The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-01-05
GERMANY FACES
FOOD SHORTAGE,
EDITOR ASSERTS
Kelley Cites Berlin Tage-
blatt's Complaints Against
the Food Dictator.

ltOr or Inc chicago Herald, puDuSn-
es the following article in that paper
this morning.
Writing recently in The Herald,
pointed out the seriousness Of the
food situation in England and France
created by the sinking Of ten ships
day-a recent editorial in The Daily
Mail puts the figures at eleven-by
German submarines. In the article I
spoke briefly of the food conditions in
Germany and Austria, stating that
they were worse than in the allied
countries. To this statement a few
readers Of The Herald took exception.
To-day I offer evidence from the
Berliner Tageblatt Of the accuracy Of
my quotation. In it are these preg-
nant facts:
Potatoes-Original rations of one
and one-half pounds a day reduced
on Jan. to three-quarters of pound
a day.
Meat-Ration reduced to less than
half a pound on meat days.
Butter-A trif1e over two ounces a
week
Milk-ExtremeIy scarce and price
rising.
The Government has been forced to
make war allowances to persons with
an income of SLIPS. Originally aid
was extended only to those whose in
comes were $525.
The highly significant Tageblatt ar
ticle insists that the auxiliary. service
law Ito secure ammunition) must be
followed by a war nutrition law to Sc
cure a supply of food. 1t then says:
after the experience of six months
it is hardly possible to imagine that
the War Nutrition Office is capable Of
performing its task any better in the
future than in the past. Shall one
point to the fact that the potato ra-
tons, which originally were intended
to be one and one-half pounds a day,
have already been reduced in Ber-
lin to six pounds a week, and that a
general reduction of the daily ration
to three -fourths pound will take place
on Jan. II? Is one to call attention
to the disturbing fact that at present
even the bread ration of 1900
grammes (about four pounds) a week
can in many cases only be obtained
with difficulty? Is it possible to over
look the inadequate supply Of meat
for the people? Again and again the
hope that the meat ration could be in
creased has been disappointed. al
poultry, can now only be obtained
by ticket. Why, in many places one
can no longer obtain even $50
grammes (about one-half pound) Of
meat, but only 200 grammes or less.
Milk Is For Sick and Children
eff one is lucky, one gets sixty
grams "a little more than two oun-
ces) Of butter a week. For months
past cheese has become something
almost unknown for the mass of the
people. Milk is supplied at best only
to little children and sick persons. Ev-
cry now and then the War Nutrition
Office issues a consoling communrca-
ton, but generally the words are not
followed by deeds. On the other
hand, it is ones almost daily expe-
rience that foodstuffs which hitherto
could be obtained have vanished from
the market. And all rf1at can still be
bought costs impossible prices"
The Tageblatt article then goes on
to demand the setting up of real con-
troll for the whole empire, the break
ing down of agrarian privileges, and,
in particular, compulsfon of all the
States to abandon their special right.
The Vorwaerts published simulta-
neously an article called 1.-THE Net Re-
suit of Long Speeches. containing
bitter criticism of the Prussian Diet
debate and saying that the only new
feature is the insistance by the agra
rians upon the fact that the food diff
ficulties will continue long after the
conclusion Of peace.
The life Of Herr Won Batocki the
GOOD Dictator" is not a happy one.
Less than month ago he received
-
of German officials, who asked that
the servants Of the State should have
additional rations Of bread, potatoes
and fats. Herr Won Batocki ex-
pressed much sympathy, but said that,
as regarded bread and potatoes, the
most he could offer was the prospect
of additional bread tickets in specially
deserving cases. AS regarded fats,
the outlook was unfavorable, and
there there was no prospect of in
creased production Of milk and but
ter until the return of warm wealth
err.
Ten days before. Christmas the Ger
man papers devoted a great deal of
their space to the food question, par
ticularly to a projected rise in the
price of milk and the impending re-
duction Of the rations of butter and
fat
The official explanation is that there
has been "a surprising falling off, in
the production of milk, the reason
being that the supplies of fodder with
which the farmers endeavored du-
ring the past year to maintain their
stock of mich cattle are now ex-
hausted, and this years fodder has
been so spoiled by the wet Summer
that, although the cattle look splen- !
did," the quantity of milk is decreas-
ing. A second reason is said to be
that the farmers need large quaint
ties Of skim milk, which is now the
only food for calves. There is said |
to be no prospect of any consider
able quantities of skim milk being
available for the large towns
A series Of questions to be asked in
the Hessian Diet by the Deputy for
Mainz are interesting. They assert |
that the daily supply Of milk to the
town Of Mainz has been reduced since !
the beginning of December from H.
900 quarts to 1000 quarts, whereas |
the normal consumption before the
war was about 10000 quarts, and at j
least Is, 900 quarts a day are nece.- ,
Sary in order to secure the fixed ra-
ions of whole milk for sick persons |
nursing mothers, and little children |
alone.
The cold fact is that food is scarce |
n Germany and Austria, and judging
rom the German papers, it is going |