DID WE STARVE GERMANY ?
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—To know Germany at all, even on the basis of friendly and unofficial contacts, is to know that Sir Arthur Salter does not exaggerate when he speaks of the infinite harm arising from the general judgement in Germany concerning the food shortage and suffering due to the continuance of the blockade after the Armistice.
But surely, on the basis of his own submissions, the claim made by Sir Arthur Salter, that this charge against the general policy of the Allies is substantially unjust, remains unproved. Did not the refusal to release German tonnage form part of the blockade policy ? Was not the view of the American Government that war organisations should be immediately discontinued associated with the view that war conditions should also be discontinued, which would include the blockade ? Was not the refusal to make gold reserves available also a definite part of the policy of the -Allies ? Undoubtedly the general shortage of supplies, limitation of shipping, and the inevitable confusion were contributory causes of the food shortage in Germany. But the blockade was the obvious and, as Sir Arthur Salter says, the immediate difficulty. I do not think from my knowledge of German opinion that an Enquiry, though it substantiated all the points enumerated, would be of the slightest use in removing the sense of injustice in Germany, or the sense of shame in the minds of many British people. The only way of healing open to us now in such a matter is the way of repentance..—Yours faithfully, E. BENSON PERKINS.
25 Montgomery Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield 7.
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