BRITAIN GRATEFUL

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 125, 23 November 1943, Page 3

BRITAIN GRATEFUL

BUTTER RATIONING

NEW ZEALAND'S DECISION

Numerous subjects of international and national interest^ were touched upon by the members of the British Press delegation at a Press conference in Wellington this morning after their arrival from the north. Perhaps the most topical, even if not in the front rank of importance, was the reference to butter rationing in New Zealand and the reaction of the British people to the decision.

"I think Great Britain would say it was just the kind of thing we would expect New Zealand to do," remarked Sir Walter Layton, the leader of the delegation. "It is not easy for a country which is a producer of foodstuffs to ration itself. It is quite easy for England to ration herself, because the stuff is not there, and the only extent to which we deny ourselves in advance of complete scarcity is because we have to build up a reserve against a rainy day." After all, Britain was in the nature of a beleaguered island, and a beleaguered island very readijy saw the force of having something in hand. England had not overlooked the signi-, ficance of New Zealand's decision and was grateful for it. LOW MEAT RATION. Questioned regarding a statement made recently by Lord Woolton, British Minister of Food, on the question of meat supplies for those at Home, Sir Walter said that the demand for meat, certainly so far as Australia was concerned, was complicated by the very large requirements of the American forces, and tha_t was true also of New Zealand. The problem was to find enough meat to keep the armies in the field and also to supply Great Britain. The meat ration at Home was very low, and worked out' at rather less than one pound per person per week. The rationing position had eased a little for munition workers,, because they got outside their ration a meal at their canteens, which had become practically standard throughout the munition industries. "It comes very hard, though, on the rest of the population who are not able to buy meals out, and that includes the whole of the agricultural community," said Sir Walter. "In fact, these workers have been given a special cheese ration, but somehow I don't think the New Zealand agricultural community would think that adequate. The agricultural workers at Home are working far in excess of normal, and are doing a tremendously good job." RATIONING AND HEALTH. The members of the delegation agreed that rationing of food at Home was sufficient, and they remarked that the health of the people was above normal through the more even distribution of foocLptuffs and better feeding in general. Particular care was taken of the children. A ppint which Sir Walter Layton emphasised was that the King received exactly the same ration as the poorest of his people. Not even well-to-do people could buy an orange; all the supplies, limited as they were, were reserved for the children. Sir Neville Pearson, a member of the party, commented that a great deal of publicity had been given to advice on how to use food to the best advantage, and that had contributed largely to the improved health of the people at Home. The third member of the delegation, Mr. Samuel Storey, said that Lord Woolton had the greatest regard for the butter ration. He looked to the fats ration as the key to keeping the population healthy. Now that New Zealand had rationed herself in butter it was well to remember the extreme importance which Lord Woolton attached to the fats ration. At present it was only two ounces of butter and six ounces of margarine and cooking fat per person per week. "I should think it would be extremely unlikely in the near future," was Sir Walter Layton's smiling comment on a question whether Mr. Churchill might visit Australia and New Zealand some time. "After all," he added, "someone else has a date ;with him." EMPIRE COUNCIL PROPOSAL. Another question put to Sir Walter concerned the proposal by the Australian Prime Minister, Mr. Curtin, for an Empire Council. "I think it is very desirable, to have closer consultations and for the Empire to know exactly where it stands before it launches off into the troubles of the peace," he said. "It is most desirable that there should be no feeling within the Empire, and for consultations to take place in advance. "Mr. Cuntin's point is that the foreign policy of the Empire may land Australia in war in the Pacific, as indeed it has,' and Australia naturally feels that, being a country on the spot which can have its finger on the pulse of events in the Pacific, it should be consulted in advance or even lead in Imperial affairs in the Pacific. No one at Home could even challenge that view. The thing is how to do it. Again, Australia and New Zealand are interested in Europe and should be in at an early stage in the discussions. The problem is how to get the mechanics of some organisation to bring that about." Mr. Storey said the Balfour Declaration had made the position perfectly clear, but he thought they had to go further than that. While it was quite right that each of the Dominions and the United Kingdom should settle their own domestic affairs f£ they were all going to pull their weight after the war there must be wider responsibility. It was going to be very difficult to find the means, but if those means could be provided he thought each of the constituent parts of the Empire should definitely share the responsibility for any action which affected the whole of the Empire. AUSTRALIA AND THE EMPIRE. Of particular interest in view of some expressions of opinion on Australia's participation in Imperial affairs was Sir Walter's reference to the appointment of the Duke of Gloucester as the next Governor-General of the Commonwealth. "I should say the appointment would have been made whatever is happening between Australia and the rest of the Empire," he said. "The decision to send a Royal Duke was made before the war, and was simply an indication of the desire to maintain the personal links which are the basis of the relationships between the various parts of the Empire. These personal things must be frequently renewed. I think that, the appointment having been made, the reception it has been given in Australia will serve to indicate to America and to the world that the feeling Australia has towards the Empire has in no way changed by what has happened in the Pacific." This morning the members of the delegation called on the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand (Sir Harry Batterbee), and after" the Press conference they met the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Nash). A State luncheon followed, and this afternoon the visitors are the guests of the Newspaper Proprietors' Association. Tonight they' will attend a dinner given in their honour by Sir Harry Batterbee. They will travel .to Christchurch by air tomorrow morning and will lunch with the Mayor, local members of the Legislature, and other representative citizens, after which Sir Walter Layton will fly on to Dunedin. On Thursday he will inspect war industries in Dunedin. He will return to Wellington by air on Friday morning. Sir Neville Pearson and Mr. Storey will inspect war industries in Christchurch tomorrow and will be entertained at a newspaper function in the evening. On Thursday they will fly over the Franz Josef Glacier, and will return to Wellington by air on Friday. All three members of the party will" go to Government House on returning to Wellington. On Saturday they will have final conversations with members of the Government and will leave for Auckland by air in the. afternoon.