Lord Milner in reply declared that there was no waste
of foodstuffs in the manufacture of beer going on now or likely to go on in the immediate future. The number of barrels had been reduced from thirty-four millions before the war to ton millions now. The malting of barley had been stopped, but there was in existence now a stock of malted barley sufficient to produce beer, at the rate of ten million standard barrels a year, up till next November. " There was no wasting of human food going on as far as beer was concerned." That is excellent news ; but we are bound to say that we remain absolutely bewildered. If, or rather since, this is the case, for we do not for a moment challenge Lord Milner's absolute sincerity in the letter or the spirit, why was not the statement made a hen Mr. Leif Jones introduced his resolu- tion in the House of Commons against focd wastage by the brewers ? It would have given a complete answer, and would have disarmed criticism far better than the plan of talking the motion out.
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