The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-02-02
PICTURES new YORK CITY HELD
BY ENEMY ARMY, AS STRICKEN
BY famine AND WALLED BY STEEL
Herbert c. Hoover Appealing for $6oooooo Month for
Begians Compares What Might Happen Here With
What Has Happened Abroad.

attack or seizure. We employ hun
dreds Of tugs and railway cars. We
operate warehouses, mills, factories,
and monthly distribute 220.000,O00
lbs of bread and 100000 pounds of
bacon and lard, 100000 tins Of con-
densed milk, BEANS corn, coffee,
sugar, and thousands Of tons of other
commodities. Our dependents every
month consume the wheat product OF
nearly 100000 acres Of American
lands.
'To ensure efficiency we have ask
ed for and always received the advice
and gratuitous service of the world s
greater commercial houses and banks
and accountants and food experts
The monument Of our efficiency lies
in the fact that the bread sold in Bel
GUM to those who can pay has al
ways been from Is per cent to 20 per
cent cheaper than in New York city.
ITO assure the integrity of our or
ganization we maintain bureaus Of &C
counting, audit, statistics, and inspec-
ton, covering the whole range from
New York and Buenos Aires to the
last village in Northern France and
Belgium.
Beyond all these questions we have
had to take a direct or indirect con-
troll over the native food supply OF
the country With all the resources
we could assemble there could be no
hope of maintaining this population
alive unless we could reduce their
food consumption by at least fifty per
cent, and to do this we must direct
ly or indirectly control every man S
food In fact, we must Depress con-
sumption down to the absolute crust
upon which the human body can
maintain an existence in health. Such
reduction of consumption must be
accompanied by a rigid adjustment of
food supplies to various classes, a
rigid Justice in distribution to each
Individual, lest if some obtained more
others might starve.
ssSuch~ an instance as this lies in
| the feeding Of the children. From
early in the work special meals in
public canteens were provided for the
babies and mothers but in July last
year the physicians of the country re-
ported to us an alarming increase in
glandular tuberculosis among adele
scent children. We Immediately in
stituted an investigation, and develop
ed the fact that the growing children
Of the industrial and middle classes
were showing signs of undernourish-
ment and that we must find and Pp-
ply immediate remedy. We turned
to the public schools, to the teachers
organizations, to the use Of the build
ings and we installed a daily meal to
/ 200, 900 school children as an extra
and supplemental supply, in extension
| to the 10000 babies to whom we
| were already giving special food. This
| extra service costs over million a
month on to our burden and we ask
ed America to help us in this for the
children, but with poor response.
I'VE never have seen day when
our finance was certain for sixty days
ahead, NOR in two years time when
our cont bets did not exceed our as
sets FROM five to twenty million dol
lars. The Belgian Relief is haunted
in every dark hour by the grim trag-
edy of possible failure.
| Americans opened the door to Bel
GUM and have founded and sustained
this enterprise in it's administrative
and in it's political phases. We felt
that it was the national duty for
America who stood out unframed in
this vast swelter to keep alight the
lamp Of humanity. OF the $780,
900, 900 spent in this work approx
imately $3O,000,O00 has come to our
hand from the-public benevolence of
the world and less than 100000 of
this sum has come from the American
people, And with the exception of
| one great gift of $1,000, 900 it has been
/ the little rills of charity Of the poor
towards the poor. The great bulk of
! this expenditure has been furnished
/ by the allied governments and has
been debfted to the Belgian govern
ment or to the Communes or Munich
palities in Northern France which
have received its benefits. They have
i yet to repay all of this expenditure
and they assume this burden cheer
fully and with the dignity Of free
men.
"Of this vast sum of money we
have spent over $150,oOo,0O0 in the
United States in the purchase Of sup
plies and of this sum America has
made war profit of at least $50,
600. Gentlemen, Europe has begun
to take stock of us. We laid claim
to idealism, devotion to humanity
and to great benevolence.
/ This has a wider import than mere
| figures. Time and time again wher
i the door to Belgium threatened te
/ close we have defended it's portals
by the assertion that this was ar
4 American enterprise, that the sensi-
bilities of the American people woul6
/ be wounded beyond measure, would
be outraged, if it's work were inter.
fered with. Our moral strength has
been based upon this assertion. 4
believe that it is true, but, gen
tlemen, it is difficult in the face OF
figures I have given to carry con.
4 viction and in the last six or eigh,
months time and again we have fell
our influence slip from under u.s.
with the growing exhaustion ani
desperation in Europe We can count
with no confidence on the continual
ton of our governmental subsidies
We are faced at any moment with
the inability or unwillingness Of these
governments to continue to find these
vast sums of money. Even assum
ing that our present subsidies of s14,
100000 a month were continued, they
are wholly and absolutely inadequate
to the situation which confronts rs
today with the growing cost of foo6
and transport, the growing necessitie:
of our people, unless we reduce theil
already pitiable supply. Today we
must have $17,000,0QO to $4,000,
!, 600 per month. We need an add
tional three to five million dollars
month