File No. 654.119/549
The Minister in Switzerland ( Stovall) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 5, 10.10 a.m.]
5026. For War Trade Board [from Dresel]:
No. 199. Your 115, Department’s 3015, September 28, 2 p.m. Have communicated to Swiss Government by informal letter and in conversation substance of second paragraph your cable. Sulzer objects emphatically to implication that he in any way waived alleged obligation to deliver 240,000 tons of foodstuffs and claims that he always insisted on it, having no authority to do otherwise. He states that only express or implied assent he gave in this connection [Page 1652] was not to press for deliveries of more than 30,000 tons though at first he was given to understand that the rate of 30,000 tons monthly would be substantially exceeded from July 1. Construes communication made according to your cable, to mean that 30,000 tons would [not] be shipped in October and states that this omission will have serious effect.
Swiss Government claims that according to figures furnished by Swiss Legation actual shipments by United States of bread cereals and flour have only amounted up to September 26 to 157,000 tons. To these figures should be added 30,000 tons shipped on Spanish vessels chartered by Swiss, but according to Swiss view tonnage to compensate for this should be granted by United States as these ships by their use for food transport are not able to transport other important cargoes.
The Swiss authorities continue to lay great stress on what they call the critical food situation and state that the daily bread ration of 125 grams is insufficient and that great suffering exists especially in industrial centers with particular reference to fact that main food staples of laboring classes are bread and potatoes. In this connection I call attention to the spread of Bolshevist doctrines here which gain ground in proportion to the hunger of the people. I am endeavoring to investigate the food situation fully and shall cable shortly résumé. Dresel.