The Second Year. November 1915-October 1916

It is the general intention that the C.R.B. should make approximately 10 per cent profit on all commodities for the benefit of the destitute, but in the matter of wheat, the price must be adjusted in consultation with the C.N. It is also intended that minimum profits should be made on wheat and bacon and larger profits on peas, beans, and especially rice and maize. The profits earned from the sales to the well- to-do people form a tax for the benefit of the poor, and should, if possible, be

maintained at about 2,500,000 francs per month in order that the soup kitchens may be properly supported.

.

With the end of October 1915 the Commission had completed its first year. It had delivered in Rotterdam 980,000 tons(45) of relief supplies valued at $69,000,000, and though there had been some undernourishment the people in Belgium and Northern France had escaped the famine which had cast its shadow over them twelve months before. Bread grains and cereals formed 90 per cent of the

importations into Belgium, yet the Commission had found it necessary to supply some fats so that importations in combination with the local produce would result in a balanced ration for the 9,000,000 people. In Northern France the Commission found it immediately necessary to broaden its category of importations due to the dearth of many articles. At a later date the same necessity arose for Belgium.

Fig. 3.Certificate, 2 November 1914, Whitlock and Villalobar, confirming Belgium's requirements

Gifts in kind to the generous total of 93,000 tons and a value of over $9,000,000 formed part of the Commission's importations. Full gift cargoes of wheat and flour had been transported, and these with the gifts of maize, rice, peas, and beans

entered readily into the machinery of rationing set up by the Commission. Of greater difficulty in handling were the 12,000 tons of miscellaneous groceries donated during the first year. The call for gift clothing had resulted in some 2,000 tons and this had been renovated and distributed to the destitute. As had been anticipated the monthly donations in kind had fallen off considerably by the end of the first year.

.

MONTHLY PROGRAM OF IMPORTATIONS, BELGIUM AND NORTHERN FRANCE, WINTER 1915-1916

(Metric tons) Belgium Northern

France

Total Wheat 60,000 16,000 76,000 Maize 20,000 2,200 22,200

Rice 5,000 4,400 9,400

Beans and peas

4,000 1,650 5,650 Bacon

and lard

4,800 3,850 8,650

Sugar .... 1,320 1,320

Coffee .... 1,100 1,100

Milk .... 1,650 1,650

Soap .... 1,100 1,100

Sundries 11000 1,650 2,650 Totals 94,800 34,920 129,720 .

The adoption of the program above for the winter of 1915-1916 followed a series of events which marked the transition of Belgian relief from its original, temporary character to a more permanent basis. In June 1915 Hoover had secured from the German authorities guarantees, acceptable to the Commission and the British Foreign Office, which reserved the Belgian harvest of that year for the civil

population.(46) At about the same time the British Government reviewed the whole question of Belgian relief and made very definite stipulations concerning the

Commission's activities.(47) Of particular interest here was the limitation of the Commission's Belgian imports to wheat and wheat flour (which could not exceed 60,000 tons of equivalent wheat per month before the harvest and was to be

reduced to a minimum supplement of native supplies after the harvest), peas, beans, rice, bacon, lard, and maize (for human consumption only). The quantities of these commodities other than wheat to be imported were fixed from time to time in agreement with the Foreign Office. These restrictions determined the "permitted program" which the Commission might not exceed.

.

DOCUMENT NO. 70 Letter,

PERCY TO HOOVER, stating restrictions placed on C.R.B. imports as result of alleged violations of agreement by the Germans

FOREIGN OFFICE, LONDON 16 December 1915

DEAR MR. HOOVER:

As a result of our conversation this afternoon, I think it well to put on paper the present situation.

At present your staple articles of importation into Belgium are wheat, rice, bacon, lard, beans, and maize. Besides these, we have authorized you at various times to import certain articles which you class as "produits divers," i.e., soap, coffee, sugar, oleomargarine materials (to be used solely in a factory to be controlled by you), butter, fish, preserved meat, salt, groceries, cheese, dried fruit and vegetables, yeast materials, and cocoa. In regard to certain of these articles I understand that you have not availed yourself of our authorisation at all; in regard to others very little.

Finally, you have been authorised to import certain purely charitable relief supplies, i.e., medical supplies and clothing for the destitute.

In view of action by the Germans which appearsprima facieto infringe their undertakings, and in view of grave doubts which have arisen as to whether certain of these imports do not in effect constitute a replacement of articles bought or otherwise taken by the Germans, it is necessary to restrict your activities for the moment.

You have already been asked, and have undertaken, to ship no further

consignments of meat, bacon, lard, or other pork products from Rotterdam either to Belgium or France until further notice. I must now ask you also to stop all

shipments from Rotterdam to Belgium of soap, coffee, sugar, oleomargarine materials, butter, salt, groceries, cheese, dried fruit and vegetables, and yeast materials. The only shipments which you may still make to Belgium from

Rotterdam will therefore be wheat, rice, beans, maize, fish, and cocoa, and medical supplies and clothing for relief purposes.

Your programme of importations into Northern France has been somewhat

different, namely: wheat, rice, beans and peas, bacon, lard, sugar, salt, coffee, soap, and condensed milk. Besides this you have been importing certain quantities of salted meat. As the conditions in Northern France are somewhat different, I do not want to ask you at the moment to cut off any importations into France from

Rotterdam, except the meat, bacon, lard, and all pork products as already arranged,

and also soap. The only importations you will make into France for the moment will therefore be wheat, rice, beans and peas, sugar, salt, coffee, and condensed milk.

I am not sure at the moment whether you have been importing any condensed milk into Belgium, but if so this may continue if necessary to supply destitute children.

I shall be glad to hear from you that you are prepared to give an assurance to the above effect.

I do not want to close this letter without saying, what you already know, that these restrictions on your activities arise out of the exigencies of the situation and imply no loss of confidence in you or the other members of the Commission.

Yours sincerely

(Signed) EUSTACE PERCY .

DOCUMENT NO. 71 Letter and memorandum,

HOOVER TO PERCY, reviewing the whole question of C.R.B. imports into Belgium and Northern France

LONDON, 21 December 1915 Lord Eustace Percy

Foreign Office,London

MY DEAR LORD EUSTACE:

With respect to your letter requesting that I should review the whole question of imports, I believe it is desirable that I should do so in two separate memoranda, one as to Northern France and the other as to Belgium, as these are economically and administratively entirely separate problems.

As to all these lists or any part it must not be imagined that we will succeed in importing precisely these monthly quantities. These amounts are consumption and we must carry stocks both in Belgium and Rotterdam.

Yours faithfully

HERBERT C. HOOVER, Chairman

MEMORANDUM I. BELGIUM

The following shows approximately the imports desired by our friends in Belgium:

Wheat.---The available native wheat supply, which is under our control, affords us about 13,500 tons of wheat per month. It is therefore necessary for us to import about 54,000 tons per month, in order to give a 250 gram flour ration to the population. Owing to the lateness of the harvest all over the world, our stocks in Belgium have run down until we have, aside from stuff in transit, today only an average of two days' supply in our warehouses in Belgium, and it is therefore necessary for us to build up some stocks in the country, which implies larger importations in the immediate future, with, of course, a slackening off towards the end.

Lard.---In order to enable us to give a ration of 33 grams (1 oz.) per diem, it will be necessary to import 7,000 tons of lard per month into Belgium.

Bacon---In order to give a ration of 16 1/2 grams (1/2 oz.) of bacon per diem to Belgium, it will be necessary to import 3,500 tons per month.

Maize.---Maize is used partly for human food, in the form of a porridge product called cerealine, designed for children, while the refuse and the rest of the maize is used for fodder. The amount which we have set for ourselves for this purpose is 20,000 tons per month. This represents half the normal importation into Belgium and is used largely for poultry purposes and the feeding of municipal livestock.

Rice.---We have, during recent months, been importing about 5,000 tons of rice per month for Belgian account. It is issued as a ration but is participated in only by the more indigent portion of the population and it has not covered the whole of the people as a ration of 60 grams of rice per them would require a larger quantity than this.

Beans, peas, and lentils.---Our requirements are about 4,000 tons a month. The demand varies with the season. During the summer we do not require the whole of our imports. These are in stock and are now coming into use again and we shall need to resume imports on this scale at an early date.

Condensed milk.---Weshall need to be prepared to import during the winter, perhaps 1,000 tons of condensed milk per month for Belgian account. It is used chiefly for the support of the children and is made an eminent necessity by the natural shortage of fresh fodder during the winter.

Medical supplies.---We import an irregular amount of these materials.

Clothing for the destitute.---We are begging and buying considerable amounts of cloth, boots, shoes, old clothes, and every sort of wearing apparel, and are giving it away to the absolutely destitute only.

Petrol and tires and spares---We are entirely dependent upon imports for the running of our automobiles and we simply cannot do our work without these supplies. We have had a permit for 5,000 litres a week of petrol, which is an undersupply.

Yeast materials.---We used to import a certain amount of barley, rye, and malt radicles for yeast making. This amounts to probably 1,000 tons of stuff per month.

"PRODUITS DIVERS"

As you understand, a considerable portion of bacon and lard is paid for under the heading of this account, and the following are approximately the desires and needs of the Belgian people for various articles which have hitherto been embraced in this list:

Preserved and frozen meat.---The various Belgian communities are clamoring for the importation of beef products, and this amounts to, presumably, a total of 1,000 or 1,500 tons per month of each material.

Cocoa.---This item probably amounts to 1,000 tons of cocoa or cocoa beans per month for the manufacture of chocolate.

Coffee.---The Belgians are anxious to secure the importation of at least 2,000 tons of coffee per month, the depletion of stocks in Belgium making this imperative.

Sugar.---There appears to be available about 5,000 tons of sugar per month to the Belgian population from native production, against a normal consumption of about 10,000 tons a month. Many quarters of the country are already short of sugar and the Belgians are anxious to import at least 2,000 tons a month.

Soap.---The exhaustion of oil materials in Belgium makes the local manufacture of soap inadequate and the Belgians are anxious to import at least 1,000 tons of soap per month for their account.

Oleomargarine materials.---We have prepared a factory for handling imported components for Oleomargarine, and something like 1,000 tons per month are wanted to stem the butter famine.

Butter.---The Belgians wish us to import butter, in what amount we cannot estimate, probably not exceeding 500 tons per month.

Preserved fish.---The Belgians wish us to make arrangements to import dried herrings, tinned salmon, and other forms of fish. I do not know how much this would run into and amount to, but I suppose, say, 300 or 400 tons.

Dried fruit and vegetables.---Under this item is the ordinary form of dried fruit- raisins, prunes, apples, etc.

Comestible oils.---This item is for salad oil and is made up of either pure olive oil or with peanut and cottonseed substitutes, and the Belgian requirements seem to run into 400 tons a month, as a minimum.

Linseed cake.---The Belgians desire to have linseed cake imported for fodder purposes and we had a formal permit for 10,000 tons.

Sugar refuse.---The Belgians desire this also for fodder purposes and we had a practically unlimited right to import this from Holland.

Salt and groceries generally.---You will recollect that under the "Produits Divers"

arrangement we had the right to import various articles comprised under these heads, including tea.

Potatoes.---There are apparently ample potatoes in Belgium, but they cannot be obtained from the peasants in view of expected famine prices. If we could import 10,000 tons per month for a while we would smash the market.

Cheese.---The Belgians wish to import up to 2,000 tons per month from Holland.