1914-15 Belgium could not send out her products; so we were to help
feed her without pay, and England and France were to give money to
buy what food we did not give.

But with the British navy generously allowing food to pass the
blockade, the problem was far from solved. Ships laden with supplies
steaming to Rotterdam--this was a matter of easy organization. How
get the bread to the hungry mouths when the Germans were using
Belgian railroads for military purposes? Germany was not inclined to
allow a carload of wheat to keep a carload of soldiers from reaching
the front, or to let food for Belgians keep the men in the trenches from
getting theirs regularly. Horse and cart transport would be
cumbersome, and the Germans would not permit Belgian teamsters
to move about with such freedom. As likely as not they might be
spies.

Anybody who can walk or ride may be a spy. Therefore, the way to
stop spying is not to let anyone walk or ride. Besides, Germany had
requisitioned most of the horses that could do more than draw an
empty phaeton on a level. But she had not drawn the water out of the
canals; though the Belgians, always whispering jokes at the expense
of the conquerors, said that the canals might have been emptied if
their contents had been beer. There were plenty of idle boats in
Holland, whose canals connect with the web of canals in Belgium.
You had only to seal the cargoes against requisition, the seal to be
broken only by a representative of the Relief Commission, and start
them to their destination.

And how make sure that those who had money should pay for their
bread, while all who had not should be reached? The solution was
simple compared to the distribution of relief after the San Francisco
earthquake and fire, for example, in our own land, where a sparser
population makes social organization comparatively loose.

The people to be relieved were in their homes. Belgium is so old a
country, her population so dense, she is so much like one big
workshop, that the Government must keep a complete set of books.
Every Belgian is registered and docketed. You know just how he
makes his living and where he lives. Upon marriage a Belgian gets a
little book, giving his name and his wife's, their ages, their
occupations, and address. As children are born their names are
added. A Belgian holds as fast to this book as a woman to a piece of
jewellery that is an heirloom.

With few exceptions, Belgian local officials