LITERARY ACTIVITY. 371 



that German manufactures were everywhere wrong- 

 fully characterized as inferior cheap wares. 



I have had occasion before to refer to this, and 

 in particular have characterized as unpatriotic and 

 despicable the suicidal practice of bringing the better 

 German manufactures to market as English, French, 

 or even American. It is difficult to decide whether 

 the blame rests mainly with the German public or 

 the German manufacturers, in any case it is the out- 

 come of a reciprocal action between the prejudice of 

 the former and the short-sightedness of the latter, who 

 have only their momentary advantage in view. Since 

 the establishment of the new German Empire and the 

 national advance connected with it there has un- 

 doubtedly been an improvement in this respect, but 

 the eradication of the evil is still far from complete. 

 Our manufacturers still too much lack the pride to 

 supply only good articles, and our public the per- 

 ception that such commodities even at a higher price 

 are the cheapest. Only from the reciprocal action of 

 both is the national pride in the products of one's 

 own industry developed, which affords the best pro- 

 tection for the latter. How strongly the feeling of 

 the superiority of native to all foreign products is 

 developed in England was vividly brought home to 

 me, when I was once watching, with brother William, 

 the unloading of a vessel, which for the first time 

 brought ice to London from a Norwegian port. The 

 ice was deposited in handsome cubical blocks on 



the landing place, and was regarded with manifest 



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