Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1918 — ALLIES SUFFER FROM FOOD SHORTAGE [ARTICLE]

ALLIES SUFFER FROM FOOD SHORTAGE

Success in War Imperiled if American Homes Do Not Come to Rescue. HUN PROPAGANDA AT WORK Stories Alleging Plentitude of Food In Allied Countries Jeopardize Cause of Allies—Correspondent Tells of Conditions in France. Washington. ments from unknown sources, purporting to show that there is no food shortage in France and other allied European countries, are creating a wrong impression in the public mind and seriously hampering the government’s food conservation program, declares the United States food administration. The administration can only repeat what It has said all along on the basis of official government statistics: There is a serious food shortage in France, and in other allied European \lands, —shortage which, if not made up by conservation in American homes and shipments from American ports, will Imperil allied success in the war. Any statement, Innocent or malicious, which alleges a plentitude of food over there is German propaganda, pure and simple. Get Wrong Impression. Persons returning from Paris have unintentionally Jeopardized the cause of the allies by giving American newspapers their flash impressions of food conditions in France. Explaining how Fred B. Pitney, American corespondent, recently returned from France, said: “I have kept house in Paris during the war and I can speak from experience. One learns a great deal when keeping house of which one gets no inkling when living in a hotel and eating in restaurants. One can always go to a restaurant and get a meal. “I have heard many visiting Americans. who lived in France in that way, pooh-pooh the idea that there was a food shortage in the country. If those same persons had hnd to search the market before they had their meals, they would have gained a very different idea of the food situation. “We paid last winter in Paris 11 cents apiece for eggs and $2 a pound for butter and there was frequently neither butter, nor eggs nor milk to be had. Private families were allowed to buy one-eighth of a pound of flour at a time. The grocers could not sell flour, only the bakers.” The Meat Situation. Scoffing at the idea that there is a shortage in France, one article recently published in the United States declared that a Certain Paris meat market advertised “beef a la mode” and other real meat items as “meatless day specials.” This, according to Pitney, may easily have occurred without at all indicating that there was no meat shortage in France. With regard to the meat situation Pitney said: “The French government is very bureaucratic, but the French people do not like to be overgoverned. They object seriously to anything that savors of meddling in a man’s private affairs. “Saying how much or What a man ' shall eat Is getting pretty close to private affairs and therefore the French government knowing intimately the people it has to deal with, is slow — s-l-o-w —in coming to’such measures even in face of the only too evident food shortage In the country. “So far. meat has withstood all efforts to control its consumption—there has been no attempt to control its price, and yet it is vitally necessary to control, the consumption of meat in France or to increase the supply.” Herds Are Disappearing. With regard to the published statement in this country that France’s herds are sleek, fat and plentiful, Pitney said: “France’s herds are disappearing rapidly. They are today far below the

danger point. Soon they will have to be reconstituted entirely. To what extent the herds have disappeared is shown by the cutting of the meat ration of the soldiers at the front. At the beginning of the war they -were allowed one pound of, meat a day. Twenty per cent has now been cut from that ration. Only dire necessity will countenance reducing the food allowance of soldiers at the front. “At the beginning of 1914 France’s cattle herds comprised 14,787,710 head ; sheep 16,131,390 and hogs 7,035,850. By the end of 1914, after five months of war, her cattle were reduced to 12,668,243, her sheep to 14,038,361 and hogs to 5,925,291. Today her cattle herds are down more than 20 per cent, while her sheep number no more than 10,000,000 and her hogs 4,000,000. “Cattle feed is short in France and the cattle are poor and underweight.” National Price Fixing. Concerning the statement that there are plenty of beans and potatoes in France, Pitney said: “A scheme of national price fixing is to be tried now with beans and potatoes. Both of these crops are far below the requirements of the country. I have seen many days when potatoes could not be bought in Paris.” The statement that there is plenty of rye and barley in France, which has been given wide publicity in this country, is flatly refuted by Pitney, who said: “It is not only wheat that is short in France, but all cereals. According to official figures, the annual consumption of barley in France before the war was approximately 1,250,000 tons, 15 per cent of which was imported. Produc-

tlon has fallen off so that nearly onethird of the barley had to be imported .in France last year. “The normal consumption of rye is about the same as for barley, but normal imports are only.about 8 per cent. In 1915 the production was about 400,000 tons under normal and no Imports were available. Italy Worse Off Than France. "The annual consumption of corn average 1,150,000 tons, about one-half being Imported. The proportion of imports in 1916 had risen to two-thirds. “The annual consumption of oats before the war was 5,500,000 tons, of which 500,000 tons were Imported. In 1916 these Imports rose to over 1,000.000 tons and the stock was still 500,000 tons short.” Broad general statements have been published saying there is no food or supply shortage, in Italy. They are of the same stripe as the statements concerning France. Italy’s plight, if anything, is worse than that of France, according to official reports in the hands of the United States government.