The weekly Alaska citizen., 1917-12-17

'tA O' the grain itself, for cornmeal does not keep well, and European coun- tries have but little facilities for mill- ing the corn. They are mixing corn meal in the wheat flour; but there is a limit beyond which cereals cannot be mixed in the wheat loaf and have the bread rise, and that limit is some where about g or 30 per cent They are using higher milled wheat than we for cConomy's sake, and mixing 1t with other cereals. It makes war bread far less palatable than our corn bread.
 We Use Four Times as Much Sugar
 as Our Allies.
 Another case in point is sugar. We import between one-half and two thirds of our sugar from the N est Indies. The allies formerly drew sugar from Russia. Germany, Austria and Java. They are now compelled to bring their demands to our market, and, therefore, We must reduced our | enough for them.
 1 We consume from 85 to 90 pounds per person per annum. The allies have placed their population on sugar ration of from 21 tC 25 pounds per person. Even this cannot | be supplied without reduction Cn our | part, and France has asked us 10 eX- port them 100000 tons of our supplies at once; otherwise they must stop ! the ration altogether That we should refuse France is unthinkable.
 Besides substitution the other great need Is to save waste-the gospel of less buying, serving smaller portions, the clean plate, to use our food wise l ly in economy. There are a hundred avenues of saving if We inspect the garbage can.
 | ASdlIlI lIItlC tlIt CONTEMPORARIES III which we must reduce consumption. l If we are to supply the allies and our selves both with sugar and fats over the next winter we simply must re- | duce the consumption. By fats we mean lard bacon, butter cream. lard substitutes and soap. We consume nearly double the amount of fats that we need and we waste 2 fabulous amount
 There are other features of food conservation of national importance. One of them lies in the whole prob lem of national savings of people. Whether we meet that expenditure now or after the war. we will have to pay 1t some day from our savings.
 The savings of the people lie in the conservation of commodities and the savings of productive labor. If we can reduce the consumption of the necessary commodities in this coun- i try to a point where our laborers can turn to the production of war materials; if we can secure that bal ance and get to the point where we can free our men from the army. we shall have solved one of the most important economic problems of the war.
 If we are to carry on this war and carry II on without economic danger we must carry major portion of it now during the war from the savings which We make at the present tme If we reduce the waste and unneces- sary consumption of food by mat ter of only six cents a day, we shall have saved two billions per year.
 Conservation has other bearings as well. There are the grCat moral questions of temperance, self denial and selfsacrifce. We have been a most extravagant and wasteful people and it is as truly intemperance to waste food as 1t is to take unaeces- sary drink
 Next year, in order to maintain our allies in war, we must nuke even further efforts to increase the export over last year. and 1t is obvious that we not only cannot do so without con servation, but that unless we do have conservation we must expect higher prices.
 It Is often said that high prices are themselves a conservation measure, but they are a conservation measure of the nature of famine. It Is con servation in favor of the rich and against the poor, The rich will have all the food and variety they need, but the poor must. under this form of conservation, shorten their food allowance and diminish their stand ard of living.
 The only real conservation Is one by which the whole population. rich and poor alike, take their Fart In the provision of these necessary supplies.
 This can only come about cit er by forced measures from the govern