Denver labor bulletin., 1917-11-03


denied reports of meager resources
in order to give France greater pres
tige in peace councils. This, the writ
er shows, is a dangerous policy since
il results in conflicting reports and
weakens confidence of the people IN
their government.
Telling the truth about the food sit
uation in France is an extremely dlf-
ficult thing to do, for one comes I'M
mediately into contact with so many
counter currents of opinion. There
is no question in the mind OF anyone
conversant with the facts that 1t is
not with Germany, but with the Al
lies. as well, that the food situation
is serious and needs prompt and ef-
fective treatment. But in the en-
deavor to deal with this question one
finds constantly in the official MIND
an attempt to reconcile two inrecon-
cilable positions.
Governments Alone Cannot Win War.
On the one hand, there is the open
and full recognition of the seriousness
of the situation, of the demand for
prompt, full and efficacious coopera-
| ton and coordination of effort among
all the nations warning against Ger
many in order that each may be able
10 sustain its striking power at the
point Of highest efficiency. This opln-
[ ion recognizes that governments alone
cannot win the war. It must be war
( Of the Allied peoples against Ger
many. And this opinion sees the ne
cessity Of laying the situation fully
and fairly before the people SO that
| they will voluntarily adopt the conser-
walton methods necessary to victory.
On the other hand, confused in the
same minds with this opinion there Is
an idea that If the people are told too
much they will become frightened and
will weaken. That is a bald statement,
very plainly put, but that is what 1t
/ boils down to. The statesmen and pol
iticians have peculiar idea that they
are the only men who are far-sighted
enough and strong enough to face the
whole truth and go on fighting. So
they try at the same time to arouse
the people and to reassure them.
We find n fine example of this IN
the submarine. On the one side we
are told that our efforts to overcome
the submarine must be redoubled,
while on the other side we are told
/ the submarine is failure and 1t is
to laugh at the German threats. In
regard to food we are told that the
Allies must guard their every resource
and Immediately on top of that we are
told they have reserve stocks for the
next three years. We are told that 1t
/ is vitality necessary for America to
put a great army in the field at once
| and in the same breath we hear that
the Allied preponderance in man
power over Germany is increasing
every day.
Whole Truth Must Be Known.
How can one expect to arouse a ma
ton TO war with such a stream of con-
Trajectory statements? My own opin-
ion is that the people of all the AL
lied nations are strong enough to
know the whole truth and that know
ing il will only make them more de-
termined and fight harder, while at
the same time their collective action
will be much more intelligent. do
not believe in any government trying
to win this war. / believe that only
an aroused nation will be victorious.
And | believe that the way to arouse
the nation is to lay every shred of fact
fully and completely before the peo-
pie. -,
In France. however, one meets with
third phase of official opinion that
further complexities the situation.
France has borne the brunt of the
IL
three years. Her resources in men
and material have been strained to
the uttermost. and everyone realizes
that France cannot go on bearing the
brunt of the fighting for another three
wears. Yet, French statesmen are so
afraid of the possible effect at time
of the peace conference of an admls-
sion that France needs assistance now
that Immediately the idea is suggest
cd there comes an official denial in
one form or another. French states
men, perhaps with reason. are OBJ
sessed with the idea that France VIII
get any extremely short end OF the
stick at the peace conference, II there
is suspicion that she does not go
into them stronger than she went
into the war and able to fight on for
another million years. But how is
she going to get anything Mt the peace
conferences If the Allies are not the
victors? And how are the Allies to
be the victors, unless the people OF
America know the full truth about
the task imposed on them?
This complicated situation makes it
extremely difficult, however, to tell
the truth about food conditions in the
face of the imminent probabilities of
thereby injuring susceptible official
feelings.
Food As II Affects the Individual
in France.
As kept house in Paris during the
war, | can speak from experience on
the food situation in France as it af-
fects the individual. And let me re-
mark in passing that one learns a
great deal. when keeping house, of
which one gets no inkling, when living
in hotel and eating in restaurants.
n,a .nn nlwnns 90 To n restaurant