Part 34 (1/2)

Sir Samuel Evans: How many herrings in 50,000 tons?

The Attorney-General: My a.s.sistants and confederates inform me that there are about 450,000,000 herrings. It is a conservative estimate.

These are official figures published by the Netherlands Statistical Department on May 20th, 1916; such great a.s.sistance rendered to Germany is more serious owing to the fact that Germany's gain has been our loss.

FOODSTUFFS SENT FROM HOLLAND, IN TONS.

(Covering the months January to April.)

EGGS-- 1914. 1916.

To Germany 3,101 11,825 To Britain 2,733 557

FISH-- To Germany 21,337 29,378 To Belgium -- --

MEAT-- To Germany 4,156 30,621 To Britain 25,460 555

POTATO FLOUR and its products-- To Germany 13,991 43,861 To Britain 8,831 5,520

COFFEE-- To Germany 17,429 39,684

COCOA POWDER-- To Germany 598 3,302 To Britain 2,155 1,437

b.u.t.tER-- To Germany 4,010 10,237 To Britain 1,387 33

CHEESE-- To Germany 4,120 25,437 To Britain 5,624 407

One has only to cast the eye down these figures to see what Holland means as a depot for Germany's food.

During the first four months of 1916 Holland had imported by consent of Great Britain 432,702 tons of cereals. No less than 283,792 tons were re-exported from Holland and consequently did not go into home consumption there; 272,630 tons of this went over into Belgium. It is important, also, to note that of the cereals imported 102,722 tons of maize were included in the total. Most of this maize was used for fattening pigs, which were eventually slaughtered and sent to Germany.

This abundance of pig food allowed by us to be consumed by the Dutch pigs in fact enabled the Dutch to fatten the immense supply which they sent over to Germany. The meat figures given above must be read in the light of this fact.

The more we sent into Holland for her home supply, the more she could release of her home-grown products to the enemy. As between Holland, Germany and ourselves, we lost tremendously. Germany and Holland were of immense a.s.sistance to each other, at our expense.

A weekly circular of the London Rice Brokers' a.s.sociation shows the following striking contrasts in exports from London:

EXPORTS OF RICE FROM LONDON.

January 1st to May 27th, 1915. Same period, 1916.

Cwt. Cwt.

To Holland 247,869 905,078 (say 45,000 tons) To France 22,607 430

Thus the export to Holland had greatly increased and the supply to France had dwindled almost out of existence. During the single week ended May 27th, 1916, 224,252 cwt. (say 11,212 tons) were s.h.i.+pped to Holland from London.

On June 2nd, 1916, the London Press wailed over the enormous supplies of grain entering Germany through Roumania, which she was enabled to purchase by exchanging goods made from the raw material permitted so kindly by England to leak through the blockade.

In April one consignment of 1,500,000 eggs pa.s.sed from Holland to Germany in two days only. Indeed, so vast was the drain of Germany upon Holland that the Dutch people complained in June that they were being stinted of their proper food supply. Norway continued to supply nickel, fish, copper, fish oils, and many other things, although England at last awoke in the spring of 1916 to the advisability of purchasing part of the Norwegian fish harvests. In this deal, however, her lawyer Government had not the sense to consult the best export fish merchants, who are essentially business men. She went to work in the usual amateurish way, which spelt reckless waste and extravagance; paying 5 to 7 per package for what could have been previously arranged for at about 10s. or less.