GERMANY'S FOOD.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17078, 29 January 1916, Page 8

GERMANY'S FOOD.

az extracts from German newspapers cat hare been published broadcast to show the difficulty that the enemy is experiencing in the matter of food supply do not carry complete conviction. It is obviously true that the distribution of food is unequal and that in many towns the shortage of supplies or'"the breakdown of the distributing system has caused rioting, but while this evidence is valuable as a revelation of the internal conditions in Germany there is still wanting a sufficient body of tact on which the enemy's endurance power can be even approximately judged. It is not enough to know that on S ome days a number of people in this town or that could not obtain sufficient food, though if such incidents were sufficiently common we might perhaps look for a rapid growth of discontent at the war policy. What wo want to know is whether in the aggregate the' enemy is obtaining an adequate supply of the various kinds of focd \o sustain his mental and physical energy. A nation may be apparently well fed and yet poorly nourished, and in vhat case the effect would sooner or larer show itself in the temper of the people and in the decline of their energies. Not so very long ago when the question veas r.-ised in ttils shape one of i]>e London journals, with an assumption of practical authority, declared that the war could not be won by academic argument. I fchit the practical Germans themselves have always faced the problem \'f£ the so-called academic fa*fes»*W Their

economic policy was shaped for them by statisticians, econamists, chemists and food specialists. Soon after the outbreak of the war a committee of these specialists was set up to consider the food question, and especially to recommend measures in crdar to counteract what is known in Germany as the British starvation policy. '1 he whole food supply was brought tinder review, it was estimated and elis<ified in the most precise manner, with a view to ascertaining the loss thnt lia'! to be made good through the ttoppage of imports. The requirements of *.ho population in proteins, fats and cat Dohydrates—the essential food substances —wore calculated, and then the committee had to discover whether those requirements could bo met. Protein is an absolute necessity because .fc is the body-builder. It makes good the we; r and tear. Lean meat is the main source from which it is derived, but peas and beans are relatively very rich •n itThen hi addition to the building material there must be energy producers, and that is where the fats and carbohydrates are required. It is impossible here to follow the Gorman experts through their minute calculations, but the character of their work may be indicated. They (v.'culated the average consumption :.f piotein before the war at !J3 grammes per head per day. The minimum requirement is set down at til gramim-a per day, and the home production is intimated at 62.5 grammes per day. Theie is thus a clear shortage of protein in the country, a shortage that is greater than it appears to be because the population cannot be expected to adjust itself at once to the minimum requirement or to arrange a perfect distribution of the foodstuffs. The committee had therefore to devise means by which the supply could be increased and waste could be eliminated, and an elaborate series of recommendations was drawn up to these ends, and alter a thorough investigation the conclusion was reached that the German peop:e could sustain itself, by careful economy, in spite of the starvation policy. But the effect of the committee's report, which has lately been published in English, is really to show that unless the most drastic supervision is exercised over the food supplies and unless the system of distribution is thoroughly organised and efficiently administered there is bound to be a difficulty in feeding the population. The margin is too small to permit of serious errors, and actually the stories of food riots show that the serious errors arc, occurring. The administration at home must bo as efficient as the administration in the field if the nation is to wage war for a long period, and any action that tend's to reduce the margin on which the Germans arc working must operate favourably for the Allies. That is ono reason why the blockade of Germany is so important. Unfortunately the blockade cannot be made complete, and neighbouring neutral States are helping the Germans through with foodstuffs. But they, too, are suffering through the interference with foreign supplies, and as wo saw the other day the Allies are taking steps to acquire surplus stocks from neutral countries. The purchase of Rumanian wheat, for example, is designed solely to prevent the grain from falling into the hands of Austria and Germany. .No one believes that Germans and Austrians can be starved, but it is the policy of the Allies to see that the enemy's anxieties oh the sulv ject of the food supplies are not easily relieved.