"THE DANGER LINE"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3138, 17 July 1917, Page 9

"THE DANGER LINE"

<, BRITAIN AND THE FOOD CRISIS A NATION ON ITS HONOUR

A frank statement on the food situation was made by Mr. Kennedy Jones, At.i., the Director-General of Food Economy, at meetings of 'his constituents ?• "I J' ou frankly," lie said, that in the.matter of l>rcad-stuft's today we are faced with a situation -which is undoubtedly grave. Tho actual situation is this: Our stocks of food-stuffs are low. The U-boat is something moro titan a menace; it is an active and actual danger. Tho shortage of tonnage, the partiaj failure of tlio -world's wheat crop, and tlio depredations of the dastardly submariuo all comljjfrie to bring about a shortage in wheat and flour which, unless it is faced boldly and sensibly by the -people of this country, may •>"£ . us near '° " 10 disaster. * c l^liitik what a calamity it would mean to civilisation if tho coming months— between now and tbo September harvestany dire and serious shortage of fond should lend strength to those craven souls—thero are very, very few of them, thank Heaven—who want an inconclusivo jrcace and would snatch from our brave fellows in the trenches the full fruits of that triumphant victory which the doings of the last few days plnco straight and sure in tho not distant future. (Cheers.)

"To avort the unthinkable possibility of an inconclusive peace all must join iii a great and honourable game of sacrifice. I know all the facta concerning outdomestic larder. I study tho figures of our imports from week to week, I have studied ail the submarine figures, the sinkings, the losses of valuable cargoesall the details of tlie oargoes of precious food-stuffs, wheat, and 6ugar -which lie rotting at tho bottom of the sea—and I am convinced that if the voluntary food rationing as laid down is carried through by the people of this country with a single eye to lielping to tide over the critical days between now and the next harvest thore need he no crying for bread; no one, in fact, need feel tlio pinch of shortage of fond.

"On Your Honour." "'A nation on its honour' is now the proper compliment of a nation'in arms.' (Cheers.) Tho whole question you have to settle for as is—shall wo get 'through to September with tho stocks wo have and are likely to have at our disposal, or shall wo be compnilsd to ration you by compulsion on tickets, to subject tlio housowives to long waiting in queues, to tho risk of receiving insufficient supplies, to all the troublo and annoyance of tickets and inspection and espionage? "In my humblo judgment there will be no need for that if everybody 'plays tho gamo.' Thoro need not be a single hungry -mouth if you—every man anil Woman—will be your own food eontrolers. What I want to soe in tho United Kingdom is 10,000,000 food controllers, and I want them to start each Monday morning with this good resolve: 'I will eat a pound less of bread this week than I ato in normal times.' It is a simple thing—two ounces leas of broad per day than you used to eat. It is ft piece of bread two inches wide, four inches long, and a little over one and a quarter inches thick.

"It is not a great sacrifice to savo this country from compulsory rationing and to destroy the last hope of the Hohenzollcrn, and if everyone of ns took that resolve, to eat two ounces less of bread, and observed it thero would bo no food problem. Wo should, 1 firmly believe, carry on over tho bad times ahead of us without any strain upon our resources, and ill view of tho news from tho front I belicvo that by September wo /should liavo compelled tlio Kaiser to throw up the sponge." (Cheers.) The Danger Line. Appealing to tho people to play the gamo loyally and enthusiastically, ho said: "Bread wasto is bullet waste today. Every crumb should Ikn saved, and tho person who eats a crumb moro than he needs, tho servant who throws away a crust, the housewife who fails to exercise the most careful supervision over tho rationing of her household, each is helping tho enemy." (Cheers.)

"Let mo mnko this clear to you. There is a danger lino below whicli our stocks of broadstuffs between now and September must not bo allowed to fall. Wo know what it is; wo havo clearly defined it. It will vary, of courte, from month to month ns wo approach the harvest, but there from week to week is the danger line, broad and red. on whicK kept a constant and unerring eye; aud if. in spito of all the warnings and appeals to patriotism and honour, the country, as a whole, in a mad spirit of indifference, refuses to respond to tlio ap-

peal for economy in tho uso of bread, if, in short, it bccamo evident that Hiero was a real conspiracy to ignore the restrictions, wo should at once institute compulsory rationing. It is tho business of a Government to govern, and of war thoro should bo no trifling with national necessity." (Cheers.)