at first to be told that milk was included in such a prohibition. But whoever is aware of the fact that nearly all the milk, so far as it is not consumed within Switzerland, was worked up into various shapes (e.g. cheese, butter, condensed milk) and then was exported in great quantities, will not find fault with this prohibition, when he learns that in Switzerland itself there were periodical milk famines for the native consumers. And it came to pass that milk itself was exported from Switzerland. For exam- ple, in the frontier city of Basle, the inhabitants at the beginning of the war were forced to exchange milk for vegetables grown in Alsace, because for ages the supply of fresh vegetables for Basle had been supplied by Alsace alone.
When the war had lasted about a year, and no end to it was visible, the necessaries of life in Switzerland began to be not only more expensive, but also scarcer. In June 1915 it was therefore forbidden to export any articles of this kind. This regulation was due to the act of profiteers, who bought these necessaries of life in huge quantities, and then accumulated them for export to cen- tral Europe. Switzerland now found itself in a rather awkward position. If she forbade the export of necessaries of life, central Europe menaced the stoppage on their side of the import into Switzerland of the various articles which she most needed, such as coal, raw materials, artificial manure, etc. On the other hand, the Entente threatened Switzerland with a rationing of the con- signments of necessaries of life in case the export of such to Germany and Austria were not entirely stopped, for the Entente had soon discovered that for central Europe this matter was the sorest point in its war administration.
In the course of wearisome negotiations with both parties the Swiss tried to find a satisfactory arrangement. So first they tried to found with Germany some sort of organization for imports. Industrial firms founded private import trusts, e.g. in Geneva, under the name of Societe auxiliaire du Commerce et de I'ln- dustrie. A similar trust was created in St. Gall, and in Basle a so-called " Import Trust Company." It became harder and harder to assure sufficient supplies for the whole country. The imports of necessaries of life from the " Free Zones " to Geneva were subject to strict supervision by France. On the heels of the corn monopoly of 1915 there followed in 1916 a monopoly of the importation of rice. In order to ascertain the amount of existing stocks of provisions within Switzerland the Swiss executive ordered a return of the supplies of such wares as were found in the entire country. As the supplies of necessaries of life became scarcer, so did the prices rise steadily.
The " S.S.S." (i.e. SocUle suisse de Surveillance Sconomique) , with its headquarters in Berne, had itself entered on the commer- cial registry. Complaints were made by important members of the general public that by this action the exports and imports were placed practically under the control of the Entente. It was, however, too easily forgotten that naturally it was not the inten- tion of the Entente to permit an uncontrolled import to Switzer- land, and then an uncontrolled export to central Europe, and so supply its enemies with the things they lacked. But the Swiss rightly argued that it was absolutely essential for them to keep up a certain exchange of commodities with central Europe. For instance, cattle in great numbers were exported to Germany and Austria-Hungary, whence coals, iron, steel, manure, sugar and other needful articles were imported into Switzerland.
It would have been far easier to supply Switzerland with all these goods, had a larger number of railway goods trucks been available. But many were away in foreign parts in order to col- lect the accumulated goods in foreign harbours, because neither France, Germany, nor Italy had any trucks available for the through journey to Switzerland. Often the trucks were delayed for months on the way, or were utilized by the belligerents for their own needs, so that quite often Switzerland had to.make pro- tests, and to claim the return of its trucks. Even in 1921 France was still refusing to pay the sum agreed on for Swiss trucks held up and utilized by her. In consequence of this insufficient supply of goods trucks the import of corn to Switzerland was at one time quite blocked, and this caused no little anxiety in that country. As the feeding of the Germans began to be more and more diffi-
cult, and the prisoners and evacuated persons had to suffer there- by, many good persons in the Entente lands caused bread to be baked in Switzerland, and then, with other articles, to be sent to Germany for the use of the Entente subjects interned there. Switzerland had nothing to urge against this proceeding so long as there were sufficient supplies for its own people. But later on the supply of wheat for this purpose had to be specially delivered by the Entente. In the same year (1915) a prohibition to export cotton was issued, and from Nov. 25 onwards cheese could not be sent away in quantities of more than ij lb., and licences to export butter were no longer granted.
It was in 1916 that the profiteers were most numerous and most active in Switzerland. In April the Swiss executive had to make new and sharper laws against the speculators who chose the necessaries of life as their field of operation. In Geneva a great organization was discovered which busied itself with such specula- tions. By order of the cantonal executive considerable supplies of coffee, cocoa, and chocolate were seized, and a number of foreigners expelled. Great quantities of rice and fat were also confiscated in Basle and in Buchs, on the Austrian frontier. One must assume, of course, that the greater portion of these goods had been smuggled over the frontier. Soldiers, customs officers, frontier guards had their hands full with countering the tricks i of smugglers, speculators and profiteers.
Henceforward the economic relations began to get sharper and sharper. After the inquiry as to the existing stocks of sugar came the sugar monopoly. This had become necessary because the wholesale firms were no longer willing to undertake the importation of sugar. (Before the war Switzerland imported annually sugar to the value of about r, 500,000.)
As the blockade of the Central Powers by the Entente became more and more strict, this had a reflex action on the economical situation of Switzerland. That little country found itself hard pressed from all sides. In June 1916 Germany threatened the stoppage of all exchange of goods if Switzerland would not deliver those which had been stored on German account in Switzerland, I and the Entente as firmly refused to let this threat be carried out. , In the same month a Swiss delegation journeyed to Paris in order to remove these difficulties. But at first no settlement could be reached, for the Allies and Germany both obstinately clung to their points of view. Finally in Sept., with great trouble, an arrangement was concluded with Germany. Hardly was this in force when France, England, and Italy required that Switzer- land apply to them measures similar to those which Switzer- land had accepted in the Germano-Swiss arrangement. How complicated this situation often was for Switzerland is shown best by the Note, according to which the Entente required from Switzerland a prohibition for the export of all those manufac- tures (machines and parts of machines), the making of which re- quired oil for greasing them which came from the Entente states. The distrust of Switzerland became greater and greater. Ger- many complained that Switzerland had abandoned its neutrality, > and was under the protection of the Entente. On the other hand, the Allies grumbled that the goods delivered by them were han- ded over by Switzerland to the Central Powers. What wonder then that the saying became prevalent in Switzerland " A neu- tral Power is kicked from the left, and whipped from the right."
The following fact will show how much during the war Switzer- land had to depend on a reasonable amount of imports. In 1916, i despite all the efforts of the Swiss farmers, only two-thirds of the supply needed for the country could be produced. Besides wheat for bread, raw materials, artificial manure, cattle for slaughter, fat, and by far the greater amount of the potatoes used, had to be imported from foreign parts (Germany, Holland and Italy). In 1916 Germany exported to Switzerland 1,600 trucks filled with potatoes, both for consumption and for sowing.
For foreigners it was not easy to understand why Switzerland placed the seizure of the harvest and the fixing of maximum prices for the most important necessaries of life in the hands of the Military Department, for in Switzerland, as in other lands, so-called official Food Departments had been set up. It was easier to understand that the military authorities were empow-
