Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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country.41 In tum, the government introduced expOli prohibitions to prevent goods leaving
the country,42 ostensibly to prevent shortages on the domestic market. Not surprisingly,
Germany doubted the Dutch government's official justification for enforcing export
prohibitions 43 and charged that the Dutch were merely yielding to Allied demands. This
was patently obvious in August 1915, when the cabinet decreed that customs officials could
investigate the origin of exports. 44 As a result, NOT contract breakers could be pursued and
apprehended at the borders. 45
By 1917, the Allies regulated neutral commerce so closely that attaining an expOli
surplus was difficult. The situation became even more serious after the United States
entered the war in April that year. Because the United States would not deal with private
companies (like the NOT), the Dutch government had to take more responsibility for
matters oftrade. 46 In August, cabinet members authorised the creation of a special import
supervisory body (Commissie voor Scheepvaart, Commission for Shipping), which
replaced the NOT in its dealings with all belligerents, except Britain. 47 Although the NOT
continued to exist, its power diminished considerably. A month later, the ministers took
another important step towards centralising government control over other trade issues, by
creating an export supervisory body. The Nederlandsche Uitvoer Maatschappij
(Netherlands' Export Company, NUM) operated much like the NOT except that it had full
governmental involvement alongside representatives of industry, trade and agriculture. 48
NUM's most important responsibility was supervising the agricultural contracts
negotiated with Britain and Gennany late in 1916. Britain insisted the Netherlands offered a
set quota of local produce to the Allies, rather than selling it all to Gennany. It forced the
Dutch government into an Agricultural Agreement in June 1916. 49 When Dutch exporters
41 Representative of the Netherlands' Overseas Trust to Minister of Foreign Affairs, 22 October 1915, in Smit (ed.),
Bescheiden betreffende de buitenlandsche politiek van Nederland 1848 - 1919. Derde Periode 1899 - 1919. Vierde
Dee11914 -1917 pp. 457 - 460.
42 Staatsblad. no. 344, 3 August 1914; Treub, "De economische toestand van Nederland" p. 160; Tuinen, "De
militaire handhaving van neutraliteit en gezag" p. 99; Bosboom, In Moeilijke Omstandiglzeden p. 12.
43 Minister of Foreign Affairs to Dutch Minister in Berlin, 15 August 1914, and reply, 16 August 1914, in Smit (ed.),
Bescheiden betreffende de buitenlandsche politiek van Nederland 1848 - 1919. Derde Periode 1899 - 1919. Vierde
Dee11914 - 1917 pp. 43 - 44.
44 Staatsblad. no. 370, 7 August 1915.
45 Smidt, "De Regulering van de Nederlandse Uitvoer" p. 18.
46 Vandenbosch, Dutch Foreign Policy p. 114; Smit, Tien studiell p. 95; Porter, "Dutch Neutrality" p. 146.
47 Porter, "Dutch Neutrality" pp. 145 - 149.
48 K. Huijsinga, "De Nederlandsche Uitvoer Maatschappij" [The Netherlands' Export Company] Economisch­
Statistische Berichten. 10, November - December 1925, pp. 1014 - 1015.
49 Porter, "Dutch Neutrality" p. 135; Baer, "The Anglo-German antagonism" Appendix 5, p. 303.