Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-01-26
The Spectre Of Starvation

~. lFpn -. MeIllll ol oIoIIo, 1oi
Ia, .drrai food administration, makes
this startling statement:
"A large number of persons will
necessarily starve to death this COM
ing year in Europe"
OF course the present year is meant
and of course the purpose is to jar
the public mind into acceptance Of the
Importance of saving every particle
Of food of any kind.
The food administrator continues
VITA reference to the hundreds Of
thousands of human beings who have
ne-half years as result of war con-
ditions. lie says:
~ large part Of the world is COM
ing into the position that Belgium is
In and has been in; coming to the
stage where the primary and import
ant thing in life is enough food to
keep alive. The food supply of the
world Is short and getting shorter.
You cannot take IS million men out
VI anu ltICIlI lIltO oC-
struction OF human products and ex-
poet things to go on as before.
I'm Finland. where one half million
people, caught between Russia and
Sweden. face failure of their cereal
harvest, are now on a ration Of $50
grams OF war bread a day. That is
less than a quarter Of a loaf A
large part of that is made up Of bark
and beech buds. 1t looks as if a
large number of them would neces-
sarilS starve.
"Roumania is caught between Rus
STA and other belligerents. Her people
are short Of food. Her supplies have
been used up. We can see no way in
which they can avoid disease and
starvation.
In Holland they are proceeding to
Kill one million Of their dairy cattle
because they cannot get'sufficient feed
for them. \ somewhat similar stu
alton exists in Denmark.
Food has now taken a dominant
position in the war The American
people must prepare themselves to
sacrifice far more than was at first
thought necessary.
"Ey the first of December We had
exported all our surplus wheat. Yet
here is EIurope's insistent call for
more. We must send it if the war is
t" go on efficiently If we eat it all
we cannot ship it: and the food ad-
mnistration has already tried to pic
turo how much that wheat is needed
by people who Will starVe if they do
not get il.
l.
more fat and dairy products than we
can spare unless we contrive TO con-
sumo less. And they are not asking
FOR anything more than they actually
need
For the least bit of heedlessness on
your part in food conservation some
one somewhere in the world must suf-
fer privation. The food administra :
ton has mastered the problem of
Americas food in such n way that
every ounce Of food conserved and
kept in the currents of trade goes to
an empty stomach in Europe.
1T is an absolute sin to waste food.
Food has become sacred.
Food means life it means some
h"dy's life: and you cannot escape the
responsibility.
we must not overlook the fact that
Russia collapsed. not because OF the
Germans on her border but because
she failed to organize and feed her
1Vr citizenship. We must be warned
hat II we arc TO emerge victorious
rom this war we cannot risk the col
apsc of another of our associates in
his war from this cause
There Is no waste of food among
he Allies. IL YOU will read the Eng
I,h food reports you will find Il
woman w's fined 500 and jailed for
20 DAYS for throwing away half a rice
budding; that baker who threw
away two pies was sent TO prison for
wo months.
f all the waste in a community of
welve thousand could he piled up in
city square You would find that the
"hol" community would be shocked"
These arc all facts. culed from in
irrational conditions today. and com
anon sense deductions. They give but
a fecting glimpse of the actual hor-
-or OF it all And yet we go on with
our indulgence and waste. and fail to
prepare for the increase in food pro
AUCTION sure to bc needed by the world
next autumn. even should hostilities
ease before these words reach our
-eaders.
We must not only SAVE. but we
must RAISE. Every farmers duty is
1lain-produce all he can, and more
Now is the time for planning and fol
.irelcss service. The trenches dug by
Names farmers will serve the country
and the world as we'll as can theil
sons in the trenches OF France.
Don't stop to listen to, or read al
he poppycock sent out by irrespon-
,ible and uniformed advisers-gc
ahead and raise a crop. You'll be
old on tons Of wasted paper. how
when and where to plant and sow. ant
why it is necessary. But the bigges
hing in the world today is fooG