Evening Post. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1917. NATIONAL SELF-DENIAL

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 49, 26 February 1917, Page 6

Evening Post. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1917. NATIONAL SELF-DENIAL

Mr. Lloyd Georgo was the first of British statesmen to /appreciate and proclaim the significance of the "potatobread spirit" in Germany. At the outset of the war, when German commerce had been swept frc:n the seas and British ships continued to do "business as usual," and practically unmolested, it wa,s> natural to sneer at the shifts to which Germany was already driven by the menace pf her food supply. But Mr. Lloyd George pointed out that the- admixture of potato in the bread, which was prescribed by the Government and cheerfully accepted, was a, sign rather of Germany's strength than of her weakness, since it implied forethought, organisation, self-sacrifice, and a determination to win the war. It is appropriate that the man. who was so quick to point the moral of what to less forBeeing patriots had been merely a subject for humorous and self-complacent' comparisons, should be in charge of the destinies of Great Britain when she is called upon to brace herself for a gigantic effort of national self-denial. The shortage of tonnage, says the Prime Minister, is the' really vital problem upon the solution of which the issue of the war depends, and ho calls upon the nation to tackle it "ruthlessly and promptly" by four different methods. Naval measures of course stand first in his list. As to these," we may be sure that all that courage and ingenuity can provide will be provided by the Admiralty and the Navy, but Mr. Lloyd Georgo wisely deprecates the idea that n complete immunity can be thus guaranteed. Not even when offensive measures are supplemented by the full benefit of the methods for the acceleration of shipbuilding which the Government has in hand can the country be regarded as safe from Germany's last and most desperate move. The patriotism of the nation as a whole must take a hand in the work of protection, and not delegate everything to its sailors and its soldiers, and the makers of ships and munitions.

The increase of production and the decrease of consumption have long been urged upon the British people as essential to the winning of the war, and much was done in both directions under the late Government. But the need was never proclaimed with such striking force as in Mr. Lloyd George's speech, nor has the exposition 'of a doctrine which everybody can see to be sound been accompanied before by a practical programme which gave it so splendid an opportunity of success. To dispense with unnecessary imports and to increase home production are the two cardinal objects which the Government has in view. "There is no branch of national activity," says the Prime Minister, "where so much ■tonnage would be saved as in the cutting of timber." He calls upon woodmen and foresters' to enrol in the service of the State for this purpose, and he even, hopes to secure a mimber of forests in France, so that the Army in France, with the aid of voluntary labour, may be made self-supporting in respect of its timber supplies, Mr. Lloy-d George calculates that in thfese two ways hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of tons of shipping could he saved. The utilisation of Britain's low-gvade iron ore is another mode of saving tonnage for which he bespeaks the help of employers and workers,

With regard to agriculture the Government does a good deal wore than appeal for volunteers "It is no good arguing," says Mr. Lloyd George. "The farmer must bo given confidence. We must cure the farmer of his plough fright, otherwise wu^ shall not get the crops." The cure which he proposes is a Government guarantee of prices which will apply not only to the present year but to the five following yeai's also ; and it was added by Mr. W. H. Long, with the authority of the Prime Minister, that two years before tho period of six years had expired the whole position would be reconsidered with a view to further action. Mr. Long made another statement which was not of the same reassuring character and can hardly have had the Prime Minister's authority behind it, viz., that the prices proposed are not "likely to tempt the farmers to break up land that would be more beneficial to them under the hoof than the plough." Strictly scrutinised, the statement is a. mere truism, but its plain implication is that the Government's guarantee is not liberal enough. Mr. ]^ong has always been a man of plain speech, but co emphatic, a censure of the. policy just propounded by his chief is so unlikely as to suggest an error in transmission. It would be strange indeed if the first comment on Mr. Lloyd George's offer by which he hoped to set the farmers moving within the next few days was a statement from one of his own colleagues that the offer was not good enough.

As to the effectiveness of the restrictive part of the Government's programme there is fortunately no room for doubt. Previous appeals for economy have fallen in the main upon deaf ears, because an unthinking optimism and high wages have proved more persuasive counsellors. But the policy of restricth* imports is an argument which even ths siren voices of luxury and comfort are unable to overcome. The late Government took some action in this direction, which at the time seemed drastic, but it was trivial in comparison with the new proposal. Not merely luxuries figure in the prohibited list. Agricultural machinery, boots and shoes, books, printed matter and works of art, tea and sugar, Ufa not in gsnpfftl UmtvisHt b«s their imitation, is $>rs}hj,bit«J, ia s^rna cs*ss

because for the present the country is sufficiently supplied, and in others because they must make way for more essential things. The veto on silk and lace and wine should occasion no surprise, nor can the reduction of the output of beer by about 70 per cent, from the quantity produced in 1914 be regarded as excessive. A saving of 600,000 tons of foodstuffs per annum is an argument which must dwarf all the ordinary aspects of ithe liquor problem at such a time as this, yet the Prime Minister says that the increased tonnage and relief of congested traffic on the railways will be a greater benefit still. Altogether it is a drastic programme that he has propounded and a thrilling appeal that he lias made, and ■we believe that the nation will respond to both with the "unflinching and ungrudging heart" for which he asks.