Page:The New Protectionism.djvu/68

This page needs to be proofread.
44
THE NEW PROTECTIONISM

on the subject of the proposed boycott of Germany:


"Why did Russia buy so much merchandise in Germany? Because she was able to get it at a lower price or on more advantageous conditions than in England or in France. It is clear, then, that the cessation of commercial relations with Germany is equivalent for the Russian consumer to an increase of the cost of living and an aggravation of the position of Russian credit. Is impoverished Russia able to bear such a burden? There cannot be two answers to that question."


Such proposals are hardly likely to conduce to mutual good-will among the Allies, or the endurance of the Alliance after the immediate emergency of war has passed.

3. Nor would the trouble be confined to our Allies.

The establishment of a new complex tariff, to operate immediately peace was restored, would have a disastrous effect in retarding the recovery of our industry and commerce. At a time when, in any case, great un-

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.