A very interesting item of news is published in Thursday's
papers. It appears that during the past week there have been street demonstrations in many places in Holland owing to the dearness of food. On Wednesday a deputation of women demanded an interview with the Prime Minister at the Hague, and on Tuesday there was rioting in Amsterdam of so serious a kind that the police were obliged to charge repeatedly with drawn swords. The cause of the dearness of provisions is not the blockade, for Holland has sufficient supplies of all kinds, but the fact that their possessors have been tempted by the enormous prices obtainable in Germany to sell across the frontier rather than inside it. In these circum- stances the working population of Holland very naturally demand the prohibition of food exports. The Dutch Government have tried to fight the evil by big grants in aid of the distress, but they are now faced with a strong demand that the frontier shall be firmly closed. We are anxious that nothing should be said here to em- barrass a friendly neutral Government which finds itself in a very difficult position, but the discontent felt in Holland is of too serious a character not to be recorded. It is also essential to remind the Dutch people that they are suffering not from the blockade but from the traders' desire to sell in the dearest market.
Previous page
