BRITISH WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24237, 20 April 1944, Page 3

BRITISH WOMEN AND CHILDREN

HEALTH MAINTAINED. TRIBUTE TO LORD WOOLTON The successful efforts of Lord Woolton when Minister of Food, not only to maintain the health of the women and .children of Great Britain but to improve it, would ensure Lord Woolton a place in history, said Mr W. Bankes Amery (leader of the British Food Mission to Australia and New, Zealand). When addressing members of patriotic societies in Christchurch last evening at the National Club, Mr Amery recalled his four years’ association with Lord Woolton at the Ministry, and paid tribute to his great services to the Empire at a time of crisis, Mr Amery spoke of Lord Woolton’s genius for showmanship, and the excellent use he had made of propaganda, particularly in connexion with broadcasting, in order to make the people accept what otherwise might have been unpopular measures. “He quickly made his mark with the public with his first broadcast.” said Mr Amery, who told how an excellent address had been prepared for the Minister by one of his subordinates. "That is a splendid speech,” Lord Woolton had replied, “but it is not me!” Whereupon, said Mr /Amery, he had prepared his own broadcast.

When Lord Woolton was called to the Food Ministry, he said, it was not by Mr Qhurchill, as many people supposed, but by the late Mr Neville Chamberlain. At that time, after the invasion of Denmark and Norway, the food situation was extremely serious, and one of his first tasks was to reduce rations. In the months that followed he had to face extraordinary difficulties, mainly through shipping losses. “It was an absolute miracle that we had a man of his calibre at the head of the administration at that time,’’ commented Mr Amery. Lord Woolton’s scheme for feeding mothers and children to ensure that the latter would “go forward to the peace without diseased bodies,’’ was described by the speaker as one of the most important sociological factors of the war. Not only was the scheme entirely successful in maintaining good health, but the mortality rate for mothers and children had actually been lowered to an extraordinary degree. Mr Amery believed that that achievement would be Lord Woolton’s lasting memorial. Another crisis that he had to face occurred during the bombing, when huge stocks of foodstuffs collected in the principal cities were destroyed. An example was Coventry, he said, where not only was the historic cathedral razed, but all the retailers’ shops were destroyed. Lord Woolton had organised food relief there as well as in other bombed centres. The points rationing scheme was another of his successes, and it had been helped very considerably in the speaker’s opinion by the operation of the Lease-Lend, system, as many brands of foodstuffs, particularly fish, hitherto unknown to the British public, had been made popular. “Lord Woolton was such a success as Minister of Food,” said Mr Amery, “that last year Mr Churchill entrusted him with the even more important post of Minister of Reconstruction.” While the rationing schemes had been most successful, he concluded, experts agreed that it would now be dangerous to the morale of the British people if allowances of food were further reduced, and he appealed to New Zealanders to do all in their power to increase the export of produce to the Motherland. Mr T. J. Maling, president of the Royal Empire Society, introduced the speaker, and Mr A. S. Taylor, of the Navy League, proposed a vote of thanks. Other bodies represented at the meeting included the Overseas' League and the Victoria League.