FOOD, FEED, FIBRES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 46, 24 February 1942, Page 6

FOOD, FEED, FIBRES

STORES FOR POST-WAR '■■■ ■ NEEDS:' '

RUGBY, February 22

"Man's- primary needs when the shooting; stops will be 'food, feed, and fibres'-^-food and clothes for himself, and feed for his animals," said Mr. Arthur- Greenwood, speaking in London on the work of the Allied PostWar Requirements Bureau.

"The situation we shall face," he declared, "will be infinitely graver, and on a much larger scale, than at the end of the last war. But we at least have this advantage. We have started our preparations in good time."

Sketching the progress of the plans, he said: "It is over a year and a half since -the British Government began to consider the problems that would arise at ;the end of hostilities. We were confronted with the fact that the war. apart -from military destruction, had every where. dislocated' trade and markets. We saw. piling up in warehouses and. on quaysides vast quantities of goods which could not be moved. Some of these export surpluses were perishable. , Others could be stored. So we began to consider how the dire necessities of exporting countries could be relieved, and we had a lot turned to good account by building up out of their surpluses resources which could be made available for the sustenance of starving Europe when hostilities ceased.

"It became a very complicated problem. Some surpluses grew. Others vanished and faced us with shortages. But out of our experiences we began to work out a plan for post-war relief. These preliminary steps were followed last autumn by an Allied meeting at St. James's Palace. All our Allies agreed to a resolution declaring: 'It is their common aim to secure that supplies of food, raw materials, and articles of prime necessity should be made available for the post-war needs of countries liberated from Nazi oppression.' ESTIMATING EUROPE'S REQUIREMENTS. "We thereupon developed our bureau. This is now building estimates , of the immediate requirements of the liberated peoples of Europe, with a view ; to making the necessary provision. for the day when we can go to the aid of the victims. How big this task will be cannot yet be foretold. But we know it will call for international co-operation and organisation stretching far beyond the provision of human food. We expect that there will be surpluses available in the world of something to eat, something to wear, and something to drink —wheat for human beings, maize for animal food, cotton and wool for clothes, and coffee and tea to drink. In other words, our primary needs will be food, feed, and fibres. "We will have swiftly to rush food, feed, and fibres to the places where ( they are needed. Shipping may be a difficulty for a time. Inland transport on the Continent will be in parlous condition. We shall no doubt have to grapple with epidemic diseases. These problems call for organisation, and plans are now being worked out. They will carry us out of the field of relief into that of reymstruction, which must go on hand-in-hand with emergency measures."—B.O.W.

A tribute to the work done by Methodist home missioners during the past year was paid by the general superintendent of Home and Maori Missions; the Rev. G. I. Laurenson. at the Methodist Conference today. The staff had made excellent progress under difficult conditions, he said. The missions' debit had been reduced by £200, the returns from the circuits being the best for. twelve years. Many outstanding improvements had'been made.