REASSURING DETAILS OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE BLOCKADE
AUSTRIA AND GERMANY IN DESPERATE NEED OF SUPPLIES
(Roc. January 20, 8.10 p.m.) 1 nc y ° r blockade wereßiven'm aiHntei view by Lord Robert Cecil, Minister of Blockade, to tho Radio Agency, which will be published in tho Pans newspapers to-morrow and transmitted to London by the wireless Press correspondent. Lord Cecil emphasised tho basis whereon the blockade rests—the Allies' maritime supremacy. Without this supremacy it would have, been impossible to cut off Austro-German supplies, of which thero was overy indication- that both wero in such desperate need. It would also havo been impossiblo for tho Allies to satisfy their own wants and carry on tho oversea, operations which tuey wore conducting m all parts of tho world So far as tho blockade was concerned, tho operations were chinllv entrusted, for geographical reasons, to tho British Navy, but it had been proud to havo associated with it ; many units of the Trench fleet, which had perforated most valuable and gallant services in the common cause. Wo wore- undoubtedly entitled to use our sea-power to out off tho enemy's supplies. The Germans had endeavoured to cut off all supplies to Britain, and iSSn i• j i I,ecosear y P° wer alone Prevents tibcm succeeding. Thcv had in 1870 kindred, power as fa/.- as Pans was concerned, and exercised it ruthlessly. Our methods were strictly in accordance with international law, and' were not disgraced by tho outrages committed m a ll to o ma ny instances bv our enemies' naval forces.
"Howdowe dealwitli neutrals'rights? We maintain that neutrals adjacent to Germany have nob been penalised as far as tlicir Teal homo requirements were concerned. We facilitato tho obtaining of goods necessary in this connection. The Allies are controlling many .sources of raw material, and tlioy aro clearly entitled to impose conditions More- parting with the goods controlled." They wore prepared to supply them if neutrals would agree to limit their demands to their own needs, and not .become the basis of supply for the enemy, The effect of this policy was to 1 )0 seen in the accounts appearing daily with added force in the newspapers gathered from enemy and neutral sources, who were testifying to Germany's steadily increasing want. The blockade was not a failure, wh o n the enemy was commandeering nil available domestic supplies of copper, introducing substitutes of dubious value for rubber, and issuing tickets for food and clothing. The ration of every German was supposed to include half a pound l of meat weekly, a few thimblcfuls of butter, and an egg fortnightly, and this was frequently not forthcoming. The bread was bad and scarce, tlio potato crop had largely failed, and the hopes tho Gonnaus founded thereon hu V o heen largely disappointed. The position in Germany appears to bo very grave, and there was every reason to believe that tlio condition of her allies w as even worse.
".Regarding tho question of whether n, u undue amount of materials had been allowed to reach tho countries adjacent to Germany in 1916, thus assisting her powers of resistance, I gave th 0 total imports of commodities into Scandinavia and Holland for the first nine months compared with the normal pre-war imports for home requirements jn tho threo years preceding the war of com and flour. Of corn, fodder, and o il cake, tho pre-war importation totalled 6,170,000 tons, that for homo consumption 3,250,000 tons. Total imports in 1916, 3,000,000 ton.s. Tho last respective figures of copper were 100,000 tons, 24.000 tons, and 22.000 tons janimal and vegetable oils and fat, 440,000 tons, 256,000 tons, and 250,000 toils." These examples were typical i f other commodities, and their value wont to show the efficiency of the blockade, which was proving, apart from tho inevitable cases of smuggling, that the enemy had been pi-evented from obtaining supplies from overseas. The question of tho disposal of home-grown produce in countries bordering on Germany was more difficult. Tho prices in Gormany wore high and the difficulties of transport to tho Allies' countries were not small Naturally whoro tho produce mentioned was dependent on the raw materials or facilities offered by the Allies, tlio latter take advantage of tho fact. Stops, moreover, have been taken to make laTgo purchases in these countries, and every effort was being made to ensuro that neutrals adjacent to Germany should treat Germany with strict impartiality. Some of them at one time were inclined to bo tempted by the large prices offered into becoming the bases of supplies for our enemies, but this nns been stopped altogether, so far as overseas good were concerned, and respect for the home-grown produce position had boon much improved.—Aus.-N.Z. Cablo Assn.
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2983, 22 January 1917, Page 5
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789REASSURING DETAILS OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE BLOCKADE Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2983, 22 January 1917, Page 5
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