Evening star., 1947-08-31
By Jessie Font Eyons


A lieutenant colonel in the British
Army who had served in certain
theaters of World War II with the
writer's son Philip gives a picture
of how he and his associates feel
toward the situation in the mother
country in this letter:
SURREY, England.
MY Dear Phil:
very many thanks for your letter
which found its way =" to Gibral-
tar and was forwarded to me here.
Please accept my heartfelt thanks
for your. kind offer to help us
augment our slender rations.
Actually in Gibraltar we were liv-
ing in land of comparative plenty,
for we had virtually the whole of the
agricultural south of Spain to draw
upon, as we'll as Morocco. Also we
seemed to do very well in the way
of imports from England, since for
some incomprehensible reason Brit
ain is exporting in quantity to Glib
We really did very we'll for ourselves
while there. However, left with
>. my family last April and have been
back in England ever since.
Our food rations here are suf-
ficient so far, only just sufficient
though, and ghastly monotonous.
Inevitably they must get worse be-
fore they can be better.
Many other things. in fact almost
all of the daily necessities of life are
in very short supply, and again they
must get shorter before they become
more plentiful.
We have to work like blazes to
produce anything, and everything
we produce we must export. Life
will have to be austere and drab
here for three or four years and yet
more grim and CHASTITY than it is at
present before it can possibly be
better. It's all the after
math of the war, for the people are
tired and don't want to work fiat
out. They want to rest for a bit,
and If they are to work hard, then
they want more money for It, And
we are not in a position to afford to
pay them any more. But we've got
to get them to work It's a difficult
position and a difficult cycle to
break.
Time and time alone will sort us
out; time plus as nearly an all-out
effort as we can make, and the full
realization that we have jolly well
got to put up with it until we pull
through. So much for life in gen.
eral here. It's grim but not impos-
sible for the country at large. once
every one knows the extent to which
We have to put our shoulders to
the wheel during the next few years.
As far as I am concerned, how
ever, I've no intention of letting my
family put up with things as they
are here and as they must be for the
immediate future. Life-that is, a
reasonable standard of living-is
very expensive. On colonel's pay
I cannot hope to give them the
standard I want for them, and the
one to which they have been ac-
customed even with the privatiens
of the war. year to which they
cheerfully and willingly accommo-
dated themselves. I am therefore
emigrating.
Quite a number Of us are doing
so. Mostly those who have known
better times and believe that in the
broader opportunities of newer
countries they may still be able to
better themselves.
My brother has already gone. He
) sailed witt his family, three chill
dren and his wife, just fortnight
ago for Southern Rhodesia, after he
had flown out month or two before
hand to see what the form was
} there. Many feel that Southern
Rhodesia is Britain's great ace in
/ the hole for future development.
I, however. am going the other
way. I have always been trans
Atlantic minded as you know, and
I sail with my family for Canada
any time after the middle of Sep
tember. I am going over on "spec,
and with limited capital. 1t may be
a bit of risk to chuck up the COM
parative security of a regular army
career to take a chance in the busi-
ness world of a new country, partic-
ularly as have family to support.
But my wife, who has lived In Can
ada, is willing to take the risk with
me. One of our sons is already over
there. planning to go up to one of
the universities this fall, so at least
we shall be able to keep our family
together. In these unsettled times
we set great store by the value of a
united family life.
My capital will last just about six
months. But I hope to find some
thing or other in that time, even if
it means digging bitches or working
on the railroad. We are coming over
and taking our chances, great
though the risk is. just as your Eng
lish forbears must have done Phil,