SHORTAGES IN BRITAIN

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 56, 4 September 1945, Page 6

SHORTAGES IN BRITAIN

SOME WARTIME RESTRICTIONS CONTINUE

(Special P.A. Correspondent.) Rec. 11 a.m. LONDON, September 3. A reminder of the continuation of wartime restrictions is the issue of new clothing coupons. Each person has 24, and they must last until next April. Just how far they will go is indicated by their values: For men, a non-austerity suit requires 26 coupons, an austerity suit 20, a pair of trousers 8, a suit of pyjamas 8, a shirt, with collars and tie, 8; for women, a winter coat 18, a woollen dress li, shoes 7, fully-fashioned stockings 3. For many people it will be a case of "make do and me;~x-"\ ■ The cigarette shortage in Britain has become more intense, and "No cigarettes" notices are becoming familiar. One reason advanced is the heavy demands for duty-free cigarettes for the forces overseas. There are no limits beyond those imposed by individual firms, on the numbers that may be sent to the British or Allied forces j overseas at 5s Gd for 200. It is sugtgested that these cigarettes are being used as currency in foreign countries, where they are traded for all sorts of articles. Many of these find their way back to London, and the "Daily Express" reports that in a dirty, blitzed cul-de-sac off Cutler Lane, in Houndsditch, East London, jewellery, cameras, rings, watches, and propelling pencils —some looted, and some bought for cigarettes—are selling at fantastic prices. For years this cul-de-sac has been the market place of legitimate traders for articles which would not fetch shop prices. It is stated that cameras are now fetching £100, rings £50, and watches £15. SHORTAGE OF BEER. The shortage of beer also* continues throughout the country- A variety of reasons is given, including the shortage of hops, sugar, labour, and coal, and the fact that more young girls are drinking beer today. The hoppicking season has now started, and pickers are receiving the "highest ever" pay. It is Is for two bushels. In previous years it has reached as low a level as Is for eight bushels. The subject of high wages raises the question of how much the working people are saying out of their large wartime earnings. A recent Gallup poll indicates that four out of ten families live right up to their means and do not consider that they possess enough savings to tide them over financially if they or their husbands lost their jobs. Another three in every ten say that they could not hold out for more than six months if work failed to turn up. Only three in ten consider they could exist on their savings for over six months in the event of unemployment.