A telegram from Washington, U.S.A., on January 17th, 1916, to the _Morning Post_, set out the exports permitted to be poured into neutral countries in spite of all the efforts and protests of our Navy by our all-too-benevolent Foreign Office, and in face of Mr. Asquith's pledges to the House of Commons in March and in November, 1915, when he emphasised to loud cheering that _he would stick at nothing to prevent commodities of any kind reaching or leaving Germany. That there was no form of economic pressure to which he did not consider we were entitled to win the war_.
WHEAT Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark 19,000,000 50,000,000 MAIZE Denmark 4,750,000 10,950,000 Holland 6,900,000 11,600,000 Other neutrals 2,100,000 6,400,000 ---------- ---------- 13,750,000 28,950,000 ========== ==========
Barrels. Barrels. WHEAT Holland 708,000 1,500,000 FLOUR Other neutrals 709,000 3,800,000 1,417,000 5,100,000
lbs. lbs. BACON Holland 3,900,000 9,000,000 Other neutrals 27,000,000 82,500,000 ---------- ---------- 30,900,000 91,500,000 ========== ========== 1914 1915 BOOTS Neutrals 462,000 pairs 4,800,000 pairs COTTON Neutrals 53,000 bales 1,100,000 bales
MOTOR-} CARS &} Neutrals £260,000 £4,000,000 PARTS }
The New York _Journal of Commerce_, quoting statistics of the U.S.A. export trade for the first ten months of 1915 under a headline, "Increase to Neutral Europe Equals German Loss," shows that "whilst shipments to Germany fell away £31,400,000 for the period named, the gain to the neutral nations on the north of Germany was £32,000,000."
On January 24th, 1916, the _Morning Post_ received a further cablegram from Washington, U.S.A., containing the elucidating facts that in the ten months from January 1st to October 31st, 1913, Germany imported from the U.S.A. 9,898,289 lbs. of cotton-seed oil, the Netherlands 31,867,327 lbs., and Norway 6,174,033 lbs.
In the corresponding ten months of 1915 the figures were: Germany, nil; the Netherlands, 93,153,175 lbs.; and Norway 24,110,269 lbs.
Other statistics follow, such as cotton-seed, meal and cake, etc., proving beyond all shadow of doubt that neutral countries were importing far more goods and foodstuffs, etc, than their usual average imports plus the total previous imports of Germany in addition.