REVERSE LEND-LEASE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 47, 8 February 1944, Page 5

REVERSE LEND-LEASE

EFFECT ON NEW ZEALANDERS HARDSHIPS CAUSED BY WAR "Whatever the. actual figures may reveal, there i.s no possible doubt about the effect of reverse lendlease upon the civilian population of this country," says Mr J. Russell Hancock, a manufacturers' representative at Wellington, in a letter published in the December issue of the United. States foreign trade journal, American Exporter. "For many months of last year our allocation of eggs "\vas half to one dozen per week. For many months there were no apples to be hud—an unprecedented, experience in this apple-growing country. "For months past there were no potatoes to be bought. Fresh fruit and vegetables are very scarce and very expensive. Canned green vegetables, fruits and soups are unobtainable. I do not think my wile, and 1 have eaten a dozen oranges between us. in six months. I'or a while Ave could get limited .supplies of oranges lor the children by means of special arrangements with the Plunket Society, if we cared to use part of our ration ol one and a half gallons of gasoline per month to travel the necessary three or four miles and return. | "The housing situation at Wellington is ve'ry nearly desperate.. With my growing family L mought an old property early last year with the idea of doing, it up. During last winter wc lived with a large part of the house open to the weather, not for days or weelcs, but l'or months. After the earthquake we had no chimney for months, and for months the water Hooded the house whenever it rained. For nearly a year we have lived without wallpapers on the walls or carpels on the floors. "I. may add that although I am ail Australian I. entertain the greatest of respect for the New Zealand pcopls, for their outlook, their peacetime achievements and their war effort,"' adds Mr Hancock,