BELGIUM'S FOOD SUPPLY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3047, 7 April 1917, Page 10

BELGIUM'S FOOD SUPPLY

MR. WHITAKER'S ALLEGATIONS NOT SUPPORTED. By Telegraph—Press Association. Chrislchurch, April 6. . Sir James Allen received a cablegram yesterday from the High Commissioner on the subject of Mr. Whitaker's report alleging lenient treatment of the Belgians by the Germans. The.'High' Commissioner has cabled that there was nothing to support tht rumour- circulated by Mr. Whitaker. Mr. Hoover, chairman of the Belgian Relief Commission in Belgium, had declared that Mr. Whitaker's (statement was: riot'ac? : curate, and quite, misleading;-; Al-"-■ perhaps, no actual starvation owing to generous contributions to distressed Belgians - from.: • all ■ parts of the British Empire, there was . nevertheless great privation among the bulk of the Belgian people.'' A few of the nyealthy might.: full supplies, but thci'o was serious want among the great majority of Belgians. [A cablegram published on Tuesday last ran as follows—Mi' l Whitaker states'in "The Times" that the Germans, are remarkably lenient .in Bel- . gium. Brussels .and' Antwerp are ■ well" supplied with food, which lias, been produced in Belgium as plentifully as before the -. war. The shops * and theatres are crowded- with fashionable ; women. The statements havo produced a sensation, because all tho world had understood tliat Belgium was starving. The Belgian Embassy does not deny ■ ■'■ 'the truthfulness of the. statements, but the secretary: of'the'.'Belgian. Relief Committed writes generalising upon the : hardships experienced during the German' occupation.] •'.'■'