The Washington herald., 1918-01-23
ENGLAND HAS
FOOD RATIONS
Administrators Tell Holland
the Plan Has Worked
Successfully.

hAA~ I'LL AAoo WI hSN
! Successfully.
Godfrey Butler. who represents the
British government ia some Of the
relations which that government has
with the United States, and who Is
one Of the best Of the authorities upon
food conditions in Great Britain,
found time this morning to make a
brief statement which throws some
light upon food conditions in Great
Britain.
Unlike the United States, England is
compelled largely to rely upon imports
Of food. Here we have food. exclusive
Of wheat, IN abundance and more and
more the people are learning to con-
tent themselves with the use of corn
meal. rye -four and other grains of
which there is no shortage. For
tunately We also have a large supply
Of potatoes to each family. We also
have rice in plenty
In England. however, no little con-
troversy has been caused by the
proposition that the government ration
all foods, as has already been done
with sugar and recently with butter.
The customary breakfast Of the
average Englishman- has until these
war days been eggs and bacon, toast,
tea or coffee. Nobody Is eating eggs and
bacon in England now. That is partly
due to the fact that there Is no bacon
to be bought in England or at least
very little. SO also the high price of
eggs which cost l0c each has made
voluntary abandonment OF them as a
breakfast food inevitable.
It is q curious fact that eggs are
cheaper in Italy than they are in Eng
land. The one result Of the abstension
from food which before the war the
Englishnan daily ate IN liberal al
lowance has been a notable falling OF
Of the weight OF many Of the citizens.
To quote Mr.. Butler: Many per-
sons can echo the words of Lord
Rhondda who recently stated that
he had lost twenty-one pounds in
weight and did not regret il. since
he had been weighing too much"
The Price of Milk.
The government has placed Sc
we're restrictions upon milk, meat
and starch, although it has been
found very difficult completely to
obey the governments command.
This IL not because people are not
willing to heed those things which
the government say are absolutely
necessary. but because It has been
found far from easy to standsrdize
anything like meat. owing to the
different terminology as well as
weights and measures prevailing in
different parts OF England. New
ertheless, the government has been
rejoiced to serve the thorough
spirit OF cooperation on the whole.
There have been some recalcitrant
citizens. Occasionally farmers have
refused to cultivate their land. and
il has been found expedient to fine
them for acting in his manner. So
also farmers have charged two
cents q quart for milk more than
the food control price. have been
subjected to the modification and
annoyance Of having their milk cans
forcibly taken from them by the
people.
The EIImInstIon of Waste.
Mr.. Butler said that there has
been a great, elimination of waste
in the restaurants and eating
houses. At one time there was anx-
iety because the supply Of tea ran
short, but the keepers of the res
tauFants made that good in a little
while by furnishing cocoa in place
of tea, Public kitchens, too, have
been we'll started and satisfactorily
worked in the thickly populated
areas. Therefore. it is now possi-
BILE to report that for q country
where food was notoriously wasted
before the war, the collective effort
has been remarkably satisfactory.
Yapp Scale of RatIons.
Sir Arthur Yspp. who is the di-
rector of food economy in England,
perfected a new scale Of voluntary
rations. recently whereby men and
women are supplied with food in
accordance with their vocation. Men
who are engaged in Industrial work
receive nearly twice as much as
men who are unoccupied. Women
who are engaged on heavy indus
trial work receive five pounds a
week of rations, whereas women
engaged in sedentary work are al
lowed only three and tight-tenths
pounds.
Sir Arthur at the meeting a few
days ago at Manchester over which
the Lord Mayor of Manchester pre-
sided, spoke in words of great
monition. urging that the strictest
economy should be practiced in the
use each day of staple foods, and
also urging that the rations be on
no account exceeded. In speaking
of the restrictions upon the use of
liquor, Mr.. Butler said this morning
that the restrictions imposed early
in the war on the consumption of
drink would not be tolerated in any
continental country, because ow-
ing to those who are termed teeto-
tai fanatics, beer and light wines
were put in almost the same cate
cory as spirits"
dr. Butler said there was some DIFF
dculty In Northern England and in
Scotland on account of the drink
restriction. because in those parts of
Great Britain the Industrial popula-
ton drink whisky instead Of beer.
Fortunately, however, the govern
unent learned to act wisely, and m
that way met the reasonable demands
of men who are engaged in heavy
physical work, by first permitting an
increase in quantity Of drink used
each day and next in improving the
quality Of the beer"
With q view to establishing equal
ity between rich and poor, the gov
ernment at first restricted the re-
lease Of wine from bond. However,
The government was obliged to aban-
don the restriction because the French
and Portuguese governments. with
which Great Britain has large trade
relations. represented by the import
of wine, made earnest protest against
this restriction.
Mr.. Butler believes that these re-