just signed treaties, the mere fact of meeting with the object of trying to remove the difficulties, which stand in the way of developing trade with each other, can do nothing but good, especially as we have no blunderbuss arguments to put forward and both sides would be forced to view the question in the