TRADE IN BELGIUM AND HOLLAND.
GOODS exported into Belgium must now be accompanied by cer- tificates of ori,,e-in ; otherwise they are charged an extra duty. The object of this exaction is to allow the customhouse to control the exports from Belgium to Holland, and to prevent other na- tions from sharing the advantages granted by the Dutch in the recent treaty to Belgian manufactures. As usually happens when diplomatic cleverness has made a grand hit, nobody seems to have inquired whether the national and individual interests that have
been favoured coincide or not—whether the Belgian merchant who imports foreign goods, and reexports them to Holland or to her colonies, does not reap agreater profit than the manu- facturer who produces them ? If this be the case, (and we have no doubt that it is so,) the advantage would be entirely on the Bel- gian side if they encouraged competition for their supplies. The Dutch colonial market is one of incalculable extent, because it is only by feeding it that we can discover how far its demands will go. A population of ten or fifteen millions can be raised at the willof the Dutch Ministerto equal terms on the stage of civilization with the most cultivated lands. The measures by means of which this result can be obtained are adapted to promote the shipping interest of the great Dutch cities ; which is the favourite hobby both of the people and of the Ministry. It is therefore not a mat- ter of indifference either to Holland or to neighbouring countries whether Belgium makes a Food use of the concessions accorded to her or not. If Belgium starve her mart by restrictive measures, the object of the Dutch, which must be to obtain the greatest amount in selling or bartering colonial produce, will not be attained.
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