The Jasper weekly courier., 1917-10-19
Commodity.

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United States. on which they were ac-
customed 10 rely before the war. Ihe
Russian supply cannot be got out.
Bulgarian and Roumanian supplies are
I'm the hands OF the central empires.
The voyage from Australia and lndia
Is three times as long and therefore
requires three times as many tons OF
shipping as Is required from North AT
lantic ports. 1t Is also twice as DAN
gerous because of the longer exposure
TO submarine attack There has been
large failure In the South American
countries and the new harvest from
that quarter will not be available In
| Europe until next spring. As already
said, all the allied countries are anu
have been for some time vigorously al
| ministering and economizing their
| food. In Belgium. the relief commits
sion has been compelled to reduce the
| consumption Of cereals by nearly o0
per cent; this brings the food supply
so low that the population are In
capable of labor.
| From the above tables IL Will be
| seen that on normal bases OF consump-
| ton the total allied wheat import re-
0uirements are 577.OOO,OOO bushels
against n North American surplus or
2OS. 900. 900 bushels-and from our
United States supplies we must re-
serve a certain amount for neutrais
from which we receive vital supplies
and also an amount To protect our
stocks better next year than this last.
There IS therefore on normal con-
SUMPTION deficit OF over 4OO,OOOUO
bushels. In the other cereals used In
Europe mostly for animal feed. the
import necessities of the allies on nor
nal consumption basis are about 6I4,-
coo. 900 against a North American sur
plus of 05O.OOOOOO. But again re-
serve for neutrals and increased "car-
ry over" will absorb NIL the margin.
In any event II means we must multi
ply our exports of these cereals ~
times. However. upon the basis or our
present crop prospects we should be
able TO supply their requirements In
cereals other than wheat.
Wheat Situation Difficult.
The situation In wheat Is one OF
great difficulty and concern, and must
be met by an elimination OF waste and
reduction Of consumption on the part
of the allied peoples and ourselves. III
one word. by an effective admlnistra'
ton OF the available supply.
The allies are unable 10 use other
cerenls alone for bread. They can
use them only as added 10 wheat flour
To make the war bread now I'm uni
versal use In European countries. Eek
cept In Italy, whose people normally
consume much corn. our allies have
few corn mills and cornmeal Is not O
durable commodity and therefore can
not be shipped in great quantities.
Moreover. for generations they have
bought bread from the bakeries; they
have no equipment nor do they know
how 10 bake in the household. Every
American knows that 1t is infeasibl'
TO distribute corn bread from bakeries
and Ii Is therefore necessary for III
} TO furnish our allies with sufiicien
wheat to enable them TO have whea
basis for the loaf. However, they cal
use and must use other cereals 70
mixture in their war bread, ana ID.
/ this substitution and by savings oi
? their part q great deal can be accom-
plished On the other hand, dehcl
of 400. 100000 bushels can be at leas
! partially overcome If we can increaS
: our exports from SS.OOO,OOO TO DO
100000 or nearly triple. This can b
accomplished If we will substitute on
5 pound of other cereals for one poun
: of wheat flour weekly per person; tina
is, If we reduce our consumption
wheat flour from five pounds per wee
to four pounds per week per person
4 1t will be no privation TO us and vii
: reduce the privation of our allies.
n Food Animals.
Owing TO the ascending standard Q
g living. the world was already Straine
1 to supply enough animal products
I meet the demand before the war bt
: gan. The war has injected into an a
|. ready difficult situation a number @
( vicious conditions which are jeopardii
: ing the ultimate animal products suI
$ ply of the world. The production G
( fodder i'm Europe has been diminishe
3 by the diversion of productive labor
e war, and its import has been curtaile
by shortage In shipping and by tn
y isolation of markets by belligerer
lines. From these causes not only g
!. | the actual numbers of animals d.
q creasing In Europe, but the averag
o weight and the annual output Of dair
. products per animal. are decreasing
A careful estimate OF the world
o food animal position shows the follow
; ing position:
= Decrease
Increase or In other
II decrease Decrease countries
u United western including Total n
States allies enemies decreas
, Cattle 100000 $4,000 n. 10000 3. .osoo O
sheep 100000 i7tO.0o0 100000 81. 5000