Economic Factors in the Peace Settlement

ONE important result of war has been protest against restrictions on trade. This statement does not refer to war control, but to increasing number of obstructions to flow of international commerce in years before 1914. What freedom means has never been clearly stated in these protests, and connotations are not understood. The opposition to restrictions is largely a product of revelations of German methods of economic penetration, and of fear of her growing industrial strength due to her trade practices, and to combination and concentration of her industries which threatened her rivals with destructive competition. The establishment of more equitable conditions of trade is urged both by those who see in restrictions a potent cause of future international strife, and by those who advocate policy of freer trade as a condition for greatest development of world commerce and industry. The former idea has received strongest emphasis during war period. To quote from one of President Wilson's fourteen points,-what is desired is the removal, as far as possible, of all economic barriers and establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all nations consenting to peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.' Elsewhere, President Wilson expressed a similar idea: Responsible statesmen must now everywhere see, if they never saw before, that no peace can rest securely upon political or economic restrictions meant to benefit some nations and to cripple or embarrass others, upon vindictive action of any sort or any kind of revenge or deliberate injury. In spite of protestations and notwithstanding sincere longings for better trade relations actual policy nations will follow in immediate future bids fair not to be freer, but more restrictive. This plan is adopted with relatively little thought of its effect on other nations, or of long run results on

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