February-December 1916
Not long after the establishment of the Department of Inspection and Control it became apparent to members of the Commission that the part they had been forced to play under the new arrangement did not have the full approval of some of the officials of the Belgian organization. Document 53 and those that follow show what happened when Hoover suggested the possibility of turning over to the Belgians the responsibility that had been borne by the Americans.
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DOCUMENT NO. 53 Letter,
HOOVER TO PAGE, Suggesting that the time may have arrived for turning over to the C.N. all the functions of the C.R.B.
LONDON, 24 February 1916 DEAR MR. AMBASSADOR:
I have recently had several conferences with my American associates in regard to the general situation of Belgian relief work, and we have together reached the conclusion that the time has arrived when the Allied Governments should consider whether it is not possible for them to transfer to a Belgian organization the
guarantees and responsibilities which we have thus far carried and enable us to withdraw from the work without thereby entailing any hardship or suffering upon the Belgian civil population; the presence of the leading spirits in the Comité National in London seems to offer an appropriate moment for raising the question.
As you will remember, the Commission for Relief in Belgium was initiated in your office on October 4th, 1914, to meet a very critical emergency and supply food to the Belgian civil population. At that time the country was in a terribly disorganized and demoralized condition. The occupied territory was entirely deprived of the ordinary facilities for transportation, communication and travel, and the Belgians could not hope to effect an adequate organization for themselves. It was, therefore, essential that some neutral agency, possessed of liberty of movement and freedom from the severe measures imposed upon a conquered people should undertake the initial work and bring order out of the reigning chaos.
Thanks to the devoted services of a large corps of American volunteers and to our diplomatic representatives, we were able to build up an organization which has
grown steadily in efficiency, and have been able to meet the conditions imposed by the Allied Governments and carry out the guarantees which we have assumed from time to time.
Conditions of life in Belgium have materially improved since the beginning of our work, and the Belgians themselves now enjoy a larger liberty of movement than at any time since the war began, and as their freedom of movement has increased they have taken a larger share in the work and in the relations with the German
authorities. When the work began, it was, of course, utterly out of the question to expect the Belgians to create and perfect the necessary organization; now that it has been perfected---so far as seems possible under the abnormal conditions which exist---there would seem to be no inherent reason to prevent the Belgians from assuming entire control of the work and carrying it on. This would enable the members of the Commission to bring their activities to a close, with the assurance that the Belgian people, in whom they take so friendly an interest, would not suffer by the cessation of their labors, and it would at the same time leave us free,
individually and collectively, to turn our efforts in other directions where there is need for our activities and such abilities as we may possess.
I know that it is unnecessary for me to tell you that neither I nor my associates would for one moment consider the step I have proposed were it to involve the cessation of the work which has gone on so far. We have considered for some time, however, that the original and imperative need for our continued efforts no longer exists, and in August last I proposed to the Comité National an arrangement by which they could take over the entire work. Yielding to their urgent request at that time I consented to continue, but it now seems to me that an occasion has arisen when we may again broach the subject without fear of endangering the relief of the Belgian people.
I attach hereto, for your information, copy of the memorandum which was drawn up at the time by the Comité National.
The work of the Commission has consisted of two parts: (1) The purchase,
shipment, and distribution of food under conditions that ensure the carrying out of the guarantees given by the several belligerent governments. (2) The financial management of the work.
Our original appeal for help made throughout the world was met by the most generous response, but it soon became evident that the task was far too great for private philanthropy alone; it was necessary to secure financial aid on so large a scale that nothing less than the most generous governmental assistance could provide for our work. Subsequently, several governments granted subsidies, and financial arrangements were made which have met our requirements and which must continue to meet all requirements for the work so long as it may be necessary.
The carrying out of the guarantees and the necessary negotiations with the several governments regarding the food distribution can, I conceive, be done by the Belgians. While the relief of the occupied French territory does not primarily concern the Belgians, no doubt this work could also be included under the Comité National.
As for the financial responsibility, I can at any moment make an accounting to every government that has contributed to the funds of the Commission and make such disposal of remaining funds as each government may desire. I shall make the same disposal of funds contributed by private organizations.
It may interest you to know that we have received from all sources over
£20,000,000 up to date.
Since the name of the "Commission for Relief in Belgium" is bound up with the financial responsibility which my associates and I have assumed, we should expect to dissolve the Commission upon our withdrawal and should also expect that the work in future be carried on by the Comité National; in other words, the affairs of the Commission for Relief in Belgium will be completely liquidated and it will cease to exist.
I would, therefore, be grateful if you would present this matter to the interested governments and ascertain whether they would be prepared to transfer the guarantees and responsibilities to the Comité National in such a manner as to ensure the continued feeding of and relief of the Belgian civil population, so that my associates and I may conscientiously withdraw from the great work in which we have been privileged to play a part during the past sixteen months.
Yours faithfully
(Signed) HERBERT HOOVER Chairman
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DOCUMENT NO. 54 Letter,
FRANCQUI TO PAGE, asserting the absolute dependence of relief on the continuance of the C.R.B.
LONDON, 26 February 1916
To His Excellency the Honorable Walter Hines Page American Ambassador, London
YOUR EXCELLENCY:
Mr. Hoover presented to me yesterday evening a copy of the letter which he addressed to Your Excellency on the 24th inst. In this communication Mr. Hoover expresses the wish to dissolve the Commission for Relief in Belgium, for which he suggested substituting the Comité National of Belgium.
Your Excellency, who has, for the last eighteen months, given your kind support to the humanitarian work undertaken by the Commission for Relief in Belgium, knows better than anyone with what disinterestedness, what devotion, your compatriots have come to the aid of the Belgian population. You know also that without the active leadership of Mr. Hoover it would have been absolutely
impossible for us to continue the provisioning and assistance of the Belgians; also you will not be astonished when I insist, not only in my own personal name, but also in the name of my colleagues and in that of all my fellow-countrymen, that Your Excellency should use your kind influence on Mr. Hoover that he should abandon the idea set out in his letter of the 24th inst.
The harmony which has never ceased to exist between the C.R.B. and the organization that I direct in Belgium is today too intimate to allow of any blow being struck at either without the risk of destroying the whole organization of both.
Also I feel obliged to inform Your Excellency that it would be impossible for me to continue for one moment without the co-operation of Mr. Hoover to carry on the work which he and I have assumed.
I also wish to inform Your Excellency that the sole object for which the C.R.B. and the Comité National were created was for the provisioning andsecoursof the Belgian population, and I would add that Mr. Hoover and I have always seen that the organizations over which we preside have not exceeded their privileges and have abstained entirely and scrupulously from any action of political significance of any kind.
In the name of the Belgian population I repeat to Your Excellency all the grateful feelings for the inestimable services you have been kind enough to render.
I beg to remain, etc., etc., etc.
(Signed) E. FRANCQUI [Translation]
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DOCUMENT NO. 55
Letter,(30)
GREY to VILLALOBAR, declining to accept certain German proposals and asserting that Hoover is the only person directly and personally responsible to the British Government for the whole relief work both inside and outside of Belgium
FOREIGN OFFICE, LONDON 28 February 1916
MY DEAR MINISTER:
I have the honour to enclose in the form of a memorandum, my reply to the propositions emanating from the German authorities in Belgium, which you,
together with Baron Lambert and Monsieur Francqui, were good enough to present to me on February 24th.
I am anxious that you should realise the gratitude and appreciation with which His Majesty's Government regard the services which you, in concert with your United States and Netherlands colleagues, have rendered to the population in Belgium in protecting and furthering the work of relief. Your action in coming to London at, I fear, great inconvenience to yourself, in order to represent the needs of this work, is in accordance with all I have learnt of your interest and energy in this matter.
I regret, therefore, the more sincerely that I should be obliged to demur absolutely to so many points in the arrangement which you have striven so hard to obtain.
These are, however, matters of principle, on which it is impossible for His
Majesty's Government to accept any compromise. Compromise would indeed be incompatible with their duty alike to their own and to the Belgian people, and I can only trust that you, representing in your official capacity a great neutral nation, as you represent in your private capacity a work of charity in which the British people feel so keen an interest, will be able to secure action on the part of the German authorities more in accordance with the rights of nations and the duties of humanity than those conditionally promised in Baron von der Lancken's letter of February 16th.
I am transmitting a copy of this letter to the United States and Spanish
Ambassadors and the Netherlands Minister at this capital, to whom, with yourself and your colleagues at Brussels, His Majesty's Government look as intermediaries in this work, as well as to the Belgian Minister, who is so nearly interested, and to Mr. Hoover, with whom I am obliged to deal in close co-operation in all such matters, he being, in his capacity as head of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, the only person directly and personally responsible for the manner in which the whole work, both inside and outside Belgium, is carried on. If I may express one further hope, it is that all parties concerned in this matter, realising the impossibility of holding personally responsible either the diplomatic representatives of neutral Powers or the citizens of a noble and unhappy country under foreign domination,
will take into full account the heavy burden of responsibility resting on this great neutral Commission and will in every possible way lighten that burden by making its responsibility as easy to discharge as possible.
(Signed) E. GREY .
DOCUMENT NO. 56 Letter,
GREY TO PAGE, declaring the C.R.B. to be the only organization capable of assuming responsibility for relief activities both inside and outside of Belgium and that the C.R.B. must continue its functions or the relief cease
FOREIGN OFFICE, LONDON 13 March 1916
MY DEAR AMBASSADOR:
I have carefully considered your letter of February 25th enclosing a letter from Mr.
Hoover, regarding the possibility of the retirement of the American Commission from the direction of the relief work in Belgium.
I quite appreciate the desire of the Commission to divest themselves of the burden entailed by this work, which they have borne for so long, but I must state clearly that His Majesty's Government can only allow the work of relief to continue if the entire responsibility for it both inside and outside Belgium is borne by neutrals who, having complete freedom to come and go, and having no official position limiting their personal liability, can in fact be held responsible for the carrying out of the various conditions upon which His Majesty's Government have insisted. The American Commission is the only organisation which fulfils these requirements, and His Majesty's Government therefore feel obliged to insist that either the whole work should cease or the American Commission shall continue to direct it as heretofore.
I shall be glad if you will convey these observations to Mr. Hoover, and ask him to reconsider his views in the light of these contributions.
Believe me, my dear Ambassador, Yours sincerely
(Signed) E. GREY .
DOCUMENT NO. 57 Letter,
GREY TO PAGE, giving assurance of continued co-operation between the British Government and the Commission
FOREIGN OFFICE, LONDON 16 May 1916
MY DEAR AMBASSADOR:
In your private note of March 23d last you were good enough to send me a copy of a letter from Mr. Hoover stating that the Commission for Relief in Belgium would be willing to continue their work of relieving the civil population of Belgium. In the last paragraph of his letter Mr. Hoover observes that it is hopeless to carry on this work without the daily co-operation of various departments and agencies of His Majesty's Government, and he says that, in agreeing to continue, it is on the clear understanding that this co-operation shall continue also.
I think that the Commission may perhaps desire to receive some assurance from His Majesty's Government on this point, and I therefore beg that you will be so good as to make it clear to Mr. Hoover and those associated with him in this great humanitarian work that it is the desire and intention of His Majesty's Government that various public departments connected with the work should co-operate with the Commission in the closest possible way.
I am happy to be able to say that the Commission continue to enjoy the complete confidence of His Majesty's Government, and I should like to add my own personal tribute to the admirable organisation which they have evolved , and to the tireless energy of all its members, who are so devotedly carrying out their difficult task.
Yours sincerely (Signed) E. GREY .
DOCUMENT NO. 58 Letter,
PERCY TO HOOVER, reviewing the origin of Belgian relief and the C.R.B.
reiterating the sole responsibility of the C.R.B., and by implication declining to accept reorganization proposals originating in Belgium
FOREIGN OFFICE, LONDON 15 July 1916
DEAR MR. HOOVER:
I have received your letter of June 30th, and have submitted it to my superiors for consideration. Leaving for separate treatment the various points raised in the first part of your letter, I am now directed to make to you the following observations on the question of the Organisation of the relief work in Belgium itself. (The Relief work in Northern France has been the subject of a separate memorandum.)
In view of Monsieur Francqui's memorandum, it is desirable to set out again clearly the conditions and expectations of His Majesty's Government. You will remember that when the first application was received from various Belgians for permits to import foodstuffs into Belgium in the months of September and October 1914, His Majesty's Government laid it down as an absolute rule that no such imports could be countenanced or permitted unless the foodstuffs were imported as the property, and distributed under the direction and control, of neutrals. Thereupon the services of the American Ambassador were enlisted, and His Majesty's Government, on the recommendation of Dr. Page, recognised the "American Relief Committee" and its successor the "Commission for Relief in Belgium" as suitable to undertake this sole responsibility. His Majesty's Government have continued to give undivided support to your organisation since that time. The various Belgian committees subsequently developed into the Comité National and its branches and this organisation with its members has shown admirable devotion and powers of organisation in developing the work. Unfortunately, all these gentlemen and their organisation are subject to the control of the enemies of the Allies, and, in spite of the high confidence which they enjoy, it is therefore utterly impossible for His Majesty's Government to reply upon them to bear the responsibilities for the conduct of the relief work in Belgium which you, not they, have assumed toward us. But His Majesty's Government have relied and do rely upon them, as Allies of this country possessing the same interests as this country, to give every help to the Commission for Relief in Belgium in its task, so far as the German authorities will allow them to do so, and it is obvious that upon them must rest the detailed labour of distribution. It seems scarcely necessary to repeat to you the various stipulations to this effect in the notes addressed from time to time by His Majesty's Government to the American and Spanish Ambassadors; but in this connection you should bear in mind particularly the notes addressed by Sir Edward Grey to the American Ambassador on June 17th, 1915, to the Marquis de Villalobar on February 28th, 1915, and to the
American Ambassador on March 13th, 1916. In these notes it is repeatedly set out that the whole foundation and condition upon which these imports are to continue is that the undivided responsibility for the importation and distribution of the foodstuffs and money should rest solely upon the Commission for Relief in Belgium, the members of which, as neutrals, have freedom to come and go, and, having no official position limiting their personal liability, can in effect be held responsible for carrying out the various conditions upon which His Majesty's Government have been obliged to insist.