HOW GERMANY TREATS THE SWISS

North Otago Times, Volume CVI, Issue 14070, 11 March 1918, Page 3

HOW GERMANY TREATS THE SWISS

FRESH LIGHT ,ON IHE EUKOPE. ' COMMERCIAL TfIICKLRY ' (Authorised foi pubheahou bj the Butish Wai Office, per tavour of the Ttoyal Colonial Institute)'

, Plie story of. the Various commercial: agreements 1 ' between '-''Germany'..:';■ and: Switzerland ,is Va'tdiy.df'steady .'German pressure -, •'onV';the' ;i /smaller; State. ' Gormaiiy'Mias employed' and. ulfimaluiiis'to" ob'taln'rhW': agrflements', ■ an,d< has:• not.,kepb Alett ■'when made. She has. maido effort after, effortto create bad "blood 'between ■'• .Switzerland, and .fcho Entento-. Powers, •'offorts happily ffustrated'by the pfaclieaT con-fidcratiou-wliicli- thiV-latter -Powers' have shown for Switzerland's diflWtios,'and yho has/in view, a threat to Switzerland's future, commercial "pros-1 p.erity whiehj. says 'a writer, ■ it ; will lie necessary, for' that country ■ to : consider | very, We may begin wit)i the' preliminaries" ,pf. Uiejcpinmercial j agreement which was 'negotiated in the Buyimcr'.of .10*16, '. andTcanie, into opw'a-. tio'n in September of that year, The basis of'all the German-Swiss agree-, ments is to be found 'in tlie.fact' that. Switzerland depends on Germany for coal and iron;, the' Allies could'indeed supply her with coal, but'it is imn'og:sihlc to ship British, coal to Switzerland at a price comparable with that of Germany. Germany has exploited this fact to the utmost.' As the Bcviie Suisse d'Exportation said on Ai'igust 2,, 1017: "She iunk.es the-most ruthless use of her'eoal monopoly to put pressure upon us.'.' The position indue' spring of 101(1'ivas tliat Germany was supplying Switzerland with <>nnl and iron under nn agreement; under a separate agree-' meat Switzerland supplied Germany with, onrlmle of calcium and fcrroeili'cium, while she worked up much of the Gorman iron into munitions' for Germany.' The.Allies hiid an arrangemerit with Switzerland whereby they, exported- many • things to her- for ■■ her own use, which were consigned to an association there, the S.S.S. (Societe Suisse' do. Surveillance Eeono'niique), on terms intended to'-secure .that they should be consumed in Switzerland and not passed on'to Germany; for Switzerland ',depended on-the -Allies to apertain extent for corn and many other, foodstuffs, and also for raw cotton and A large quantity of-the goods (largely cotton) so imported from .the, Allies had, however, been bought up by Gorman agents, -generally at extravagant price*, and were stored in-, Switzerland on' their account, The value was some 40 million francs (£1,600)000),

. A Fresh Turn of the Screw, In April came a change. Gejanany. henceforth' based "her dealings with Switzerland-on -the, principle of iv'oin-. |ieii^a ; ti6ii: • On- April- Snlio Sife"G'o':' vernment informed? tlie.i Allies -that Switzerland had 'to obtain' from fl\U'-' many a farther'supply of various 'goods —iron and steel, dyes,- chemicals, drugs —which Germany would only give her. in exchango for goods exported by Switzerland from ■elsewhere. The. Allies: had always recognised that Swi'tzer-,, land had to get certain'things from-Germany-to maintain her economic existence, and must give, certain .things in return; and though it was, of course, impossible for them to agree that Germany should receive goods which the Allies had sent to Switzerland for her own use, negotiations were instituted: with Switzerland on the questions' raised by the Swiss Note of April! 3, the Allies- position, roughly speaking,' being that Switzerland should use. her i owir home products for exchange, While' I these-negotiations were in progress, Germany oil June 9 suddenly sent Switzerland an ultimatum, 'requiring her to hand over within fourteen days all Ger-man-owned stock's iii Switzerland; all German exports to Switzerland '■ to be stopped in case of non-compliance. It' ; was a vulgar attempt- at'blackmail, intended to wreck the negotiations between Switzerland', and" the' Alfies.'' 'flie' German Note said:' "Germany luis (iocided to export her prbdiietsand manufactures to neutral 'countries"Only i\ Hie" measure in; which they resist, the. restrictions imposed by' the Entente Powers, i.e., iii tlic'iiieasure' iii. v wliich' they render possible the evportaUnn to Germany of ' prohibited goods.','' [hi plain language, it. was easier to atjack Switzerland than to attack the British Fleet. 'Germany knew that Switzerland could liot'agi'ee/nt'Switzerland' liad given her word that the : goods should not lie'.re-exportod;' Germany iluiew, too, that they were not German-• owned goods in the sense of her Note, for what the German, agents had .bought ' 'was not so many bales of cotton, but so many hales of cotton-subject to a disability,' the •disability,of"being lio'ncxportable to Germany;- they .bought with knowledge of- the defect/and had no ground of complaint.. -Many Swiss rightly rccognised.'in the German Note an attempt- to'use.'Switzerland as*a 'catspawto get ■cotton for Germany;,. ' ' '' The Bluff Rejected.

Switzerland 'stood".linn,' and Germany dropped that, -flenitirtd;'.-. lmt.-'she tried; again on the othpr'lino, cessation of her exports. Tlmiei: : tlio:existing..agveement she was bound to send Switzerland, in, August, J M 6,' 170,000 ions- of coal and .50,000 tons of coke. What fihe 'did send was 17/JiOO tons; altogether,;, ; It was n second Attempt to put pressure on. both 'Switzerland'and on the Swiss negotia; lions with the Entente Powers. Khipp' S; organ, ..the iti'ing/'gny.e;,Germany.away by ..writing. that ''if the Entente with : the jnst,;d(jman(lßof Switzerland, , Germany will. withhQldJ from SwitzerI land the right f ;to;'econonnc;exis|dncV.|' •Agaiii wenote that GoHiia-ny would. preferred ; tof.vnin ratiier Germany failed to wreck the Swiss negotiations with,tluvEntente, she flidsucceed in ; causing gravo anxiety in Switzerland lest all iron and steel works should nave to'close. - , ,