BERLIN'S DIFFICULTIES 29

standard <e too much anxiety used to be shown when
the gold export point was reached/' and that" it was
also feared that to export gold would incur the wrath
of the Reichsbank."

With these disadvantages to struggle against,
quoted from the mouth of a German observer,
Germany has also succeeded by her ruthless policy
during the war in earning the deep hostility of the
greater part of mankind. Sentiment probably enters
into business relations a good deal more than most
business men admit, and for any country to set out
to gain the leadership in trade and finance by out-
raging the feelings of most of its possible customers
is an extraordinary piece of stupidity.

It seems, then, that apart from the relative
weakening of London as compared with New York,
there is very little need for us to fear any serious
change in England's financial position after the war
as long as the Government's faulty finance is not
allowed too seriously to endanger the position of our
gold standard. It is true that we shall not benefit,
as much as we undoubtedly have in the past, from
the " help of Germans " in developing our finance.
But indirectly the Germans will still be helping us
by the great stimulus that the war will have given
us towards efficiency and hard work.

What we have to do in order to secure London's
position after the war is to restore as soon as we can
the system that had established it in the century
before the war, We have to show the world that,
far from any intention to abandon Free Trade, we
mean to take a long step forward along the line of