The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-09
CHEERFUL ABOUT
 LOSING LUXURIES BritOn Takes the Hard
 Knocks With a Grin TOBACCO CUT DOWN Beer Is Restricted-StOpping of Rac- ing Caused Loud Outcry-Average Englishman Gets Peevish Over
 Little Things; Bears Big Ones
TOBACCO CUT DOWN


 Little Things; Bears Big Ones
 London, March 30-(Special Correspond eilce Ut is perfectly true, of course that the average everyday Englfshman has felt the war far less than the people of any other of the warning countries or even than some neutrals, but never theless, his habits have been upset and he has had to get along without a lot of things that were regarded as necessl- ties or at least necessary luxuries in the days which seem so long ago, before hostilities began It is small credit to him, perhaps, that he has accepted these deprivatons without serious protest, and at most with little good-natured grum- bling, for of course, these minor hard ships are nothing to those to which the men in the trenches are exposed every day and hour nor to those which the inha bitants of Germany, for instance, have to put up with There can be no doubt, however that if the government feels called on to impose even greater hardships or restrictions they will be met in the same spirit. It is characteristic of the Englishman that he grouses'- tc use his own expresslon-at the little things, but sets his teeth and smiles when the big thing comes along.
 LEADS PUBLIC OPINION
 There seems to be a popular delusion in some quarters in this country that the coalition government does not lead but follows public opinion. It is true that it does not act until public opinion is prepared to accept it's action, but it is also true that it carefully leads pulp lie opinion along the path that it desires public opinion to take, and by the time ;@ ir, assured of minimum of opposition, and it is interesting to note that the more come the fewer are the "grouses' that are heard.
 About the first thing that the govern ment decided that the ordinary stay at home Englishman must do without was his racing. This was blow to thou sands of Brtons who hardly know a horse from a COW, but whose one ex- cents) on race.' The reason for stop ping racing was to economiZe the rail- way service and also to help the people to save. This step-the mildest of the lot-caused the most outcry. Serious let ters were written to the newspapers de claring that if the British workingman could not have his bob on a horse the industry of horsebreeding would decline, and there would be remounts for the cavalry. The government sat tight and said nothing and the opposition died down.
 Then came the cutting off of the cheap railway excursions to seaside and pleas ure resorts, the cheap shopping trains from the provinces to London and sim liar railway concessions. There was also a dra stic revision of the time tables and the looping off of all the trains that were not considered strictly necessary for the traffic. The government had taken over the railways and was using them pri- marily for the military needs of the country, and secondarily with strict eye on economy. These changes, of course, caused inconvenience to many thousands of people, but there was never mur- mur. Even when the London street car service cut off the cheap rates for work ingmen early in the morning and late at night not a word was said. The British Workingman grumbled a bit to himself, but he didn't write to the Times, nor did he get his representatives in Parlia- ment to ask worrying questions about it. He just paid the increased fares or walked.
 But there was still worse to come. For generations the British workingman and his more prosperous brothers have been supposed to be devoted to their beer, just as their Scottish cousins have been sup posed to be devoted to the stronger drink of their country. The government in the interests of war economy and industrial efficiency dared to interfere with the Britons beers-and nothing happened. The brewers talked big about revolution, but the revolution failed to revolve. h. stead of having his drink when he liked the British workingman has settled down quite comfortably to taking it between noon and 2:30 p. m., and between and 8:30 D. m, and at no other times. Even the Scotsman has surrendered his right to have his dram when and where he likes without a murmur.
 CUTS DOWN TOBACCO
 Embroidered by the success of this vic- tory over national habit and an ex- tremely powerful trade, the government has now announced that no more raw tobacco is to be imported, and although no announcement has been made it is reported that the stocks of tobacco in the country will be largely reserved for the troops at the front. The tobacco trade also is a powerful. one, but it is saying next to nothing, While the smoker has not even raised his voice. The com- mon sense of the Englishman tells him that if there are not ships enough to go round they are better employed in carrying food than tobacco.
 The new prohibitions will also Include more than half of the paper and paper making material imported and "a good deal of the fruit. The Englishman will have to put up with smaller newspapers and perhaps pay more for them and with fewer books, and he will have to learn to do without a good many of the tropical fruits such as oranges, peaches grapes and other varieties to which he has become accustomed as daily articles of diet Bananas, on account of their food value, are to be excepted from the embargo and perhaps limited quan- tity of oranges will be allowed to come in for the use of the sick, but the big American and Canadian apples will dis appear from the market and give place to the less attractive looking but quite as well favored home grown varieties.
 The one deprivation that has caused and is causing steady grumbling is that of light in London and other large towns, and the reason for that is that the 1n- habitants do not believe that it is neces- sary It is adopted, of course. as pro lection against hostile aircraft, but It IS pointed out that all air raids so far have