FOOD RATIONING CONTROL

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24850, 23 March 1944, Page 4

FOOD RATIONING CONTROL

Whether there is a function that can usefully be performed by district food rationing advisory committees remains to be seen. A great deal will depend on whether the committees are not only given a definite job to do but also allowed to do it. As the committees are described as advisory, it is doubtful whether the prescription for usefulness will be fulfilled. There are already many advisory bodies in this country, most of them condemned to frustration and neglect. It is probable that the rationing committees could make useful suggestions to fit local circumstances but it is another matter whether they will be heard. Nor does it seem altogether fair to enlist committees for the war against black marketing. That should not be the business of an advisory body. It is primai-ily a task for the Administration assisted by the police. Incidentally the Administration has made the task more difficult by its uneven handling of rationing. Success must depend largely on civilian morale, which in turn depends largely on the assurance that rationing applies universally, that all are treated alike. Each type of rationing has been introduced as if it were allembracing and then, unfortunately, exceptions have come to light. Many of the exceptions could possibly have been justified, and would have been equably accepted, had they been announced along with the general order. It is the feeling that extra rations have be.en won by pressure or favouritism that can undermine civilian morale. Other groups are encouraged to apply pressure and the ordinary individual justifies himself (although wrongly) in evading the regulations because others have obtained favoured treatment. District committees cannot cope with such a spreading situation. The remedy rests with the Administration.