TOPICS OF THE DAY.
COMMON-SENSE AND FOOD CONTROL.
WE have every sympathy with Mr. Runciman's efforts in the matter of food control, and we desire to do all we can to support him in his most difficult task. We should indeed belie everything we have said for the past two years if we did not. One of the chief grounds for our " Down Glasses " campaign—a campaign in which we frankly acknow- ledge we have been completely defeated by the Government and the Trade—was that it would diminish the consumption of sugar and barley and other cereals, and thus either provide more food or else relieve the pressure upon our already over " Oh no, we never mention it, Its name is never heard ; ,
Our lips are now forbid to speak The once familiar word "-
is always the prelude to Ministerial utterances. No doubt in their hearts certain Cabinet Ministers, and very possibly Mr. Runciman, add sotto voce :- " From theme to theme they hurry me To banish my regret, And when I win a cheer for them They think that I forget."
But all the same, the " once familiar word " alcohol, and the obvious savings to be obtained from " Down Glasses burdened shipping. We were out primarily not to promote temperance, but to reduce the waste of food and the consequent wastage of tonnage. In the same way we advocated a year and a half ago the proclamation of one or preferably two meatless days a week, and urged with all the power at our command that the Government should without delay take up the food problem in earnest. Perhaps we shall be asked why we weary our readers with this " I told you so " jeremiad. We admit that on the surface it may seem useless except for the barren purpose of self- glorification, and we agree that if this were its sole object it would indeed be foolish and priggish. Our object, however, is a very different one. During the war one of the great diffi- culties of a newspaper is to catch the public ear and persuade people to attend to sober advice. Even when that advice is most obviously sound the ordinary man is inclined to say : " That seems all right, but there can't be anything in it or the Government must have seen it long ago and have done it." That is a mood we want to induce the public to abandon, for it is a very dangerous one in war time. But the only way we can get them out of it is to point out whenever we have an opportunity that the Government must be led as well as followeck We go further and say that, considering that the members of the Government are just as human as other people and more overworked than most, one must not expect too much of them. One of the reasons for their want of leadership is not far to seek. Government by Cabinet means government by an artificial person, the product of eight or nine brains— those of the men who compose the inner Cabinet. If a sound suggestion is made from outside and is well supported by public opinion, the cohesive force necessary to secure the adoption of a policy by the Cabinet may be obtained. Judging the future by the past, then, we should be missing an opportunity if we did not bring to the notice of our readers the fact that what the Government are now doing, and doing when it is not merely the eleventh hour but a quarter to twelve, was suggested by us at a quarter to eleven ! Thus, though it is always disagreeable to say " I told you so," it may be a necessary remark for those who believe they are capable of giving reasonable advice, even though they do not consider themselves to be abler or more patriotic than the people to whom they offer it. Before we go any further we must confess that our title of " Common-Sense and Food Control " is really too com- prehensive for what we have to discuss, for the Government compel us to begin by cutting out altogether the chief common-sense point in the controversy. Any man, woman, or child, confronted with the policy of food- saving and tonnage-saving, would say that it is obvious from the facts furnished by the Government that they must at once cut off altogether the manufacture of beer and spirits. Not an ounce more sugar or a quarter more of barley or of any other cereal must be used in the production of beer or alcohol till the war is over, and not a ton of shipping or a hundredweight of coal must be employed in bringing this material to our shores or moving it about the country. Yet this plain and obvious way of saving food and tonnage is never even alluded to by Cabinet Ministers when they speak. The air- during the War," are never spoken of. This amazing fact takes not only the common-sense but the heart out of the whole business. For example, here was Mr. Runciman on Wednesday gravely discussing with hotel and restaurant managers how they could induce their clients to lead the simple life. Yet, as far as one can judge from the reports in the newspapers, the word " beer ' or " spirits " was never even mentioned. A foreigner reading the reports could come to no other conclusion than that we had already got down to a non-alcoholic basis. Otherwise, he would argue, the subject must have come under discussion. The situation is indeed so farcical that we are surprised that the designers who provide for our daily and weekly delectation pictures of " Johnnie Walker " striding triumphant through an admiring world do not depict him sending up his card to Mr. Runciman at the Board of Trade but telling the porter that there is no need to worry the President to see him. " Say that I'm still going strong—that's all that's necessary." Again, what a chance for a Little Peterism." Why could not Little Peter be drawn passing in his foaming tankards to a Cabinet Council with the words : " Never mind about sugar cakes, when you can still get Little Peter" ? But though it takes the heart out of the effort to help Mr. Runcirnan's campaign to have the spot stroke barred in this way, we must do our best to support the Government. In the first place, people must remember that what Mr. Runciman is after is not a thrift campaign. Though cheaper dinners, cheaper teas, and cheaper lunches for all classes no doubt are excellent things in themselves, what he wants now is something very different. He wants to reduce the amount of food consumed in this country and to make people eat less of everything—to cut the national ration per man, woman, and child down to the lowest point com- patible with national efficiency. Short of bread tickets, meat tickets, and sugar tickets, Mr. Runciman's best plan would be that which we have advocated so often in these columns— the inauguration of meatless days. And here we must re- member that total abstinence, even if temporary, is always easier than moderation. If there were two meatless days in the week and one sugarless throughout the country, there can be no sort of doubt that the total consumption of meat and sugar would be immensely reduced. We shall be told of course that it is foolish to talk in this way, _because the Government have no means of enforcing meatless or sugarless days. We do not agree. The argument founded on the easiness of evasion would be sound enough in peace time. It does not apply in war. If the Government issued a Proclamation in the name of the King calling upon all good citizens to eat no meat on Mondays and Fridays, and no sugar on Wednesdays, except under doctors' orders, and further backed this Proclamation for the guidance of the country by legislation making it an offence, under heavy penalties, to supply meat or sugar in any public place on those days, the great bulk of the nation would certainly follow the King's suggestion. If they did not, further legislation might be passed ; but in our belief this would not be necessary.
We began by assertion ; we will end by prophecy. If the Government and our new Food Controller mean business and do not abandon their task when they are half-way through it, they will find it quite impossible to carry on a sound food- saving and tonnage-saving campaign without tackling in earnest the problem of drink. Here, too, is a real chance for Sir Edward Carson and the Opposition. . . . But we beg pardon. They are even more Trade-bound than the Ministry. They are acting in the Lobbies with the Nationalists, and the Nation- alists are a Trade-controlled party. Truly, as organizers of victory the Trade deserves our keenest admiration !
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