NEED EUROPE STARVE SIR, —May I be allowed a word of
comment on the most timely warning given by Dr. Marrack in his article, "Need Europe Starve? " published in your columns on March 19th? Dr. Marrack draws our attention to the fact that when we make plans for post-war relief work we do not take sufficiently into • account the immense reserves of food of the right kind which will be needed and the difficulties of transport and distribu- tion. His remarks will strengthen the conviction which is shared by many people in this country and by the representatives of the countries threatened by famine that limited supplies of food should be sent through the blockade whenever and wherever a proper control can be exercised in order to safeguard at least the women and children.
On March 16th last, Mr. Dingle Foot declared in the House that " the relief foodstuffs imported into Greece through the blockade " had been distributed " without interference by the occupying authorities." Is there any reason to believe that, if similar guarantees can be obtained, ti the enemy who does not tamper with consignments of over is,000 tons per month would tamper with consignments of 2,000 tons (the figure quoted by the F.R.C.), which only represents 2 per cent of the imports el sent to Belgium by the Hoover Commission in 1914-1919? Within six months the death-rate was reduced in Greece, thanks to this relief work, from 243 per thousand to 97. In Belgium, the number of deaths from diseases caused by slow starvation is now about three times the pre-war mortality. All medical authorities, including not only British and Belgian doctors, but also Swedish and Swiss experts, agree that even a small quantity of vitamins and powdered milk would save thousands of lives and check the appalling growth of tuberculosis and other diseases due to starvation which threatens the race and jeopardises all chances of future reconstruction. Such relief would considerably reduce the supplies of foodstuffs required for post-war relief work, which Dr. Marrack estimates at 3,Ioo,000 tons per month.—Yours
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