MOTHER COUNTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 February 1917, Page 5

MOTHER COUNTRY.

THEIBftEMIER*S STATEMENT. HOUSE. TOJWMffi PROBLEM MJJST BE TAOKIiBD. DfcAfitlo SACRIFICES NECESSARY. '(Beuter Service). Received Feb. 24, 5.5 p.m. London, February 23. Mr. Ltoyd George (Prime Minister) i inade hia promised statement, the House of Commons being/ crowded. Amongst those present were Mr. Massey and Sir TKobert Borden. Mr. Lloyd George, in opening his said the ultimate success of the Allied cause depended on the solution of the tonnage difficulties. Over a milIsm tons of our shipping had been allocated to France alone, and a considerable ankrant to Russia and Italy. > There had also been a considerable amount sunk. Not only was there a shortage for the.general needs of the nation, but also for military purposes. The nation must be prepared for drastic sacrifices to cope 'with submarining, otherwise disaster confronted us. The tonnage problem must, therefore, be tackled ruthlessly and promptly by naval measures, 'building new ships, dispensing With unnecessary imports and increasing home food production. THE ONLY POLICY. Referring to submarining, he greatly emphasised that while the Government was hopeful that it would be able to deal with the menace we should be guilty of criminal folly if we vested ] our policy on a tranquil anticipation of j our ability to realise that hope. "I want ' the House and the country to realise that we must be able to carry on the war to a victorious end, however long it may last, even though we fail to hunt the submarines from the deep. We cannot build our plans on any other policy." He proceeded to show that whatever measures were adopted, complete immunity from piratical attacks was impossible. Ho instanced the wars of Louis XIV. At Trafalgar we commanded the sea, but a hundred of our ships were sunk annually. Hence the necessity of concentrating on tonnage, a question which was a really vital problem. Shipyards must be utilised to the utmost for anti-submarine craft, besides merchantmen. TIMBER AND IRON PROBLEM. "With regard to imports, the problem of timber, whereof 0,400,_ 000 tons were imported last year, must foe dealt with. In order to save tonnage, an investigation would be made of the be3t methods of economising timber. The French Government had given two forests for the use of our army in France, and he was afraid we mußt ask for more. The supply of home timber must.Sftlso be increased He thought we could fell enough trees for all purposes. We were importing millions of tons of iron ore, while there was plenty of low grade ore in Britain. If we could augment the supply of labor we could enormously increase the output and there would be a large saving of tonnage therefrom. Unfortunately that would not come until late in the year. INCREASED FOOD PRODUCTION y IMPERATIVE. Continuing, Mr. Lloyd George said, our food stocks are at present lamentably low, not owing to submarines, but to a bad harvest. For the safety of the nation we must make every effort to increase the production in 1917. There were few weeks wherein to sow spring wheat, barley, and oats, but in order to induce farmers to plough pasture land immediately it was proposed to guarantee farmers a minimum price for a definite period, while a minimum wage would be fixed for agricultural labor. Rent raising would be prohibited and the Board of Agriculture would enforce cultivation. The guaranteed minimum price of wheat per quarter would be 60s in 1917, 55s for the next two years, and 45s for the next three years. Paper exports would be reduced to 040,000 tons, Which was half the present allowance.

RESTRICTING IMPORTS. All essential foodstuffs would be freelisted. tut apples, tomatoes and certain raw fruits would foe prohibited, and oranges, bananas, grapes, and nuts would be reduced to 25 per cent, of the 1916 imports. Canned salmon wonrd be reduced by 50 per cent., mineral water would be prohibited and cocoa and coffee temporality stopped, as we have~largo Btocics thereof. The importation of foreign tea would be prohibited, whfle even the. importation of Indian would be reduced <» * certain extent. This would atire SOOjOOtt'tow. He regretted exceed■Satyvihe stoppage of efirtjin tauries y. £ste

beer would be reduced to ten minion Darrels, saving 600,000 tons of imports for its manufacture. Spirits would be correspondingly reduced. These restrictions would be imposed immediately and steps would be taken to prevent speculative buying, and, if necessary, a Food Controller would control these commodities. If this programme were carried out and those able to help in produclion did help he had not the slightest doubt that we could face the worst the enemy could do. TESTING NATIONAL GRIT. I I GERMANY'S LAST HOPE. ! (Reuter Service!" Received Feb. 25, 5.5 p.m. London. February 23. After feTerring to the immense demands made by the Allies on tonnage, the Premier said that Germany had concentrated upon building submarines in order to destroy our mercantile marine, as she fully realised that w&a the only effective way of putting out of action what was considered to be the most formidable item in the Alliance, hut, he added, "the Government is proposing measures which we think will be adequate, though they mean an enormous sacrifice on the part of every class in the community, and the national grit is going to he tested." He went on to point out that in twelve months before the war fifty million tons of shipping entered British ports, but in the last twelve months that quantity had been reduced to thirty millions, the reduction being attributable almost exclusively to the fact that a very larijc portion of the tonnage had been allocated to our Allies. BUILDING NEW SHIPS. NEED FOR GREATER OUTPUT. PIECE WORK ADVOCATED Received Feb. -25, 5.5 p.m. London, February 23. ( Continuing, Mr. Lloyd George said lie was convinced, after examination of the problem and hearing what the employers and workmen said, tlwt the output could be very considerably increased by alteration of methods. Wherever payment by results had been introduced there had been an increase in output at the shipbuilding yards of from 20 to 40 per cent., and he made a special appeal to the unions concerned in shipbuilding to consent to the introduction of this method. In some of the yards the system had already been introduced. It also involved an undertaking on the part of the employers. If large wages were earned bv the men as the result of special effort, no advantage must be taken of that to reduce the rate, for he was certain that if they lmd any intention of doing anything of the kind, not merely the Government, but the House of Commons would deprecate the attempt. It was essential to get as much work as possible out of the yards, not merely for building ships for the mercantile marine, but for craft to cope with submarines. Our shipbuilding ea'pacity. which waj the greatest in the world, was barely adequate to the gigantic task. French and Russian contributions were very substantial, but the main burden fell on the shoulders of Britain, which could bear it successfully right to the end. OVERCOMING TIMBER SHORTAGE. Coming to the question of an increased home production of timber, Mr. Lloyd George said tliat of the 6.400,000 tons'of timber imported last year, two million was for pit props, the remainder being for the milifarv forces here and in France. He referred to the Committee's suggestion as to the increased economy of timber, and said that arrangements tt-ere being made to carry out the sug. gestion. Another suggestion was in the direction of making the Army in France self-supporting in this respect. If we managed to secure a number of forests in France and the labor to cut it down, there would be an enormous saving in tonnage in respect of timbfr. A third method was.the developing of home supplies, making Britain self-supporting during the war, and not long ago this Was done. That was the question they were devoting themselves to. AN APPEAL TO FORESTERS. Mr. Lloyd George said he believed that several hujnl.;ed.s of thousands, if not millions, often? of shipping could be saved, and he appealed to woodmen and foresters to enrol their services as men for the Army. The State would then appeal to thousands of unskilled laborers to assist- the foresters. There was no branch of national activity where ,eo much tonnage was saveable as in the cutting of timber. SUPPLIES OF IRON,

Dealing with, the subject of iron ore, the .Premier said: "We ate importing millions of tons yearly, and cannot cut down the supply that is essential for shipbuilding, machinery, rptttniHona and

agrienltare. We must find ships for this purpose at al! costs or diminish the efficiency of the Army and Xavy, and that would be folly unless the mineral in this country—and there was plenty of it—was oE rather a low grade, liufc the quality was pood. It did not pay as a commercial proposition, and it was cheaper to get a better class of ore from Spain, hut this was not a commercial proposition: it wan a proposition for getting ore without using up tonnage. This involved an increase in blast furnaces and more labor, hut there was no margin in the supply of the highly-skill-ed men who worked the blast furnaces. He specially appealed to both employer and workers to assist this matter; and for tlic unskilled men they must trust to the people. SHORTAGE OF FOOD SUPPLIES.

Dealing with fond supplies, Mr. Lloyd George said tliat for twenty years after the corn laws wore abolished they produced twice as much wheat as imported, but since tlien four or five million acres ef arable land had become pasture, and about half tlie agricultural labor population had migrated. No civilised country in the world had spent less, or even as little, direct]y aiid indirectly. than we did, but be wanted the country to know that food stocks were than ■within recollection. In the main this was due to the worst harvest within recollection, last year's crops having been a failure. This produced a very serious effect when our tonnage was being absorbed to such an extent by the wnr. INCREASED PRODUCTION IMPERATIVE. It was = essential to the safety and life of the nation that we should put forth immediately every effort to increase pro. (taction this year, otherwise <lie nation may have to choose between diminishing its military efforts or under feeding the population. The lack of 1 was partly the reason which pre the farmers from increasing the - cultivation. He promised that an effort should he made to meet this by not calling up the agriculural ablc-hodied men, but the greatest obstacle was the timidity of the farmers to cut up pastures. It' was no good arguing with the farmer; he must be given confidence, and we mr cuif the farmer of his plough friglr. otherwise wo should not get crops. PRICES WILL KEEP UP AJTER • THE WAR. He did not believe that prices would he going down immediately after the war. Germany, nft«s the war, would be a greater purchaser than ever, because her land had been let down, and that was true of the whole of Europe. The crop-raising land of Europe would not raise as much per acre as before the war, as it had been impoverished, become unclean, and would take years to make the harvest-raising soil as good as before. The demand for foreign fooil would be greater than ever, and he thought there would be high prices for some time after the war, but, he added, "I. cannot persuade the farmer that this work is necessary, yet I must persuade him of it, and do so within the next few days.'' The Premier mentioned several corollaries to guaranteed prices, including n minimum wage for agricultural laborers, no rent-raising, and power to enforce cultivation. The guaranteed prices for oats in ]!>l7 would be 38s <od per quarter, and in 1018 to Ml<l, 42s lid, while the price for 1020 to 1'922 (inclusive) would also be guaranteed. The price of potatoes this year would be £6 per ton. AN APPEAL TO THE FARMERS. He hoped, after these guarantees, that the farmers would put their backs into it, and help to defeat the greatest menace that ever threatened the country. DISPEXStBLE AND INDISPENSIBLE ARTICLES. As measures 'he had so far outlined could not materialise for months, he had to consider what the nation could do without. Reviewing the Committee's report "egarding dispensible and indispensible articles, he said ho would deal first with paper, which absorbed a good deal of tonnage. Tie expected that the restricted impqrts would be distributed equally botween the printing and packing trades. The importation of printed matter, books and periodicals, would be prohibited altogether, other, wise ib would be unfair to our home trade. With regard to foodstuffs, he said that we imported a large quantity that was not essential to the national well-being, although it might be very desirable. He outlined the various articles affected as already cabled, adding: "We must to a much larger extent depend on home-grown oats." Taking all these categories of feeding stuffs together, he hoped to save over 000,000 tons per annum, much showed the extent we relied on foreign countries for such commodities. Then there were the manufactured articles and articles of luxury. We shall have to stop the importation of a very considerable number of t!'\se. He regretted Hi at the stoppage ol importations from Italy and France would be a iblow to certain industries, hut we were driven to it, not enly for ourselves, but for the sake of Franco and Italy. He was sure that if these countries had to choose between the two, they would prefer saving the ships for other purposes, BEER MUST GIVE WAY TO FOOD.

Referring next to importations for the manufacture of.liquor, tlio Premier declared he was not approaching this ques. ti'on from the standpoint of temperance or national sobriety, however desirable that might be, but it -was purely a matter of combating the submarine menace and guaranteeing the nation against the possibility of famine or privation. These considerations had induced the Government to decide that it wouid be impossible to continue to sanction the absorption of such an enormous tonnage of foodstuffs in grain as long as the nation -was faced with the prospect of a shortage of essential foods. It was Btated in 1914 that there were thirty-six million standard barrels of beer brewed in this country. In 191G this was reduced to million, the result being partly due to two or three million adults leaving Great Britain, and not much beer being exported to the Army in France. It was not possible to guarantee food for the country without taking a deeper cut into the barrelage, and it must be reduced to ten million gallons. That would save nearly 600,000 tons of feeding stuffs per annum, which was nearly a month's supply of cereals. That was the direct saving, but the indirect, in the shape of increased tonnage and relief to congested traffic on the railways, would be greater. He recognised that he must guard against driving the population from beer to spirits, which would be a serious disaster. He was therefore imposing cor. responding restriction on the supplies of spirits. r AN APPEAL FOE CO-OPERATION. There were, said Mr. Lloyd George,

other restrictions, .such as leather in the raw hides, but he had given in the main a summary of the restrictions, and he proposed to impose them immediately. He appealed to the House and the country to take them as a whole. ,: If," ho added, "all those called upon to suffer these restrictions and limitations will' suffer tiiem without complaint, then I can honestly say we can face the .worst the enemy can do, but if it were conceivable that the nation is not prepared to do and endure all these things, then I say, with Ml solemnity, that I do not know of a body of honorable men who will undertake to be responsible for one hour for this terrible war." CONSIDER THIO If EN AT THE FRONT Tn concluding his speech, Mr. Lloyd George said: There are millions of gallant young men at the various theatres of war suffering torture, terror, death, daring and doing. They were the (lower of our race, and unless the nation was prepared to take its share of the sacrifice, theirs would be in vain. It would be a crime, and a black crime, for any Government to ask tiiem to risk their lives in the*coming conflict if they knew the nation behind them was faint-heart-ed and selfish, and that their sacrifices were thrown away. For that reason, he submitted to the House and the nation proposals which he hoped the nation would approve and endeavor to carry out with an unflinching and ungrudging heart.

OTHER PROHIBITED ARTICLES. TO OPERATE FORTHWITH, ■Received Feb. 25, 5.5 p.m. London, February 24. In addition to the articles tliat Mr. Lloyd (Tcorge mentioned, the Gazette prohibits the importation of agricultural machinery, antimony ware, apparel (except waterproofs), works of art, basketware, bocfcs, printed matter, daily, weekly and other periodicals (imported otherwise than by single copies through the post), boots and shoes, and the materials therefor, brandy, cotton hosier;', I'lreks, embroidery, lace, fancy goods, artificial and fresh flowers, raw fruit (except lemons and bitter oranges), glass manufactures, hats, gloves, hides, raw jute, leather, linen (including manufactures), matting, printers' colors, perfumery, photographic apparatus, plated wire, rum, tinned salmon and lobsters, silk manufactures, manufactures of skins, furs, soya Beans, sugar, tea, typewriters, wine of all kiwis, wood, timber (hewn, sawn, split, planed or dressed). The prohTffltiou operates forthwith. It does not apply to the goods imported under the Hoard of Trade license. The speech gave rise to the impression *,hat meat imports would he severely restricted. This is unfounded as the Gazette does not mention meat. DOMINIONS AFFECTED, Received Feb. 25, 5.15 p.m. ( London, February 24. Mr. W. H. Long, 'Colonial Secretary, on behalf of the Premier, announced that the importation of rum would he stopped and the importation of winea and spirits wcfhld he reduced 75 per cent, as compared with 1013. Mr. Long said that 'Voluntary rationing was, to some extent being evaded. He gave a warning against haste being used in adopting compulsory rationing, lest worse should befall, as had already been the case in Germany. He believed fiat if a little time were allowed thepeople would keep to tlie rationing system. ' The Dominions and the Colonics were affected by the restrictions, and felt them severely, but met the Government in a spirit of extreme generosity and goodwill. (Regarding home production and th« fixing of prices, Mr. Lloyd Georgp wished him to say that two years before the period of six years terminated, the Government proposed that the whole thing would be reconsidered, with a< view to settling what would happen when the six years expired. As a practical farmer himself, li? would say that the prices .of cereals as named by Mr. Lloyd George would not open up to farmers such a golden prospect as would be likely to tempt them to break up land that would be more beneficial to them under the hoof than under the plough^ MR MASSEY INTERVIEWED. FAVORS A DOMINION NAVY. London, Fell. 2;i Mr. Massey, interviewed, said he expected the conference would sit for weeks. Personally lie was opposed to surrendering a Bhred of the Dominions' selfgoverning powers to the proposed Imperial Parliament, which must be restricted to internatiinal affairs. He had become a strong advocate of the creation of a locally-controlled New Zealand navy. Lord Newton, in the House of Lords, said that Switzerland had intimatwl that she cannot accept further contingents of incapacitated Germans.

Lord Newton continued: —"In pursuance of the cold-blooded murder policy announced they are as ready to sink their own incapacitated men as ours, consequently interchanges nt present are suspended. The Germans are only interested in a few highly-placed personages •who are in our hands." MEATLESS DAY CAMPAIGN. London, Fel). 23. The newspapers have inaugurated a campaign for a meatless day weekly and fcave asked hotels and restaurants to cooperate. A number of the leading clubs Jtave adopted the proposal. The Lord Mayor of London has adoptod a. meatless day. A VFjRY <IRAVK STATEMENT. Received <tVb. 25, 5.5 p.m. London, February 24. In the House of Commons, Mr. RundIjnan, in a critical speech, said the Premier's statement was very grave, The imports were cut down a year ago, and It had been possible more drastically then, but it was necessary to have a healthy public opinion thereon, which could only be fostered by the press. The Governmonfc should carefully consider the question of .the accumulation of paper by wealthy concerns, and arrange for pooling paper supplies on an equable basis.

THE EAST LONDON EXPLOSION. A PURE ACCIDENT. London, February 22. A vordirt of death from misadventure was recorded at tlie inquest, on several of the victims of the great East London explosion. The coroner said there was nothing to suggest that the disaster was other than a pure accident. THE WAR LOAN. NEARLY '£800,000,000. GERMAN PRESS SNEERS. Received Feb. 25, 5.5 p.ra.i London, Feb. 24. Mr Bonar Law will make a full statement relative to the War Loan on Monday. The subscriptions arc believed to total nearly eight hundred millions. The German newspapers continue their efforts to belittle the result, and even those which admit that it represents new money assert that only a portion i.i available. The Cologne Gazette says that even if the net amount reaches six hundred millions it is a pitiful result. '' It is significant that the newspapers couple their allusions to the loan- with boastful anticipations of the submarine triumph. i CORN3RING FOODSTUFFS. WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. A. & N.Z. Cable Association and Reuter Received Feb. 25, 11.10 p.m. London, February 25. Through the 'Press Bureau Lord Devonport (Food Controller) notifies that upeculative buying and cornering of foodstuffs with a view to raising prices Will not be tolerated. POSTMEN AND SORTERS FOR SERVICE. London, February 23. Eleven thousand London postmen and sorters have been withdrawn for military service. MEDALS FOR DOMINION NURS'ES. London, February 23. Royal Red Cross Medals have been awarded to the following New Zealand-ers:—First-class: Matron-in-chief M. Thurston. Second-class: Matrons E. Nixon and F. Wilson, Sisters J. M. Qilner and M. 11. Wilkie. SEDITION-MONGERS ARRESTED. Received Feb. 25, 5.5 p.m. London, Feb. 24. Further arrests bave been made <Kt Dublin, Limerick, Gahvay and elsewhere, including a number of those recently released in England; also Gaelic League officials, THE ARMY AND NAVY. Received Feb. 25, 11:5 p.m. London, February 25. A Wlute Paper shows that there are five million troops on home and colonial establishments, exclusive of those serving in India. There are also additional Navy estimates for £O,OOO officers and men.