ON A RATION

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 166, 15 July 1943, Page 4

ON A RATION

ELECTION PUBLICITY EFFECT OF SHORTAGES (0.C.) SYDNEY, July 13. The shortage, unavoidable in wartime, of many articles which in peacetime are regarded as necessities is going to have a curious effect on the Federal election campaign. Posters are in effect banned, being limited to 10in by Bin, which can hardly be called poster size. This, of course, is due to the shortage of paper in the first place, but also to the manpower which would be .involved in printing and dasplaymj them. This manpower factor enters into all campaign restrictions. BecTuse of the shortage of calico signs too have been prohibited. Usually they are a feature of campaigns. A more serious cul «y js *£? acute shortage of envelopes—that is, from the candidates' point of view. Electors may think it is a blessing. Candidates will have to. get friends to distribute for them such matter as thev can get printed, owing to the on the bad* of old circulars, account forms and such like. Candidates have not even much hope of word-of-mouth campaigning, apart from factory lunch-hour meetings for the old established street meeting no longer appeals to-day, especially in wartime. Newspapers, heavily cut down, cannot devote the usual space to advertisements or election reports. It campaign will be largely limited! to reporting the party leaders and just the highlights of the rest. A Civilian Requirements Board, consisting of one representative each of the Department of War Organisation of Industry, Rationing Commission and Food Ministry, has been set up to overcome shortages of civilian necessities. Some shortages, such as the match lack, are due not to reduced production but to the extent to which Australia is helping her allies. Match production has been stepped up to the record of 262,400 gross boxes a month. Crockery and cutlery are becoming almost unobtainable. Some cafes have tried wooden stirrers instead of spoons, but they are unsatisfactory from a health point of view, as they cannot be as well cleansed as metal. The same objection applies to forke and razor-sharp knives made of bamboo. Australia usually imports 50,000,000 cups and saucers a year. Glass ones are available, and soon English cups without handles will make their appearance. Cups without handles not only save shipping space in transit but can be manufactured in a fifth of the time that it takes to make a cup with a handle.