10 FEBRUARY 1917, Page 2

Necessity must clearly come before any question of suffi- ciency.

We must obviously put up with too little if there is not enough to give us more. We say at once, however, that in our opinion the minimum stated is not, in fact, too little secure physical efficiency. It is, indeed, more than enough. To' this very grave portion of his statement Lord Devonport adds the following comment :-

" The main factors taken into reckoning are exigencies as affectin,s freight and transport, and the necessity to curtail the nation's normal consumption so as to adjust it to the-needs of the situation. The urgency of the.; positien allows of no delay in informing the country of what is demanded of it. The public require and desire to have the need ex- plained to them, and only by whole-hearted co-operation on the pare of all can the object in -view be achieved."