File No. 855.48/705
The Counselor for the Department of State ( Polk ) to the Commercial Adviser of the British Embassy ( Crawford )
My Dear Sir Richard : I have received your letter of February 13 with regard to the policy adopted by the German authorities charged [Page 473] with the distribution of native foodstuffs in Belgium of giving preferential treatment to Belgians working in their interests. You state that the British Government now propose to protest strongly against the action of the German authorities in using the distribution of native foodstuffs as a means of forcing the Belgian population to work for them and to intimate that unless this policy is immediately abandoned, and native foodstuffs equitably distributed, the British authorities will be compelled to revert to their former practice of refusing to sanction imports of foodstuffs of any kind, unless an undertaking was given that the relief organization would be permitted to control and distribute equivalent native supplies.
I am of the opinion that this extreme penalty should be used only under the most grave conditions and it seems obvious that unless the object of the whole Belgian relief is to be nullified it is not quite fair to ask ten million people to face starvation without very carefully considering the consequences. As you are aware those who have charge of the distribution of imported foodstuffs and of the native foodstuffs endeavor to prohibit any distribution to Belgians in the employ of Germany and the total amount to be distributed is so small that if one individual gets more than his share someone else must starve. The most recent information received by the Commission for Relief in Belgium indicates that the method of distribution inaugurated over three years ago was meeting with the full approval of the Belgian Committee who are very jealous of any German interference.
It seems to me, therefore, that the importation of foodstuffs into Belgium should not be prohibited until evidence has been produced that the system of distribution and the allocation of native foodstuffs have become disrupted to such an extent as to be unbearable to the Belgians themselves.
I am [etc.]