SCARCITY OF FOOD IN EVENT OF WAR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1847, 22 May 1888, Page 3

SCARCITY OF FOOD IN EVENT OF WAR.

i _* 1 Id an address dulivo-ed before the London Chamber of Commerce, Captain F. Warreu, of the Royal Navy, endeavored to show that in the event of war we should experience considerable difficulty, the captain thinks, in obtaining our focd supplies. Though our wealth and our prosperity, he says, make U3 the envy of other nations, they know our weakness, and will take advantage of it when the . opportunily comes. The beat thing we. can do, thorefore, ia to prevent the opportunity coming by_mladlng our own „ business and leaving other people to mind theirs. It does not follow, however, as Captain Warren seems to imply, that even if we were unfortunately provoked into war, all other nations would combine to oat off our supply of food from abroad, j It is with nations as individuals — those who have plenty of money can always manage to find plenty of friends. Out* "wealth and prosperity " of which Captain Warren speaks, would go far to prevent the disastrous state of things which he conjured up. The gallant captain urges the Government to adopt the polioy of Joseph in Egypt, and to Btore up a Bupply of oorn sufficient to keep U3 going for a ' year or so in tho eveut of the outbreak of war. To carry out such a proposal would be to send up the price of bread at once, and this wonld hardly be desirable, ' Captain Wf-rren vraa nearer the mark when he urged that we needed in this country a land settleraant whioh would give to out agriculture fair- play by putting it on an equality with that of other nations. Thie would settle the whole diffioully, for the best authorities admit that we have land enough to yield a sufficient food Bupply for the whole poople if it were only prop3rly cultivated,— »" Daily Telegraph."