The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-03-06
Little Neutral Nation Has
Hard Time Keeping Every
body Well Fed
During War.
HELD UP BY GERMANY
Forced to Loan Gold to Kaiser IN
Order to Get Little Supply
Of Coal In
Winter.
LBy William Philip Simms. United

LBy William Philip Simms. United
Press Staff Correspondent
BERNIE, Switzerland, Feb. 10.-(By
mail. has been hit
harder by the war than any OF the
allied nations except in the matter
of money spent and men killed. But
for her wonderful organization she
would be starving. freezing and In
revolt
with almost everything she re-
ouires coming from the warning
countries, Switzerland by MAINTAIN
ing her neutrality and feeding her
own population while doing more
than her share of ministering to the
bleeding world, has proven that de-
mocracy Is worth fighting Tor.
This country is rationed more
strictly than In France, principal
battlefield of the world.
have eaten a better meal IN
Arras. Verdun, Toul, Belfort, Rheims
itself than l can get here in as hne
hotel as there is in Switzerland and
Won can't beat Swiss running
hotel. ,oo
In France the bread ration 1s S0o
grams per person day. Here the
daily bread ration Is 275 grams and
the quality is not so good. In Par1s
YOU can order eggs. fish, chicken,
meat and game, fruit, cheese. des-
cert. coffee and the rest. But here
Won can have but one meat And II
Won have meat you cannot have eggs
or cheese. If cheese then no meat
and no eggs.
In Zurich, at one of the finest
hotels In the city, they would not let
! me have any sugar. Here IN 6erhe'
I rot a couple of very small Jumps
the ration differing trihe IN the
various cantons.
This apparently unfair and un'
1emocratic distribution of sweets Is
really the reverse. Sugar 1s gwen
out according to the number OF SWISS
mouths to feed. In cities like Zur1ch,
crammed with German war refugees
the sugar ration per head is natur-
alIy less than In some other canton
where there are fewer visitors. Bread
being an absolute necessity Is natur-
ally handed out according TO the
mouths, whether Swiss, German
French or American. Butter IS dlln-
cult to get. Cheese Is scarce. IL IS
said Germany Is buying the most
butter. Germany is insisting on tnls
butter. threatening to cut on SONS s
of the things which Switzerland
needs and Switzerland cannot very
we'll get elsewhere.
Coal ia very scarce. This comes
.-o,, Germany almost entirely and
Germany herself is short OF coal
The coal story is the story of swift
: 1erland today so I'll tell 1t.
During the first part of the wal
Switzerland ordered her coal fron
Germany. One day Germany said:
; "Tf YOU want to get coal from us
r,r,ve got to come across VIII
obeesa condensed milk and meat"
Switzerland had to have the coal
so she said:
> .a,1 right" But to make cheese,
. o-tain mart of veal is necessary
make the milk CONCEAL properly. Ih1
;. ye.l nroduct comes from France ANT
! ~ make condensed milk, sugar Il
necessary-sugar which the allie
nnlv could furnish Switzerland
Naturally the allies said:
: .No more cheese and condense'
milk 60 to Germany or your yea
=, nroduct and sugar will be cut on
> So Switzerland was in a quandary
!. "If YOU can't give US condensed
= ,ni,k and cheese" the German shy
: incL said I'VE can't sell you coal
+ That is. unless you lend us gold Z
holm MS boost our declining mark"
) Prussia squeezed Switzerland t
i the tune Of 12O,000,o00 francs befor
: letting her buy a puny 225.oo0 tons o
, coal monthly-about quarter Q
e what they got in peace times.
Switzerland as a nation, was to
moor to furnish this money. col
y noration of coal users had to b
6Continued ON page 81