BREAD-RATIONS AND GERMANY
SIR,—Mr. Churchill's proposal for a United States of Europe has some- what overshadowed the basic idea of his Zurich speech that now is the time for a " blessed act of oblivion" for the vanquished and " an act of faith " by the victors. Only an act of faith can break " the sullen silence of despair " in Germany. It is not for us to preach to our Allies, but we can at least do something to show the way. The British Control Com- mission has announced that the coming winter will be as difficult as the last for the German people, and in some respects more difficult with cold and the possibility. of epidemics as the most serious problem. The resis- tance of the population to disease has been lowered by a year of privations, and their morale has suffered from many disappointments. Hope for the immediate future must depend on the prospects of obtaining food, fuel, clothing, and housing material, and of these food is the most pressing need.
Such being the conditions, an early end of bread-rationing in this country will undo the good impression which its adoption created. The ruination of our harvest means the loss of thousands of tons of grain. The loss can be made good either by importing more, which will mean a corresponding reduction in• the supplies available for Europe, or by continuing to save bread and flp7r w',ich will mean some sacrifice but no positive hardship. If the Government are determined to end the rationing of bread, they can at least sponsor an appeal to the public and the bakers to co-operate in a scheme of voluntary saving which will keep down consumption to approximately the present level, and so set free supplies for those whose need is far greater. The value of a gesture of good will will not be limited to its direct effect on the German people ; it may prove to be the beginning of the answer to Mr. Churchill's warning of the infinite misery to which Europe may be doomed unless, as he says, some sovereign remedy can be found which will as if by a miracle
transform the whole scene.—Yours faithfully, GEOFFREY BRACKEN. Larch field, Churt, Surrey.
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