The Dominion. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1917. NEUTRALS AND THE BLOCKADE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3181, 4 September 1917, Page 6

The Dominion. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1917. NEUTRALS AND THE BLOCKADE

Several of the neutral neighbours of Germany have in recent weeks bce.a. raising a violent outcry against tile enforcemerit of the United States .'Embargo, law—a .measure which is intended to prevent American produce being ma,'do available, directly or/indirectly/to the Centrifl Empires,-' Special missions sent to Washington from Holland, Sweden, Switzerland,. and other countries concerned have laboured to establish a ease of grievous hardship.' Their general lino of argument has been that the countries they represent, instead of developing a -profitable trade with Germany to_ its maximum limits, aro attempting as best they can and under extreme difficulties to. provide for. their own needsi/and that an reduction in the volume,of their imports from the United- States will_ subject them to famine and other dire mis- £ or tunes. Food riots which have occurred recently in Holland and other neutral countries may seem to support these contentions,_ but. they rest in part 1 upon an entirely fictitious foundation. The investigations of the American Government have brought to light conclusive evidence that neutral countries are, or were until _ recently, pouring enormous supplies of food and material into Germany, and that imports from the United States have enabled them to expand this trade far beyond what would otherwise have been its practicable .Greed of gain has so completely dominated tho trade' policy of some neutrals —Holland seems to be tho worst I offender—that they have exported to Germany vast quantities of food which should have been retained to I feed their own ..people: and so have deliberately created the conditions of scarcity which they now make the subject of complaint and appeal. It is established/ also, , that neutrals have been guilty of' gross misrepresentations and flagrant manipulations of figures to justify their commerce with Germany. In regard to exports of food, tho facts are epitomised in the following statement issued by the Government in justification of its restrictions on exports to neutrals: In order to illustrate tho operations of the exportation of foodstufls from Holland and Scandinavia into Gmmrg the following.figures are Presented. -These figures, it Vnust bo distinctly stated, illustrate the minimum of these amounts ol foodstuffs'* which are " known from roliablo sources to have""-been .imported by Germany from Holland' atid ScaiKlimivja during 1918. Exactly what other amounts wero imported is .matter' of conjectuio, but certainly oomc m< f ra Z M -''fXwinß possibly much more! .The tollowinß figures reprosent tho clnef articles m metric tons: ' Butter 83,000 Cheese <o,oflo Meat 115,000 Eggs 40,4f10 p or k Meal 1(9,S00 products 68,500 Coffee 58,500 Condensed Emit 74,000 milk 70,000 Sugar 12,000 - pigh 407,000 Vegotables 215,000 When tiiese substances are calculated for their food values and applied to the entiro population, wo learn that they contain for each individual 111 tho German Empire 120 calories per day. It is iv lats particularly that 'the figures aro 1111 sive, more especially when it is recalled that fat is tile scarcest food in Germany. Eat is most highly prized indeed. It is the only food the lack.of which was seriously apparent in the < iec or tho Gorman people, lhei importations abovo stateil contain a little over oiib. of fat per poreon per yeur, corresponding to about a quarter of an ouneo per day. which is almost a quarter of tho daily supply of fat available to each German at the presont time. This amount is enual to tho fat in the rations of 7 700,000 soldiers, practically the ontno a'riuv of .eftectivcs in Germany... l'rora the standpoint of. wilones these foodstuffs are equal to tho total rations ot the entire German Army in actual seivice on tho "Western front. More detailed facts relating to exports from Holland to Germany servo to emphasise the unscrupulous fashion in which the Dutch Government has conspired with commercial profiteers to feed the euemy, oven at the cost of inflicting serious hardships on its own people, l'or instance, Holland produces far moro potatoes than are required for home consumption. "Yet in tho spring of last year antl again this year there was a dearth of potatoes on her homo raarkctr-.il/ bfcalo of iifrans

which led on tho later occasion to serious rioting. Somo attempts were made to shour that the shortage resulted from excessive demands made by Great Ifritain under a trading agreement. Tho truth is that Holland violated an agreement to divide her exportable surplus of potatoes evenly between Great Britain and Germany. She sent to Germany not only much more than half her surplus/- but also great quantities of potatoes which should have been retained to feod her own population. While other countries aro increasing their cultivated acreage, the area of pasturage increased in Holland from 1913 to 1915 by about GOCO acres. This, as was recently pointed out by tho London editor of tho Amsterdam Telagraaf (Me. J. C. Van Dee Veee), served to roar more cattle for exporting meat and dairy produce to Germany, whereas tho interests of the Dutch pooplo demanded that moro wheat should be raised for home consumption. According to the same authority Germany received during the first quarter of this year 20,028 metric tons of ;meat, fish, and dairy produce from Holland, and Great Britain 13,660 tons. "Wo are still," be adds, "feeding the protector of tho world's freedom less than its aggressor. But Germany offers the highest prices, which'is all some of our people seem to care for. Their legal right to sell their produce to the highest bidder cannot bo disputed. But just as indisputablo is the right of the Allies and tho United States to prevent any neutral 'feeding their enemy." While neutrals havo_ done their "best to defeat the Allied blockade of Germany where foodstuffs are concerned they have also done_ a great deal to relievo her necessities in tho matter of materials for munitions. ■ An American official report issued in July revealed the fact that enormous quantities of materials for the manufacture, of munitions were beirig shipped to Germany from Sweden. As it was summarised in a- Renter message, the report stated that Sweden lias supplemented her shipments of iron oro by means of imports from the TJnitocl States. Sho has exported to Germany 2,000,000 tons of oro during tho last two years in addition to large quantities of fcrro-silicon, manganese, copper, zinc, siilpliur, and' other ores. The official report also declares that Sweden has shipped to tho Central Empires 200,000 tons of wood-pulp for cellulose, which is used instead of cotton in the manufacture, of high explosives i that sho has discriminated against tho Allies in tho use : of her railroads, and; that she is holding within her porta a largo amount of shipping. The Teport also indicates- how tho United States can forco Sweden's tonnage on tho world trade-routes by tho control'of coal for bunkering. Examples of'the part.that neutrals havo played in feeding tho_ enemy, and' defeating the Allied blockade might be multiplied, .but those that have been given may suffice. The evidence in hand makes it clear that the British, blockade of Germany, before America entered tho war, was to a serious extent counteracted by.tho action of neutral countries pursuing ' commercial profit. In spite'of this-disability, the Allies havo already done a great deal to limit the flow of supplies into Germany, but American co-op-eration makes a far' moro effective blockade possible. The view taken "in the United States is that" while Germany is not actually starving she is suffering from privations,\yid is only saved from starvation by the food which has reached 'her from America through neutral agencies; In co-operating with tho Allies to bring the'war to an end America does not intend to commit the folly of sacrificing men and money with one hand and with the otlior giving strength to Germany.