"Great though _the imports of ore into Rotterdam have been, they are insignificant compared with the importations in German ports_ in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea--Lübeck, Stettin, Swinemunde, Emden and others. _From May 1st to December 31st, 1915, the total of those imports were 556 cargoes and 2,089,000 tons of ore._ The question is going to become critical for, _though the country has been tolerant and long-enduring, things have not gone too well_. The sheet-anchor of the situation is the British Fleet." "The figures," says _Fairplay_, the shipping paper, "sufficiently indicate the absurdity of supposing that the Netherlands Overseas Trust or any similar artificial would-be barrier as at present constituted can, in fact, prevent the enemy from receiving vital supplies of raw or manufactured material." Nineteen days after the delivery of Sir Edward Grey's "blockade" speech in the House of Commons Mr. T. Gibson Bowles, speaking at a great City demonstration in London on February 14th, 1917, under Lord Devonport as Chairman and convened for the purpose of protesting against hampering our Navy, said: "Since the war began Sir Edward Grey had hampered, shackled, and strangled the Fleet in the performance of its duties." Whilst Lord Charles Beresford wrote to the Chairman: "If the Government had used our sea power as they were legally entitled to do at the commencement of the war, by instituting an effective blockade and making all goods entering Germany absolute contraband, the war would now be over." Lord Aberconway added: "The matter is far too serious to be trifled with any longer; my personal knowledge intensifies my conviction." The Government having attempted to evade any direct answer to the startling figures and accusations of the _Daily Mail_ disclosing the get-rich-quick method of the Scandinavian Goulashes, Lord Northcliffe sent a Special Commissioner to Holland, and published the result of his investigations in February, 1916. It showed a repetition of the sordid Scandinavian fiasco, a further proof that the so-called blockade was leaking in every seam. To enumerate the masses of statistics would be wearisome. It is sufficient for present purposes to quote a few extracts. _Cocoa Beans._--Of the 528 tons imported into Holland in 1916 Germany received the whole. _Cocoa Butter._--England could only obtain half what she had in 1913, whereas Germany obtained five times as much. _Cocoa Powder._--England obtained half 1913 supplies, whereas Germany obtained approximately ten times as much. _Cocoa in Blocks._--In 1913 Germany imported 4 tons from Holland, Belgium none at all; whereas in 1915 no less than 565 tons were exported from Holland into these two countries, all for German use. _Copra._--In 1913 Germany obtained 26,728 tons of copra from Holland, whereas in 1915 the amount rose to the amazing total of 106,613 tons.