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 later profound political changes. Whether these changes will be to the advantage of Russia, of Austria-Hungary as now existing, or of a 'Greater Germany,' we cannot tell. The alteration may occur, for all commercial purposes, without any formal alteration in the present lines of the map, by an extension of the German Zollverein principle to the Austrian Empire, the Balkan Peninsula, and Asia Minor. This is not merely a Pan-German dream entertained exclusively by Imperialist politicians. Even the Socialist deputies to the Reichstag would be as much in favour of it as are the German capitalists and professors—a fact which will be fully grasped by readers of the remarkable article contributed by the well-known economic writer, Herr Richard Calwer, to a recent number of the Sozialistische Monatshefte.

Morocco is included in the group of markets we are now discussing, and though the open door may be nominally secured there for a period, we concede to France in that country (and for undoubtedly good reasons) a position equal to that which we occupy in Egypt. France will either obtain the 'concessions'—that is, the trade—by enforcing the joint treaty, or Germany will obtain them by thwarting it. In any case, if we continue barely to hold our own throughout this region we shall be fortunate. We cannot expect extension or count upon security.

VII.

The New Far East.—Passing to the far more momentous issue of our commercial prospects in the Far East, we approach a problem of which the future is still veiled in a mist. No man living can pretend at the present moment to dogmatize upon it, but it is sufficiently certain that the results of the Asiatic renaissance—though for some period to come we may appear to reap our profit from it—cannot be permanently to the advantage of British trade. The rise of Japan in the Far East, regarded as a purely economic phenomenon, cannot be more favourable to our interests