French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1916-1919, 1917-05-10
CONFLICTING IMPORTATION.

fEH&N IAZ-#~
OF course the reaction from the
alarmist statement recently given out
by Secretary Lane was bound to come.
The situation in Europe is being sim
mered down and it appears that the
trouble is mostly a shortage of coal in
Italy,a lack of ships by England, a lack
of men by France and military disor-
g~anization in Russia. In undertaking
to arouse thepeople of the United
states to the gravity of the. war situa-
ton. Secretary Lane and Others nave
Simply oVer-done the thing. This plan
of trying to scare the public into a
performance of its duty is the wrong
policy. The New York Post wonda-s
whether the wild-eyed panic it might
produce would prove less dangerous.
to a successful prosecution of the war
than lazy complaisance." Secretary
Lane practically asserted that the sub,
marines r SINKING twice as many
ships as; the Germans themselves
cfalm TO have sunk" That pa
per states a trurth when it says thar
we are facing the same difficulty from
winch England has been suffering since
the beginning Of the war, and that is a
lack OF co-ordinated work among re-
spons1ble men in addressing the pub
lie" Abundant incidents might be
cited. On the other hand few have
been able to contine themselves to con-
sentative statements such as Secl erary
Lansing vas content to make. It was
only last week that Lloyd-George as
serted that England would this year
secure three or four times as much
tonnage as she built last This,
The Post points out, would mean
something like 100000 tons. Lloyd
George further said thai the regula-
ton Of imports would save 1900, 900
tons of freight for essential purposes;
that a million acres had been added to
England's cultivated area and< that
next cal three million acres would be
added to that. making England indie
pendent of food imports" In contra
dict1on to this was King Georges pro-
clamation to the people to cut down
their ratiOns twenty-five per cent. On
ment of all. Lord Percy, shipping ex-
pert with the British commissioners
now in this country, declares that there
lis now in the British overseas domin-
ions awaiting transportation to Eng
land no less than 10 $1,000, 900 tons of
wheat or nearly twice the annual re-
quirements of Great Britain" This
wheat cannot be moved for lack of
ships. This embargo wheat would be
sufficient to feed Great Britain a whole
lyear and leave some for France and
the other allies. The Post seems to
belive that there may be doubt as to
ACCURACY of Lord Percy's statement.
1t all goes to show the d~esirability OF
theauthOrities getting together upon
their facts. AS it stands, official in
formation appears to be below par.
The public will come to have less con-
idence in it than in the general run OF
news. We have a high American Off
cial claiming that more U-boat victims
than the Germans lay claim to; a for
eign official tells us of an undreamed
of supply of wheat; the British premiel
speaks optimisticaIly OF the food sup
ply, and The King issues a proclama-
ton calling upon the people to econo-
mize-is it any wonder the public
does not know what to believe? We
may be sure of one thing-the pessi-
mists will make the most of the oppor-
tunity.-CharEotte Observer.