is probably also
true, and to about the same extent, of British goods destined for
Germany, and travelling _via_ Belgium or Holland, so that in comparing
imports and exports this factor may be neglected. The same cause of
error will probably be also present to the same extent in successive
years, so that we can ignore it when comparing one year with another.
Purely for comparative purposes then the annexed table, and the diagram
illustrating it, are sufficiently accurate, although the actual figures
for any one year by itself have, for the reasons given, little positive
value.

OUR TOTAL TRADE WITH GERMAN PORTS.

In Millions Sterling.

----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----
|1886|1887|1888|1889|1890|1891|1892|1893|1894|1895
----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----
Imports from Germany |21.4|24.6|26.7|27.1|26.1|27.0|25.7|26.4|26.9|27.0
Exports to Germany |26.4|27.2|27.4|31.3|30.5|29.9|29.6|28.0|29.2|32.7
----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----

These figures may be illustrated diagrammatically as follows:--

[Illustration]

A VERY SATISFACTORY TRADE.

These figures furnish a striking answer to the alarmists who can see in
Germany nothing but a vigorous and not too scrupulous rival. In every
year during the last ten years she has apparently bought more from us
than she has sold to us. It is quite true that all the things she has
bought from us were not produced or manufactured by us. A portion of her
purchases consists of foreign or colonial goods sent to London, or
Liverpool, or Hull, and there purchased for re-sale in Germany. But in
the same way some of the goods we buy from Germany certainly had their
origin in other countries, and have only passed through Germany on their
way to us; so that the fairest way of making a comparison is to take the
whole trade in each case. Moreover, this _entrepot_ trade of ours is not
in itself a thing to be sneezed at; it contributes a goodly fraction of
the wealth of the city of London. In order, however, to complete the
picture of our trade with Germany, the following table is appended,
distinguishing in each of the ten years under review the home produce
exported from the foreign and colonial goods re-exported. This table
shows that in purely British goods we are doing a very satisfactory
trade with Germany. Taking averages, we see that during the te