The Sentinel=record., 1918-05-12
European Shortage Places Prob. lem Before American Govern ment-Farsighted Policy
 Adopted.
NEED 75,ooO,0O0 BU. WHEAT.
Food Administration Asks Aid of Every American In Gigantic
 Task of Feeding Millions.

l that makes a food problem over here. If we wished to be supremely selfish
 and supremely shOrtslghtsd-we could
 go on eating as much as We like and whatever we like, without much diffi- | culty or interruptiOn--at least, until the Germans came
 But we are not doing things in that
 selfish and suicidal way. We are try.
 ing to make a great common pool of all of our food, and all of the food of
 the allies, and all of the food we can get from South American and other neutrals, and dividing 1t up fairly l among America, England, France, Bel gium and Italy.
 This does not mean that all of the people in the great pool are going to have the same ration, but means that We are trying to arrange to have enough for everybody, so that the sol diers-our soldiers and their soldiers will be well fed, as they have 10 be to fight hard and continuously, and that the munitions workers and the workers in all the other necessary in- dustries, and the men and women at home will all have enough to keep alive and well. It Is absolutely neces- l sary to do this if the war is to be won, and we are going to do it, but 1t means
 planning, working, arranging. cooper ating, being careful, not wasting, saw ing.
 And 1t means that each and every one of us has got to help.
 Now, We have enough and more than enough food for ourselves, and the Government Is going to see to 1t that we keep here at home a sufficient sup. ply of every essential kind of food to support our people. But over there they simply have not enough. Lord Rhondda, the English food controller, recently cabled the American food ad- mlnlstrstor, that unless we can send the allies before the next uropean harvest 75,ooo, 900 bushels of wheat in addition to what had been sent up to January Of thls year he could not | assure the people of the allies that they would have a sufficient supply of food to carry on the war.
 He did not say anything in this cable
 about the other food necessary, but he has told of these needs in other
 eables-and by his actions in England. For example, his latest regulation cOmpels a reduction of meat eating in the United Kingdom to maximum of
 one pound per week per person, this pound including the bone and other
 waste parts in the meat as bought in
 the shop.
 The allies must have more wheat,
 more meat, more fats, more dairy prod l ucts, more sugar. Their haryests were very shOrt-France had less than half her normal crop of wheat-and the available shipping is small in amount and constantly being lessened by sub 1 marines, so that 1t Is now practically
 impossible to use any ships for the long voyage necessary to bring food from Australia and other remote markets. The food must come chiefly from America. In specific figures 1t is nee
 essary for us to send to the allies l,100,O00 tons of foodstuffs a month
 This Is great responsibility and a great problem. The food must be
 found, and also the ships to carry 1t.
 It Is being done, but can only continue to be done by the help and full co. operation of all of us over our broad land. We must produce and save
 more.
 To supply the wheat necessary until the next harvest, we must reduce our consumption by from one-fourth 10
 one-third we must cut down our usual
 average consumption of meats and
 fats by from 10 to IS per cent. and dairy products by about 10 per cent. Over there they are tightening their
 belts and doing everything they can.
 They are eating war bread; they are cutting down their sugar In England
 to two pounds per person per month,
 and in France and Italy to one pound how much are you eating f--and they
 are using ration cards for most of the staples. We must meet sacrifice with sacrifice. If we don't, we are helping
 to lose the war instead of helping to win 1t.