The Washington herald., 1918-01-19
WILL
Be RATIONED
AFTER FEB. rs
London and Home Counties
Affected by Food Con-
servation Order.
BY FRANK w. GETTY.


Special Gable to The washlngton
Herald and New York Tribune
London, Jan. 1s.-Compulsory ration
ing has come. London and the home
counties viii go on rations February
Is. DeAils of the scheme are not yet
fully determined upon, because the
local food committees have until Mon
day to proffer any late suggestions as
to the workings Of the plan. But 1t
is probable that the outline Of the
food controllers plan will be as fol-
lows:
Individual food cards will be issued
to everyone. children below a liked
age receiving cards Of a different
color Each card will contain four
sets of spaces for cancellation by the
shopkeeper; the first set to be used
for the purchase of butter and mar
garine, the other sets for the purchase
of other foodstuffs as may be found
desirable to ration later.
The customer must produce this
food card for every purchase. In
the case of meat and other articles,
the ration of which must differ ac-
cerding to the requirements of the
different sections Of the population.
The following special considera-
tions apply. The normal ration will
be obtainable on the production of
a normal card Persons entitled
to additional rations will have to
make a special claim and support
it with suitable evidence. The
card of such persons will be so
stamped by the food ofice. Special
provision win probably be made for
persons taking meals in restaurants.
Meal coupons. probably in the form
of books of stamps, may be issued
for this purpose.
People BewIIdered.
Such is the very brief, and by no
means inclusive, outline of the vari-
ous> plans of compulsory rationing
now under consideration. Endless
skeins of red tape and muddle loom
ahead before even London alone set
ties down into a satisfactory routine
under this system. The people are al
ready bewildered by announcements
of such plans as are outlined above.
Every London paper. has a different
Opisien as to Just what the rationing
schemes are; IN fact, the one have
ON1AlCN - q SSAN VI SgAAipOciuIlls even
though 1t Is drawn as closely as pos
sibIe from the food ministry's own
announcement.
But endles as the difficulties
which confront this scheme appear,
vthey are nothing to the food muddle,
which the country is struggling
through today. Householders arc
at their wits end. Butcher shops
simply close their doors, saying,
I'VE have no meat" For two weeks
now many families have sat down
to jointless Sunday dinners. Mar
garine. butter, milk and such COM
modities are things the average
householder these days is in a con-
stant struggle to obtain, and no
one Is ever able to get more than
days supply. Waiting lines of
customers, sometimes a quarter of
a mile long are still a common sight
in many parts of the city and CEN
trail kitchens are being established
throughout the metropolis to re-
lieve congestion.
Protest Is Made.
Naturally, there are questions in
Vulnerable being asked on all sides
about the rationing scheme, and there
will be many protests against what
ever form the ministry decides upon.
So far London has been remarkably
free from anything like organized pro-
test against food conditions, but in
outlying districts conditions have been
worse. In Manchester yesterday thou
sands of munition workers "downed
their tools as a protest against al
legged unequal distribution of food.
The lord mayor addressed the work.
ers. who had formed a procession two
miles long and marched to the city hall
and promised immediate action. The
demonstration was one of the most
orderly in the history of such affairs,
and had an undeniable effect OF bring
ing home to many officials the neces-
sity for prompt action.