THE PROBLEM OF FOOD 13 



desirable may be taken for granted; they are now, 

 unfortunately, a necessity. 



While accepting this to be the case, I would venture 

 to appeal to the authorities to be perfectly open, and 

 to let us know the whole truth of the matter. Vague 

 statements do not convince, and are sometimes contra- 

 dictory. People are not impressed by being told that 

 a controller "views the situation with alarm", unless 

 they know how much is required to alarm that par- 

 ticular gentleman. It appears that alarm is frequently 

 founded upon calculations of loss by submarine attack, 

 on the assumption that it will continue to proceed at 

 the same rate as the present. If the curve of destruc- 

 tion be examined, a glance will show that it has 

 steadily declined, although in a somewhat irregular 

 fashion. 



We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that enormous 

 quantities of wheat, jam, meat, and other things come 

 to us from overseas for the supply of the army. If we 

 were told that we in England must be satisfied with 

 less than usual in order that the army should be well 

 fed, no one would make any protest. There can be 

 no question that the astonishing freedom from disease 

 is, in great part, due to the good food supplied 

 abundantly to the troops. One might perhaps be 

 inclined to be doubtful whether the meat ration might 

 not be somewhat diminished in favour of more carbo- 

 hydrate. But I am aware that this is a rather con- 

 tentious subject. 



It is universally agreed that the present is a very 

 critical period in the progress of the war, and the 

 question may very well be argued whether it w r ould 

 not be better, in the interests of national efficiency all 

 round, to postpone any possibility of underfeeding 

 until absolutely necessary, leaving the future to take 

 care of itself. 



