Millions May Starve in Europe

Chronicle (Levin), 27 March 1946, Page 5

Millions May Starve in Europe

Press Assn.-

THREAT OF FAMINE NEXT 120 DAYS WILL BE FATEFUL

: By Telegraph

■Copyright

| ' Recej.yed Tuesday, 10.5 p.m. ROME, March 28.The next 120 days, until the gather- ' ing of the new narvesc, will decide v/hether 5i>0,0o0,0u0 people in 19 countries will he lorced to soarve or recerve aqequate stocxs of fooa to preveiu a iamine, said lvir. Herbert Hoover before leaving fpr Warsaw. Twen-ty miliion tons oi" food was needed ro feed 19 nat- j ions. The situation in Italy was very ! seirous, ajLchuugh tue present calories jntaxe of tne rraLans was abopt 1500 • each daily. 'rherj were only su-flcient suppnes m Itaiy ipr 30 days, and Italy j wo'alct be fac.ea with reai disaster jm- j less f cod was brcught in within the 1 next 'month.

The American delegate, Mr. C. Tyler Wood, told the Unrra C.oun.cil in Nev^ York that the Russian armjes in Aus- , tria were at prespnt req;iisitipp.ing enough land to feed hpndreo^ of thous- : ands. He said tnat, tn,e practie.e of armies nving off the people they liherated could pe cljeckeji, Uhi'ra must refuse tp lpwer jijie living lev.el o.f other countries by pouring into countries liite Austria a dispropprti-iiate amou-nt oi l'elief supplies. He said that, assuming that only half the land in Austria which the Russians had re.quisitioned was arahle, tne .cereals produced on it would prov^de a brea:l and flour ration for more than 2o0,000 people yearly. The Russians had also opposed unrra suggestions that the oil and petroi necossary for th,e relief pf distjressid areas should be given to Unrra without cost froiq iud.genous prpduction at present under Soviet control. The Russian delegate, ;.:Mr. N. I. Feonov, who eariier had fought agains: the CouncJ discussing the subjeet, walked out of the meeting while Mr. Wood talked. Mr. Wood asked the Council to consider the following programme for the occupying armies: Firstly, that they should eat only perishahle foods, such as fruits and fresh vegetables; secondly, that they should make available to Dnrra whatever supplies of oil and petrol were found in occupied territory. The British delegate, Mr. J. P. NoelBaker, said that British visitors to Austria had brought back most harrowing accounts of conditions there. He said that it was more nearly threatened with

[ extinction than any other country in Europe. SALE BELOW COST. I A call to the council of the Nationai j Farmers' Union to warn Britain that the era of foo.d soid to Brit±sh marxets i at less than the cost of production was j ! over was made hy Mr. James Turner, > its president. , "There has obviously heen confusioni i ahout the real sigpiflcance of the siun i ; of approximately £46,000,000 involvea ; in the Fehruary price adjnstment," he! said. | ' ' The overwhelming part of this j : total was accounted for by wage and i other costs which it was known woiiljd | he horne hy the industry during the 1 period under review. ' ' The small balance will do no more j than reduce sJLghtly the further large i decline in the net revenue of the indus- j try, following the heavy f all which oc- ! curred in the last two vears.

| "With this decljne in agriculture 's j j revenue and an increase in its costs, i . with millicns of pounds being paifl out ! I hy the Exchequer to peg retail prices of j I food supplied from all parts of the j wprld, with a totaliy inadequatp laboar | forpe 'and an appalling state of rural | h.ousing, with the certainty pf fa^ijnp j ahroad and the cpnseqqenpes pf pre-Ay.ar negLect pf agrienlture at home, wj£b every nat-io-n turning more and more fpr its well-being to the proper cultivatjpn of the seil, Eritain is cpnfrpnted w'th a prohlem more serious than sue seems i to realise. i "Wearing the 'hlinkers' of artificial j i prices, the consumers of this nation are | blind to the actual cost of their food. \ "For too long workers in urhan ?'n- j dustries have had their earnings subsid- ! ised by the cheapness pf their food and ! the labour of the workers who haye ' helped to produce it. "The travesty iz now gi.'ded hy G.oy- | ernment responsibility in the matter, j i and what was formerly drained from | world agriculture is now being de- j manded of our own taxpayers in order j that this country can preserve at least j the illusion of cheap food. "I feel that this counc'.l should warn j the country, ' ' he said. ' ' The nation is j no longer in a position to obtain such ' terms, and if agriculture is to plan its! course so that the world shall he well fea for all time, the country should i understand clearly just what the alter- j natives are. To agriculture they are 1 obvious: Either food is bought hy j people as they buy any other commod- 1 ity — at a price that will yield a reason- j able margin over costs of production— | or we continue -with artificial prices j made possible only hy the thxpayer i suhsidising the consumer."