Page:The New Protectionism.djvu/17

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
PREFACE
xiii

and other barriers are needed for "defence," and the notion that such "defence" can be successfully obtained by any of these methods. The assumption that German trade and finance are mainly and normally State instruments — departures from "sound commercial practice" — and that the Allies are called on not merely to defend themselves against this invasion and this domination, but also to secure the "independence" of the neutral markets, is a blend of naïveté and ignorance to which it is difficult to do full justice.

Though history lends little support to the conviction that war alliances are of so firm and durable a nature as to afford a reliable basis for far-sighted business arrangements, Free Trade has nothing but commendation for proposals for closer and more effective trade relations between allies, provided they are not intended, and do not in fact work out, as a policy of exclusion and hostility to other countries. Schemes for the improvement of transport, postal and other com-

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.