dodis.ch/44521

Le Foreign Office britannique à la Légation de Suisse à Londres1

I have had under consideration the note No. L.a.5. which you addressed to me on April 9th.2 in regard to the Coal requirements of Switzerland.

1. I need not emphasize to you the serious situation as regards coal supplies in the United Kingdom and I do not doubt that you realise fully the difficulties encountered by His Majesty’s Government in securing that the essential requirements of domestic uses, of the bunkering stations and a few of the British Overseas possessions – notably Egypt – are met with sufficient regularity to avoid undue delays to navigation or the stoppage of essential services in the nature of railways, gas, water or electricity undertakings etc. etc.

2. His Majesty’s Government have endeavoured to avoid the creation of the elaborate organisation which would be required if they were to undertake to allocate to the various countries eager to purchase United Kingdom Coal, a proportion of the exportable surplus, and it was for this reason that it was decided some months ago to re-establish here the open market for coal.

3. Under existing arrangements it is still possible at times to expedite the acquisition by certain purchasing countries of small quantities of coal, but such facilities can only be made use of to a very limited extent and in practice have not hitherto proved of any great service to the single allied country which has happened to enjoy them. The situation is constantly kept under review, and it may in the future be necessary to resort to other methods of distribution, but it is impossible to devise any method which would give satisfaction when the world supply of coal is so notoriously in arrear of the world demand.

4. The attitude of His Majesty’s Government in this question should not, I venture to think, have come as a surprise to the Swiss or to any other Government which observed neutrality in the late war, because, foreseeing the situation which might possibly arise, my predecessor so far back as in Juli 1918 addressed a communication to all neutral Governments, including the Swiss Government3, informing them that His Majesty’s Government did not anticipate that they would be able to re-establish immediatly after the cessation of hostilities that equality of trade conditions which it had always been their endeavour in the past to maintain. His Majesty’s Government indicated moreover, that it might be necessary to devise, for the benefit of their Allies, special measures for during the period of reconstruction.