Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-01-02
LITTLE EVIDENCE OF FOOD
 CONSERV ALTON.

That the people are not co-operat=
 ing as they should in the observance
 of meatless Tuesdays, Wheatless We'd
 nesdays and other plans for food con
 sarvation seems to be pretty generally
 recognized, and it is being predicted
 that unless voluntary action is taken
 it will not be long before Washington takes steps to enforce certain restrlc- tions as to the consumption of food.
 Discussing the situation, the Dallas
 lTexas) News says:
 1t is becoming pretty clear that the government will have to resort to some measures of conatfaint if 1t IS to
 make our food supplies serve the most imperative of our military needs. The
 food administration has not yet pro- lnounced the judgment of failure on
 the effort to bring about the neces- sary economy by appealing to the Icountry's sense of patriotism and eN- pedianee. but that 1t has about come to the conclusion that the problem Is :, not to be solved in this way is indi cated by the frequent warnings and exhortations that have been coming tout of Washington. Mf. Hoover makes no definite statements as to what has l been accomplished, but 1t is not an
 unfair inference from what he has
 said lately that there has been very 1 little, if any. decrease in the consump. 1 tion of foodstuffs. Certainly, that is 1 to be inferred from what he now says as to wheat We have already, 1t seems, exported the entire surplus of our wheat supplies, using normal con sumption as the basis for computing the surplus If that is so, it is evil dent a much more rigorous economy than has so far been practiced, as suming that any economy whatever has been practiced, will be necessary | if our soldiers and the countries allied with us are not to suffer prlvatlon. 1 One has only to reflect on the made
 quacy of shipping to feal sure that We have exported our surplus without l having accumulated one in France, or l in Great Britain, or in Italy. or Tn any
 of the other countries whose subslst
 enee is part of our military task. 1 What We have sent probably satisfies
 very little mora than the needs of the immediate future. We shall have to
 export steadily for six or seven
 months vet, and in much larger total
 quantity than we have so far exported, if the French. the British, the Italians
 and the others of our allies are to be subsisted. But with the normal sur Ipus already gone, how are we to do this unless our own consumption lS
 very radically reduced' It seems that wa face no less certainty of dearth as
 to sugar The normal consumption of
 sugar, it is sad is something over seven pounds per capita month. But
 q calculation has shown that If our
 allies are to have even the minimum
 of sugar that they will need, we shall have to reduce our own consumption
 to three pounds per capita a month. No one will imagine that any such de
 gree of self-denial can be imposed QN more than 100OO0,000 people by ap- Ipealng to their sense of obligation.
 The futility of that method has been well demonstrated. The people
 have responded generously and in
 good spirit to every other appeal, but
 they have not responded to the appeal - which asked them to put q curb on their appetitas. The country's stom-
 ach has not exactly rehelled against
 this appeal, but it has assuredly dsre, garded it, Possibly the implication is : not so gross as that which suggests itself. It is not that the right and pleasure of gorging our stomachs arC . held above all those that have so read ! ily assented to the assessment of pa 2 triotism Our failure in this rcSpec Is more likely to be due to a secret
 conviction that there is really no neeC to save food, or, at all events, tha ,. the need lacks very much of being q: D ugernt and important as it has beer represented, If once the people should : come to understand how imperative and important is the need of econo | mizing in the use of foodstufs. they 2 would econonlize. But the case car r not be made stronger than 1t has beer t already. If all the testimony and evi,
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