Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-11-19
HOOVER SAYS TO
KEEP ON SAVING
Tells Conference of State Food
Men of Conditions.
ASKS SIMPLICITY, ECONOMY
Says Desperate Situation in Europe
is Intensified by the Coming of
Peace-Hunger Factor in
Ending the War.

Washington, Nov. 13.-The nations
obligation and opportunity TO serve
stricken humanity in war-torn Europe
by helping to provide sustenance until
the next harvest will demand further
sacrifices of the American people, Food
Administrator Hoover declared in an
address at a conference here of state
food administrators.
Conditions of famine exist in Eu-
rope, Mr. Hoover said, that will be
beyond our powers to remedy" even
with the carrying out of the plan to
ship from America 20000,000 tons of
foodstutfs during the next year. In
northern Russia alone, he declared,
there are 100000 of people who have
but little chance of obtaining food this
winter. Millions of others throughout
Europe, who can be reached, he said,
must be fed
Features of the Food Outlook.
This being the new world situation,
created by the collapse of the war;"
Mr.. Hoover continued "the prime
changes in our policies on today's out
look can be summarized:
That we may now advantageousIy
abandon the use of substitutes in our
wheat bread; that we will still require
economy and elimination of waste in
it's consumption that for the present
we need conservation in butter and
condensed milk; that ultimately we
must extend this to all the fats.
I'VE can contemplate at the most
maintaining three pounds per month
per person of household sugar, and on
the present outlook we can. by the
availability of Java sugars to Europe,
begin at once to relax more restraints
on sugar pending some change in Euro
pean policies.
For Simplicity and Economy.
'"rhese are special features of
changes in policy, but the shifting Of
conservation from one commodity to
another is not the whole policy There
is one policy which cannot change, and
that Is the vital necessity to simple
living, to economy in all consumption
of commodities more or less substitute
for each other. We must realize that
the specter of famine abroad now
haunts the abundance of our table at
home
''We have now to consider a new
world situation in food. We have to
frankly survey Europa Europe of
which a large part is either in ruins or
in social confiagration; Europe with
degenerated soils and depleted herds !;
a Europe with the whole of it's popula-
| ton on rations or varying degrees of
starvation and large numbers who
| have been under the German heel ac-
tually starving.
"The group of gamblers in human
| life who have done this thing are now
in cowardly flight, leaving anarchy
| and famine to millions of helpless peo-
| pie.
Starvation Helped to End War.
| "The war has been brought to an
| end in no small measure by starvation
! itself, and it cannot be our business to
| maintain starvation after peace.
"We must consider carefully how
this situation reacts upon our people.
We must consider our national duty in
| the matter and we must make such
| changes in our policies as are fitting
| to the new situation. The matter of
prime Importance to us is how much
of each commodity the exporting
| countries can furnish between now and
next harvest and how much is neces-
sary to the importing countries in or
der to maintain health and public or.
| der in the world"
Some Important Shortages.
A computation on this basis Mr.
Hoover said, shows this situation I'M
| til the next harvest:
A shortage of about 3,000,000,00C
pounds in pork and dairy products and
vegetable oils, and of dairy feeds OF
about 100000 tons. OF beef there are
sufficient supplies to load all refriger-
ating ships capacity and there will be
enough of other foodstuffs, provided
the utmost economy is practiced by the
American public Although sugar that
consumption here if other nations re-
\ tain their present short rations, any
| increase in Europe will create a world
shortage. There is a surplus of cot
fee.
North America, Mr.. Hoover said
will have to furnish go per cent of the
worlds supply of foodstuffs and the
United States and the West Indies
will be able to export 2O,0OO,OO0 tons