Nogales international., 1941-03-22
Hoover Presents
New Plans to Save
Hungry in Europe
Asks British and Germans to
Try Soup Kitchens in Bel
gium as Military Test

Chicago-(Special) New plans to
save the inhabitants Of the occupied
democracies in Europe from .starva-
tion were presented by former
President Hoover at mass meet |
ing, held in the Opera House
Auditorium here last Sunday night.
In expressing his appreciation to
the two thousand public bodies who
have supported this movement to
aid these unfortunates, and the
sixty thousand who have written
letters of approval, Mr.. Hoover ex-
planned the purpose of the Commit
tee was to expose to the world the
facts of the food situation and to
raise voice in behalf Of those tens
of millions of innocent men, women.
and children, now suffering from
want of nourishment.
Speaking as Honorary Chairman
Of the Committee on Food for the
Small Democracies, he made public
the proposals, submitted to the
British and German governments
a few weeks ago, to establish Soup
Kitchens in Belgium as an initial
experiment to test out whether
these people can be saved without
military advantage to either side.
There is nothing new in this war
March Of Hunger" Mr.. Hoo
yer told his audience. The conse-
quences of great wars are always
famine and pestilence. The World
War of 25 years ago brought hunger
to three hundred million people. In
the present conflict it is coming
faster and with more violence. To-
day nearly three hundred million
: people are on rations more drastic,
except in Germany and Great Brit
ain, than at the end of the third
year in the last war. In this creep
ing famine the most immediate dan
ger and greatest suffering is among
the seventy million people in the
democracies which have been over
IUu Ny In0 0CIL Lu0A al AAAOSs
Two weeks ago the Committees
American experts in Belgium re-
ported that within . month the city
and town population consisting of
over eight million people would be
without food unless supplies were
brought in somewhere, somehow.
NEW PROPOSALS
In presenting the new proposals,
Mr.. Hoover said, "You are aware
that this Committee has made propo-
sails to the belligerent governments
that completely organized food con-
troll should be set up for the peoples |
on the lines of the last war. Those
proposals would have given time to
organize prevention. They are the
ultimate necessity. But a distracted
world is slow to believe, and we
were reluctantly compelled to con-
clude that it must be confronted
with ghastly reality before action
could be hoped for. That CHASTITY
reality has arrived in Belgium.
Furthermore, while do not agree
to the grounds for the rejection of
our previous proposals, yet if these
people are to be saved, we must
seek to meet those objections by
proving our case in action.
"Therefore a few weeks ago, we
IL. 1, Duik oh n
Governments the following sugges-
tions:
First: That we make an initial
experiment in Belgium to test out
whether these people can be saved
without military advantage to
either side.
Second: That this test comprise
feeding only through soup kitchens,
where the people come to get their
food and thus there can be no Ques-
tion of feeding Germans.
Third: That at the beginning we
provide for one million adults and
two million children; the adults to
receive half pound of bread and
an allowance Of soup, the children
to receive special food in addition,
including preserved milk. This
would require about $4,000 tons
month, of which about one-hah
would be breadstuffs and one-half
meats, fats, and food for children.
Fourth: That the German Gov
ernments agree there is to be no
requisition of native food.
Fifth: Both Governments to give
Relief ships immunity from attack.
"Sixth: The whole to be under the
supervision and checks Of some
neutral body.
'It is my belief that the Germans
should cooperate to secure some
breadstuffs from continental sources.
But for meats, fats, and food for
children there are no sources of |
supply on the Continent. That must
come from overseas,-and that re-
quires cooperation from the British
to pass the blockade.
eff we can make this experiment
work in Belgium then such a plan
can be extended to the other de-
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