There was less of this sort of thing in England, and many prominent Englishmen were early awake to the dangers that lay in starvation. Early in January Lord Henry Bentinck, writing to the London _Daily News_, declared there was no sense in maintaining the blockade. It was hindering the development of industry and the employment of the idle in England, and in Middle Europe it was killing children and keeping millions hungry and unemployed. The blockade, said Lord Henry, was the Bolshevists' best friend and had no purpose except to enable England to cut off her own nose in order to spite Germany's face. Many other leaders of thought in England took the same stand.
Despite the (at least inferential) promise in the armistice that Germany should be revictualled, not a step had been taken toward doing this when, on January 13th, more than two months after the signing of the armistice, President Wilson sent a message to administration leaders in Congress urging the appropriation of one hundred million dollars for food-relief in Europe.
"Food-relief is now the key to the whole European situation and to the solution of peace," said the President. "Bolshevism is steadily advancing westward; is poisoning Germany. It cannot be stopped by force, but it can be stopped by food, and all the leaders with whom I am in conference agree that concerted action in this matter is of immediate and vital importance."
So far, so good. This was a step in the right direction. But it had to be qualified. This was done in the next paragraph:
"The money will not be spent for food for Germany itself, because Germany can buy its food, but it will be spent for financing the movement of food to our real friends in Poland and to the people of the liberated units of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and to our associates in the Balkans.
Former Ambassador Henry White, a member of the American peace delegation, supported the President's appeal with a message stating that "the startling westward advance of Bolshevism now dominates the entire European situation. * * * The only effective barrier against it is food-relief."
The House adopted the President's recommendation without question, but the Senate insisted on adding a stipulation that no part of the money should be spent for food for Germany and no food bought with these funds should be permitted to reach that country.