Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-07-18

i 1Ourtn OF an ounce AT tea, no sugar o.
any meals or at tea except that one
seventh of an ounce per person may
be used in preparing luncheon. and
one seventh in preparing dinner.
| This sounds dractic 1t is drastic, and
| is drastically enforced, as anyone who
| has had recent experience in London
! hotels and restaurants can assure you
| 1t is really approaching sacrifice in
| eating. I met very hungry man the
other day who looked the part; he had
! just come across from England
England all along the line is back
! ing up it's appeal for voluntary sup
! port of food economy-they say 1000
economy over there; we say food
| conservation'-by legally enacted and
! enforced government orders under the
| Defence of the Realm Act. 1t is under
| this act that their ministry of food
we call ours food Administrations
! organized and endowed with larger
I power.
| The food controller OF England has
, authority on a parity with that of the
admiralty or ministry OF war. Our 1000
I administrator has a very limited au-
| thority; he has achieved most of his
results by appeals and agreement. He
asks people not to hoard or waste FOOD.
( In England. boarding and wasting OF
! food arc crimes. Marie Corellf was
! fined $3.50 not long ago for boarding.
! For similar foresight, a member OF
parliament was recently fined and had
his surplus private food stocks con-
iscated. A captain and steward and
fireman of a small steamer We're hnec
and sentenced in March to six months
, Imprisonment for putting % loaves OF
stale bread in the boats furnace.
Finally-because we must not make
our catalogue tiresomely long-let US
refer To the subject, always an all
important one in connection with food
physiology and sociology, OF bread; or
better. to widen It, of cereals-not
meaning by this term breakfast foods,
as has como to be a common American
usuage, hut ali of the food grain, wheat
rye. corn, oat barley. rice, etc.
The French are bread eating peo-
pie. The diet of France is 50 per cent
bread: as per cent other things. we
rely on bread for less than 40 per cent
OF our eating Any considerable limita-
ton in the quantity and quality OF
bread in France means sacrifice. Well,
French patriotism has led to French
sacrifice in the matter OF bread. All the
wheat -four used in France Is obtained
by milling the grain at an extraction
rate OF So per cent: that is. from every
100 pounds OF wheat, s. pounds OF
wheat -four is made. We are milling
at "a per cent.
This action Ct the French in milling
at S. per cent means an inclusion IN
the -four of certain outer, rouSher
parts of the grain usually discarded
from the flour for use as animal feed.
This gray wheat -four is mixed with
from Is TO 80 per cent of -four made
from other cereals, corn, barley. or rice
usually. When this mixed -four IS baked
into bread, the bread is doled out to
the people on ration. by means OF
bread cards. The ration adopted IN
March of this year is about two-thirds
the amount the people have been &C
customed to. The price of this bread Is
kept low by government subsidy, SO
that all may be able to buy the per-
mitted ration, but the price OF meat
and other foods is 80 high that 1T Is
pra ctically Impossible for large part
of the people to make up the bread de-
ficiency in their diet by increasing the
use of other foods. The bread situation
| in France is truly one OF sacrifice. OF
patriotic sacrifice.
Now, we of America have a direct
relation to this French sacrifice; we
play an important part in connection
with Il; we play this part whether we
wish to or not: we are unaVoidabiy as
ISOLATED with il. We can ameiio1ate IL
or make it more severe. We have be-
fore US inescapably the question OF
whether to make it a greater sacrlhce
or a. lesser one. Theoretically, l hear
the loud answer of all OF US: We VIII
make it a lesser one; we VIII help
those noble f'rexch. those wonderful
French, those sublime French, who are
today carrying the torch Of patriotism
before the world.
Practically, our answer is less LOUD,
tho il is not a shameful answer. 1t Is
not wholly discouraging. But it is less
loud: the reason Of this is that the
| proper practical answer calls for a
| little sacrifice.
The situation Is simply this: France
has sent her men from the farms to
the battle fronts. She has had little
fertilizer. She has lost several million
J acres Of agricultural land to the Ger