The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 1919. THE WORLD'S FOOD SHORTAGE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 98, 20 January 1919, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 1919. THE WORLD'S FOOD SHORTAGE

Due , emphasis has been laid in many recent cables upon the urgency of the food problem in Europe and in some areas beyond Europe. It is in fact one of the most serious aspects of the world situation the Peace Conference is called upon to reduce to some sort of order that if visible supplies of food are set against demands there is a considerable shortage and one which is not likely to be made good for some time to come. It is necessary, however, that the shortage should- be made good with all possible speed not only in order that want and suffering may be relieved but in order that anarchy may be defeated and orderly conditions restored in countries which are now in a state of political and social chaos, or are threatened with that fate. Famine, it has been said, is the-mother of anarchy. It is as true and has as practical a bearing on the issues by which the world is now confronted that where anarchy prevails the- difficulty of relieving , famine is enormously accentuated. The food problem as it exists in the world today owes its gravity largely to the fact that conditions in a number of countries directly oppose and hinder its solution. Few more appalling examples of human folly have ever been witnessed than the spectacle of anarchy and famine l acting and reacting upon one another,, most conspicuously in those parts of Russia which are Under Bolshe-' vik rule, and to an only less serious degree in Austria, Germany, and. some other European countries. It is- already obvious that ■ the' food problem is one which the Allied nations and the United States must regard from the broad standpoint of human welfare. They could not afford to consider it solely with reference to their own interests and otherwise in a spirit of detacliment unless they were prepared to see the frightful conditions of anarchy and famine which now exist over a. considerable part of Europe heavily intensified. All self-respecting nations are bound to freely spend their energies in combating these twin evils. Self-interest as well as altruism and humanitarianism enters into the matter.

It is, true that conditions of food shortage, like the related evils of anarchy, tell most severely in politically backward countries where people are least able to intelligently combine their efforts for the common good. But, as in the case of the physical maladiep, often attaining epidemic dimensions, which are the direct outcome of famine and anarchy, the moral contagion of these conditions is in a- • definite sense a threat to the whole world. It is in the interest of all countries, including those which are politically most advanced and have the most hopeful outlook opening before them, that the hungry everywhere should be fed and anarchy by the same act; deprived of its most fruitful breeding ground. To some extent these considerations must govern policy even towards enemy countries, li is mentioned to-day that the British Seamen's and Firemen's Union is summoning an international conference, to meet in London next month, to consider holding up; foodstuffs bound for enemy countries.. If their aim is to ensure that the needs of Allied countries, great and small, shall be first satisfied, and that fair consideration shall bo given to the claims of neutral 1 nations, some of which arc in dire straits, action by the seamen on these lines may serve a good purpose. But such a policy as they propose might easily be carried too far. It would serve no purpose of justice or expediency to accentuate deliberately and without necessity the'conditiqns of food scarcity which are bound in 4ny case to exist for some time to come in enemy countries.

The whole question, obviously, is one which only- the Peace Conference is competent to handle, and it may be taken t for granted that the Conference will in no yray subordinate the claims of Allied nations or of .deserving neutrals to those of enejny countries. The magnitude of the problem which . remains, however, is almost overwhelming. One of to-day's 'messages states, prer sumably in reference to the next harvest in northern latitudes, that according to authoritative estimates the world's exportable wheat, exclusive'of'the next American harvest, will be 23 to 28 million tons, or, including the American harvest, 33 to 38 million tons. This, it is added, will be above requirements if the American and German yields are normal, but it is expected that they will be below the . average. This does not open a particularly bright prospect, but it indicates the boet that can be expected- for something like a. year and a half to come; If optimistic hopes are realised this year's harvest in the Northern Hemisphere may suffice to satisfy demands until the next harvest is reached. But in any case months have still to pass in which all the evils of an acute shortage of food are bound to be felt in some parts of Europe. . are at their worst in North Eussia (i.e., Eussianorth of the Ukraino). where it is estimated that fifty million people are suffering famine or are in danger of starvation, but in its total scope the problem is of the utmost gravity. It was stated recently that there are only three areas in Enropo with sufficient food supplies to last over until next harvest without imports—South Russia, Hungary, and Denmark. This state of affairs exists in spite of the fact that the principal Allied countries largely in creased their crops last year. 'As itompared with the previous year, for (instance, BriEain harvested an additional 30,000,000 bushelo of wheat, Italy 24,000,000, and Franco 35,000,000. But other crops in Prance, according to a recent statement by the United States Food Controller, are short, and tlio nutria tive value of the entire yield is less than that of last year's harvest. As a whole it would seem that for an indefinite time to come it will be necessary that European food supplies should be very largely augmented by exports from America and from the food-producing countrios of the' Southorn Hemisphere, including Australia and New Zealand. America last year sent the Allies nearly twelve million tons of food. "Had the wa' lasted another year," the New To-rk. Outlook declared recently, "we knew that this great amount must bo increased by about six million tons. Yet, so far from relieving us from the burden of that increase, the close of the

war haß only added to it. For the first twelve months after the war, the requirements of food from this country to Europe will be, it is estimated, nearly twenty million tons." The fact that rmich produce is stored awaiting shipment in this country and in Australia and that the latter country is also holding the surplus of three wheat harvests illustrates and emphasises the extent to which shortage of transport is aggravating the food shortage in Europe. Many sided as the problem is, however, its solution is an essential condition to tho restoration of orderly and peaceful conditions in Europe and elsewhere and wholehearted offorts by tho ing nations of the world must go to its solution.