BRITAIN'S FOOD.

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 30938, 23 July 1917, Page 8

BRITAIN'S FOOD.

1 . ' "MEATLESS DAY" ABANDONED. tr ,THE CEREAL SHORTAGE. LONDON, May 13. Tho statement made by Loul Devonport in the House of Lords a few days ago concerning the food situation contained a good deal that iias satisfactory to the country and omitted more than a little that the country hoped and expected to be told. Ho gave little practical assistance to the consumer desirous of.knowing how, in the new circumstances with regard to cereal foods, ho ought to ration himself and his household to the' best national advantage. But lie told us what a good many shrewdly suspected would be the case, namely, that all .the fuss and fluster about the "meatless day" made by the authorities .was so much "barking up the wrong . tree."\ Experience had shown, said Lord D/vonport, that this limitation gave rise to an increased demand for cereals. Commonsensc anticU pated as much beforehand. The casft for the meatless day rested on the presumption that stocks of meat needed'to he conserved more rigidly than stock's of cereals, It has long been evident that this presumption was exactly contrary to the facts, and the Controller's decision to abandon meatless days removes what was becoming a serious handicap upon sound rationing policy. He confirmed the general belief that in regard to moat/supplies the situation is relatively an easy one. The import is undiminished and steady, and flic head of live stock in the country , is at least as large as it has ever been. Another fact which will bring relief to anybody who lias looked squarely at the position is that all unlimited barley in the hands of brewers has been taken over by the Government, ami that no supply of sugar is now being reserved for them. Lord Devonport was also able to assure the country that an increasingly active policy/of interference with speculative dealing in foods is being pursued. The Government control of supplies is being • extended in many directions, and all cereal foods coming into the country arc being bought on Government account, , Most of the staples of life are now being imported under control, so as to be available for distribution as the daily conditions require, and the list, we are assured, will be extended as soon as the necessity arise;). I "If' 3 and An's." . SoNfar so good, though the Government flight to have taken a firm hold of the food speculator's neck long ago. When, however, we turn from these matters to that part of Lord Devonport's statement dealing with the actual position as regards bread and cereal foods generally, and with the question of compulsory rations, the existing grounds for uncertainty and anxiety are not sensibly diminished by what the Food Controller had to say. The word yif" was

too much in evidence. It', we are told, there- is a satisfactory decline in consumption, and if the depredations of enemy submarines are not greater than may reasonably be expected, we ought to win through to the next harvest with a good margin in hand. As to the destruction of tonnage, Lord Devonport did not divulge upon what estimate his reasonable expectation is based. As to the decline in consumption, his view is that everything points to the probability of this being attained to the extent necessary. But .he did not state what the actual decline already recorded, is Captain Bnthurst, speaking in the House of Commons, stated that returns frora a large number of bakers showed a decline of 4 per cent, in their sales in April as compared with March, but this is a mere bagatelle compared to the decline alleged to be absolutely necessary to ensure the "winning through to next harvest" without any margin, According to the "experts" a 25 per cent, reduction is essential, but it is questionable whether up to the present the nation as a whole has effected even a 10 per cent, reduction in its consumption of bread and other food items produced chielly from wheat, Many people have, honestly cut down their bread ration to very small proportions, ami have substituted things made from cereals other than wheat, but the vast majority of people have found their atattempts to find substitutes frustrated by lack of supplies, and by the fact that the substitutes have an unhappy knack of swiftly rising to prices which render them less economical from the pocket point of view than the commodity they are designed to replace. And now we are informed that, even

f we are ready to conserve our wheat applies by "'paying through the nose," or unsatisfactory substitute!*, there is lothing to' be gained by substituting or wheaten bread and Jlour any of tlie ■create the nation has been so wiferously encouraged to use if them. No practical suggestion lias iceii made as to a new system of volun;ary rationing:; yet the allowances laid I down, in that, upon . which wo have ! hitherto been working • were so laid down.on the clear understanding that non-wheaten cereals) were not rationed. Now we are told that they must be; and the question is what precise appeal is to be made to the consumer in regard to his iiso of this, that, and the other. description of food, We-do not know in the least what we all ought to aim at, or within what time our object should, be achieved, or what approximate date the Government will bo able to tell us whether voluntary rationing has succeeded or failed; As a matter oMact, Lord'-Devonport dealt with Mie situation generally \n .such n fashion that the average .person;could only come to.'the conclusion"that the position is> not nearly, so 'serious,- its' the official appeals for' food economy would.;appear '. at ii.rs'tv'bliisj;;to indicate. -.,Qui: -Food Controller, indced> dofilt?with;f,ifc, goiicV'; • iiirv iii' :\. -msiinVoi" iri Avliirji it -is ,iion'(!c ; ivalilP' :: thatv:-fi, '•r,es|ioiiHil)lc' .nian ,i hnvp, ;donlii: Syith it, if,.tho.. ffinta:! vv iLy.i i f.o ; ■liifirj * :".."'t^i t n,'t v_- tvo.'tV''" iweYe'v&iftl^