STATE OF SIEGE

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 49, 26 February 1918, Page 10

STATE OF SIEGE

FOOD & FOOD SUBSTITUTES

POTATOES AND BEET

!AN EVIL PRACTICE.

;(1?ROM OUR OWH COIIKESPOSBENT.)

LONDON, 11th December.

Ever since the early days of 1917 a thinking section of the community has wondered why food queues were ever allowed to form. The long lines were first seen on chilly days of winter, intent on getting potatoes, of which there was then a serious shortage. News seemed to spread with amazing rapidity when a sack of potatoes arrived at the local greengrocer's, people ran, a procession formed _up and grew momentarily longer, waited its turn—regulated by the police and blocking the way of hurrying pedestrians with other missions—for its two-pound helping. _ After a bit potatoes became almost a drug in the market, but the queue, once started, decided to become an institution of everyday life, and ever since the beginning of the year the potato queue has been succeeded by the queues for tea, sugar, butter, and sundry fats, bacon, and other commodities. Many cases of fraud have been discovered since the inauguration of the queue, and quite a recent instance was that of a tea-queue-frequenter who, weary from much standing, inconveniently fainted', and was then found to be already in possession of seven pounds of tea on her person. With a satisfactory local distribution on a population basia, and some .sort of systematic rationing, queues would no more have existence. They are an evil requiring immediate attention, and Sir A. Yapp realises that a solution must be found — possibly by the establishment of a pro-., perly organised central 'store. Some suburbs now seem to receive ample supplies of everything that is short, while others may be for a week or longer without replenishment of stocks. In addition to commodities already named there is great scarcity of fresh milk, condensed milk, rice, dried, .fruits (raisins are Is 6d per ib, and in very limited supply), and all,fats. Mr. J. H. Thomas, M.P., realises that the food problem is an international problem arising oufc of the war, and during ite existence he does not consider that a pound of chocolate should' be manufactured; while a child is in want of sugar. Neither should the working man have his glass of beer if it was a cause of robbing a child of food. The proper care of children and invalids must come first, and lie believes that the Government will bo faced by a very serious problem in connection with the queues of women shoppers. He can conceive nothing more demoralising than this scandalous, system—or want of system, and it is for the Government to devise machinery to ensure that all shall have a proper share. FOOD HOARDING. Despite shortage, some people seem able to lay up stocks in their homes, and if they are -unlucky enough to be found out they have to pay pretty dearly for their selfishness. 'For instance, the Camberloy police visited the house of a. local resident, and found 561b of butter, 201b of sugar, 201b of tea, and half a sack of flour. She was fined £5, and her father, a company director, was fined £20 for aiding and abetting, it being admitted that the butter and tea were his gifts. The lady said the articles were nocessary because she daily entertained Sandhurst cadets to tea, and kept open house for them. At Keighle-y (Yorks) a farmer was sent to gaol for three months and fined £10 for a breach of the "Wheat, Rye, and Rice Restriction Order. The police found tho stock and pigs on his farm were eating bread a.nd meal; and they also found 53 loaves of bread weighing 701b. It was stated that the defendant had been receiving 921b of bread a week, and! thera were only five in the family. SUGAR FOR THE DEAD. Not anxious to institute the card system, the authorities have always said that they have resulted, in Germany, in much swindling and bother. The other day the Woolwich Food Control Committee dealt with the,case of a, woman who, on her,sugar card application, gave the names of nine persons as resident in her household. It was found that two of the persons were dead and that-foiw did not live in tho house, the only occupantß being the woman's son and daughter. She had to pay ; £o7 THE CASE OF AN. ADMIRAL'S WIFE. A remarkable case of alleged favouritism by the Ministry of Food to. the wife of an admiral was discussed at Plympton. The local Food Committee, with the sanction of the Council, had issued two summonses in respect of sugar, one of them being, against the admiral's wife, but before the proceedings came on the summons was withdrawn by order of the Enforcement Branch of the Ministry of Food. Strong comments were made at the meeting, and the Council passed resolutions declining ta proceed in the case of the other alleged delinquent, stating that in their view there was no justification for ordering the withdrawal in the case of the admiral's wife. One member said it showed gross favouritism on the part of the Ministry of Food.' ' ABOUT A SIDE OF BACON. Even Sir A. Yapp, of the Ministry of Food, hae not been above suspicion, and he was subjected to some heckling yesterday when addressing a meeting of the G.P.O. .employees. One of them interjected: "Why did you have that side of bacon at your house last week?" Sir Arthur: "I do not think one went to my house." The questioner: "Oh, yes, there was. The carman who took it there told me."- Sir Arthur: "My wile has for many weeks been absolutely unable to get it." Aeked why prices had not been fixed for tea, sugar, and other items, Sir Arthur said they had felt it to be the wisest thing to fix maximum prices, so that there thould;Be a chance of-things becoming cheaper if poE&ible. (Loud laughter.) To another point on compulsory rationing, he said that they had more queues in Germany than, they had here, and it wae found that for the rich there was a back door. Those with the money could get' through and secure what they wanted, while other people had to wait. This remark evoked loud laughter, and some derisive cheering broke out when someone shouted: "That's juet what they, do here." The Chairman appealed for quietude, and had nearly got it when the audiencs wag convulsed by the shout, "Oh! That side of''bacon." DAMAGE TO WHEAT In these days waste of any kind must be guarded against, and a Colchester farmer has had tio pay £5 for permitting two wheat stacks to remain unprotected, j with the result that the corn was green on top and some of it was growing. Defendant said scarcity iof labour was the cause, but the Clerk asked : "Is is not a fact that damaged whoafc is worth,more than other wheat?" Defendant replied that it had been until a recent Government Order, but it was not his object to damage the wheat to get more for it. The Local Food Committee took a grave view of the circumstancee. "S.O.S."—A NEW TPvANSLATION. "Save or Starve"—S.O.S., tho motto to be adopted by the organisers of a week's food campaign throughout the United Kingdom, beginning from 30th December. This movement may be regarded as practically Sir Arthur Yapp's last effort to bring homo to the people the vital neces-

sity of saving in all kinds of food, if compulsory rationing is to be" avoided The movement will start with pulpit appeals ; theTe will be five-minute speeches at theatres, music-halls and cinemas-; and mass meetings in parks and squares, and at the Albert Hall. POTATO SAVOURIES AND' SWEETS. Potatoes are being sold at a subsidised price to bakers for bread-making in order that the bakers may not be able to say it is dearer to make bread with potatoesthan without. But the Food Controller has for the present made it illegal for bakers to use these potatoes for any other purpose, and they are compelled to keep strict records of the purchase and use- of potatoes. One of the cookery experts of the Ministry of Food gave a demonstration tho other day of 34 ways of using potar toes—still plentiful at 14lb for Is—for sweets and savoury dishes, as well as for cakes. Pancakes, cheese-cakes, meat pudding, sausage rolls, .scones, chocolate biscuits, and buns were among the things in which potatoes formed at least half the material. There waa also a seriea of dishes, including puddings of all kinds, made from biscuit meal and potatoes."- Large quantities of biscuit meal have been lying unsold in the stores of manufacturers^ and the Government has decided to take it over and sell it as a substitute for flour. The biscuit meal will probably be priced about 3d a pound bag. It ought to be possible in England, as in Scotland, for the bakers to sell potato scones and cakes. There is an enormous crop of the vegetable in Scotland, most of the large farms in Kfeshire and Forfarshire yielding from ten to twelve tons per acre. In certain districts' the average' is higher. Scottish farmers are gladly accepting £4 a ton for potatoes, although sales at that figure entail a loss of 10s a ton on the Government bare price. England, too, has plenty of potatoes, but restaurant keepers are not anxious to lower their charges, which are never less than 3d a portion, and that not too liberal a helping. SOME EXPERIMENTS. The Deveiopment Commissioners have advanced £125,000 for the purchase of an estate in Nottinghamshire for sugarbeet production, thus establishing a new industry in the land. And they have recommended the expenditure of £50,000 in improving the fish-food supply by installing motors in fishing boats in England and Wales. The Commissioners, too, are thinking of putting much waste land under timber. They 1 have made a grant_ to the British Tonacco Growers' Association, who are conducting experi- ' ments to find out whether tobacco can be grown in this country with profit to the producer. And they are going to grow more flax for making aeroplane cloth.