Putnam patriot., 1918-06-28
ESSAY DELIVERED AT TOUR. TELLoTTE MEMORIAL
 GRADUATION
FOOD CONDITIONS OF THE
 WORLD
d.eslie yynfred Mills)

I
 | faWning satellites. drunk with arrO- | gance and ambition. suddenly deciar- | ed war upon startled and unprepar- ed continent Contemptuously dlsre-
 garding all laws of right and deeeney, | shamelesaly proclaiming that all plighted words all solemn treaties are
 but mere scraps of paper they would have trampled into the earth and hon.
 orable and law-abiding neighbor. and with fire, murder, outrage and fright fulness, removed her as an obstacle in ! their path. Their purpose was to rush
 through Belgium, defeat the French before they could gather forces to
 meet the sudden attack, and dictate terms If peace in Paris; then rushing
 back to conquer Russia, make them selves masters of Europe and bring all people into their brutal, despotc sway ! But heroic little Belgium refused
 to De a partner in pesfdY and at q | fearful cost. blocked the way long 1 enough to. save civilization. Gallant l France turned back the Hunnish 1 hordes at the Marne; stocial Russia 1 barred her naked breast to the sword cf the invader; invineible England swept the German fleet from the seas | and landed the "contemptible British army" across the channel. Intrepid Rumania and Italy completed the iron ring to restrain this wild beast that
 would poison and destroy the world. l America, far from the conflict, looked on, an impartial critic. But at l length when her rights had been de- l nied, and her representatives had been derided, and her men, women, and children wantonly destroyed in violation of all laws of nations and humanity she, too. was forced into this titanic struggle.
 Now four great nations, England, France, Italy and America, with other small countries. are pledged to de stroy forever this menace to ciyiliza- l tion, that relic of savagery, German autocracy. Be it one or twenty years, we are determined to win this war and make the world in every corner de cent place to live in"
 Most authorities agree that the winning of this war IS not question of great military conquest but ques ton of endurance. Success or fail ure depends upon four factors food, ships, munitions, and men. Probably the most immediate and the most i'm poftant is food, for without food an army cannot exist, and without an army we dc not need ships and muni- tions
 After four years of conflict with more than thirty-fve millions of men withdrawn from the production of ne cessities. the food problem in Eng land, France, Italy. Austria and Ger many has reached a crisis; in fact those countries are practically facing starvation. America, as yet untouch- ed by the ravages of war, has lived at ease and luxury, but, now called upon to replace the depleted stores of her Allies, has been forced to the realiza- ton that even our wonderful country has it's limits of productivity and that there must be an end to once foolish but now sinful waste
 So pressing has become the needs of our Allies and so unfruitful have been the results of individual efforts, that the organization of the National Food Administration has become a necessity in helping to solve National and International food problems.
 The United States Food Admins tration came into existence under an act of Congress on Auugst 10, 1917. and was officially set to work by Pres ident Wilson. But as this food admin istrator could not possibly do the work alone, an administrator for each state in the Union was appointed by the president to act under the dlrec- ton of the Federal Food Administra- tor. An administrator was also ap pointed for each county in the state and every town and city was reached in this way Finally, every individual in the country has been placed in position where he can aid the Federal officers. But it needs more than the public approval to make this plan success; it needs the personal effort of each member of the public
 It calls for the loyal and pa triotic cooperation of every Ameri- can citizen. It means living up to the requests of the food administration day by day and going without meat, wheat and sugar on the days we are asked to do this service.
 Our problem is threefold, we must feed our own people, we must feed our soldiers at the front, and we must supply the needs of our Allies. The chief food that our Allies need Is wheat, anu tnt NHedt must NOiitS AANliA us.
 There is wheat in Argentina. but no ships available to cary 1t all the way to France ,and there is no time to waste on that long trip. The distance ! is twice as great from Argentina | ports as it is from ours. This means | that one wheat ship can make twice as many trips from America as she can l from Argentina in a gwen time, and | can carry twice as much wheat. 1 There are millions of bushels of wheat and millions of pounds of meat
 stored up in Australia, but no ships available to transport it, In Russia, wheat is rotting on the ground, and
 even the boasted German efficiency
 cannot repair or create the needful
 transportation facilities, The Allies,
 therefore must look to America for her food.
 Our crops, though abundant in nor nal times, will not now suffice and We
 as a nation must send wheat, and use substitutes Why not send corn, DO
 tatoes mad other substitutes and ust the wheat ourselves? Because corr | will not keep during shipment, ano
 the Allies have no mills to grind it
 Because potatoes talks up too mucf room in proportion to the nourlSh ment contained Because corn has
 been an American food even before
 Columbus discovered this continent and has been extensively used evel
 since Corn saved .he Pilgrim father' from starvation. corn must now save