FOOD FOR BRITISH WORKERS

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24226, 6 April 1944, Page 3

FOOD FOR BRITISH WORKERS

I danger OF falling exports ADDRESS by MR BANKES amery pssential that British muniB wa !ws who were supplying all tion , W eof war, should have their rattieatr maintained, said Mr W. Bankes lions, mainly Unjted Kingdom to Australia and New Foo . d d in a public address in the Ze , Chambers in Christchurch veninK “B food su PP lies cannot WSBU" he «•** “» wlB “ possible to maintain maximum * i,,ction in our factories. p vnr five Winters the British people j managed to survive, he said, in ba what Hitler had attempted to j pl with his blockade, and they had •uacinod the greatest seige, as far as A pplies were concerned, in their ivtnrv Mr Amery went on to explain b ' s i, the embryo Ministry of Food, with fha assistance of a band of experts, rfj planned for war, an eventuality •tilr-h they hoped most earnestly would not take place. At the outbreak f hostilities, Britain was importing a third of her total supplies. Now, something more than two-thirds was being produced in the British Isles. *A beginning had been made with the printing of 50,000,000 ration books, «nd everything possible had been done to prevent people from defying the Government's restrictions. “When it was found that such attempts were frying made,” he declared, “severe penalties were imposed.” The Ministry of Food was now the largest commercial undertaking in the world. The inspiration of Lord Woolton, to whom the speaker paid tribute, had been such that his name would go down in history for his magnificent work on the civilian front. “Its administration could never have been the success it has been,” he remarked, “if it had not been in the hands of a man of such wide human sympathies.” Mr Amery also paid tribute to the work of several New Zealanders who had been associated with Lord Wool-ton-Sir Francis Boys, Mr H. S. E. Turner, and the late Mr Robert Forsyth, acknowledged experts in the meat trade, and Mr Harry Davis, who had given equally excellent service in the rationing of dairy produce.

Another function of the Ministry had been to encourage British farmers to increase home products, one of the most important being liquid food and cereal and root crops. No fewer than 6,000,000 acres of pasture land had been ploughed, and 125,000 additional tractors had been worked day and night. Even hillsides that had never known a plough had been brought into cultivation with astounding results. Last season no fewer than 100,000,000 tons of food had been produced, and Britain had known the biggest harvest in her history. Six million people were now growing their own vegetables.

Lord Woolton’s slogan had been “mothers and children first,” and his distribution of essential food, particularly milk, had been such that the mortality rate had fallen and the survival ratio of children had increased. “The health of British children is better than it ever has been,” said Mr Amery, "so you will see that we still possess a healthy young population to carry on the tradition of the British people." So long as the rations could be maintained tthe production of war essentials would be continued. But there were disturbing signs of falling exports from the British Dominions, and it was essential in the speaker’s opinion that every effort should be made to return to the previous trade levels. When thanking Mr Amery for his address, the president of the Chamber of Commerce (Mr R. V. White) said that the fortitude of the British people had .won the admiration of the Dominions- Only British folk, he commented, could have submitted to such rigid discipline with only an occasional grumble.

The Mayor (Mr 1L H. Andrews) presided. and introduced the speaker.