A SPECTATOR 'S NOTEBOOK
IAM a good deal impressed by a report I have had from a business man at present touring Western Europe on the superiority of conditions in various countries he has visited to those prevailing here—a subject on which he considers the British public have been seriously 'misled. In Belgium, he says, life is normal, in some ways better than pre-war. Food and other commodities are plentiful under a regime based on the rapid removal of restrictions and controls, and the encouragement of private initiative. There can be no black market where there are no, or few, controlled prices. The prices are admittedly high in terms of sterling, but with a down- ward tendency, which is lamentably absent in this country. Norway has made an equally rapid recovery, with food near the pre-war standard in quality and quantity, and the shops are well-stocked with goods. Rationing continues, but there are sufficient supplies to admit of pretty free purchases over and above the ration allow- ance. My correspondent's experience, confirmed by other English- men abroad, is that the adequate food supplies in such countries produce a level of health and capacity for work which we arc not enjoying here. All this, if true (as no doubt it is) ought to be known. The next thing is what to do about it, which is quite another matter.
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