Washington, May 4 IHE Nazi conquerors of the Netherlands. are transforming the Dutch into an "economic colony" of Nazi Germany, according to authoritative reports received in diplomatic quarters here.
The transfer of vital Dutch shipping activities to German ports, these reports state, provide the latest advancement of Germany's plans to change the Netherlands from a liberal, free trade middleman into a "directed economy" fitting into the Nazi "new order" scheme for Europe.
Storage, trans-shipment, financing end insurance facilities, which have made Rotterdam and Amsterdam into two of the would's most active and prosperous ports, have now been shifted to Hamburg and Bremen, their German competitors.
German occupation authorities have already established domination over Dutch mance, industry and agriculture, say the reports, by purchasing, requisitioning or assuming control over banks, factories and agriculture.
But in spite of German efforts to make Holland "a paying conquest" the reports show that the British blockade, the breakdown of normal industrial and shipping facilities and other effects of the war are creating increasingly severe problems, particularly where the nation's food is concerned.
Holland has normally been a large exporter of dairy products but a) shortage of foodstuffs and fodder, formerly imported, has caused milk production to decline as much as 14 per cent.
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