Greymouth Evening Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1946. SPECTRE OF FAMINE.

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 March 1946, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1946. SPECTRE OF FAMINE.

’J’HE urgent need for full public support for the voluntary saving campaign to provide more food for Britain and other overseas countries should require no emphasis. The only point of disagreement is the question of the adequacy of the measures decided on by the Government. Few will deny that this country can spare a great deal more from its bountiful supply of foodstuffs to ease the famine conditions at present facing the people of many countries. The success of the campaign depends, therefore, on the will of the people generally to make a. full contribution.

The threat of famine is real. For this reason one of the more vital post-war Allied conferences will shortly be held in London, when the Food and Agriculture Ministers of various European countries and representatives of international organisations concerned with European problems will meet to consider measures to ease the crisis caused by the world food shortage. The Conference has been called by the Emergency Committee for Europe, whose chairman is the British Minister of State, Mr. Philip Noel-Baker. This Committee has already recommended member Governments, pending the London Conference, to take immediate steps to increase supplies of home-grown grain and other crops.

Britain’s answer to the recommendation of the committee may be seen in the recent announcement by Mr. Tom Williams, Minister of Agriculture, that compulsory directions will be reintroduced to secure the sowing in Britain of at least 2,500,000 acres of wheat for the 1947 har-

vest, which is at least 300,000 more acres than last year. To secure the maximum practicable acreage of Britain’s potatoes and sugar beet the present compulsory directions will continue. Mr. Williams also stated that the British Government would make all possible arrangements to secure the necessary labour, and announced the start of a new campaign to recruit for the Women’s Land Army, as well as a new scale of prices for agricultural produce which is regarded as likely to assist in bringing wheat production to a very high level.

The announcement, by Mr. "Williams; coming at a time when British farmers might reasonably be expecting to revert to a more normal balance in agriculture, constitutes a significant lead to other nations in tackling the problem of food shortage. As the Daily Telegraph commented, for British agriculture war conditions are to be restored and continued. That is her contribution to . the world problem. The main task of the London Conference will be to close the gap between the available cereal supplies and human consumption requirements in Europe in the interval till the next harvest is ready. To this end the conference will consider such measures as the adjustment of biead. and flour consumption, change in flour extraction rates, more use in flour of grains other than wheat, and the restriction of non-food uses of grain and feeding giain to livestock. On her own initiative Britain has already adopted many such measures. "When the European war ended Britain sent large quantities of her own war-time foodstuffs to liberated Europe. . The British civilian, far from getting more food as he hoped, has accepted a reduction of rations, and the same measure has been enforced in the services. A lead has been given to the nations of the British Commonwealth; it is unthinkable that the British people should be permitted to make sacrifices alone. Although the New Zealand Government has showed an obvious unwillingness to impose ration cuts on the public as a whole at this particular time, the voluntary abstention for which it has called should be given a fair trial. Common charity demands it.