INCONGRUOUS!
(To THE EDITOR 07 TEE " SPECTATOR."1
Sra,—While it is certain that no true Englishman will complain of any restriction the Government may think right to put on the food supply, I imagine that many will feel amazed at the incongruous position in which the country will stand—does indeed already stand. Food is to be restricted; a Food Dictator is to be appointed to see that it is a reality and not a sham; and meanwhile the supply of alcohol (subject to the action of the Board of Control in certain districts) is to go on as freely and as copiously as brewers and retailers desire. The situation is incongruous to the last degree. On the one hand, because of the ravages of the war, there is a growing shortage of food; on the other, the evil which hinders most the use of our utmost resources in order to hasten the end of the war is sanctioned. This fact was drawn attention to, and the disgrace of it emphasized, last Sunday morning at the church I attend. I welcomed the protest; and it seems to me there ought no longer to be a postponement of a general protest against the apparent disinclination of the Government to deal summarily with this great menace to the national life. Every well-wisher. of his country has reason to be grateful for your advocacy of prohibition, begun in the early stages of the war. If that same advocacy had been as earnest and as well-reasoned in all the churches, we might have seen an emancipated England to-day. It is to me a mystery that in a time of profound crisis we are content to remain the abject slaves of the drink traffic.—I am, Sir, &c., A REGULAR READER.
[We have a great respect for Mr. Runciman's ability, high character, and devotion to good causes. But how can he bring himself to wrangle with hotel directors and restaurant managers over whether they shall or shall not tempt their clients to eat more than they need, shall try to cut off a cutlet here or a sweet- meat there, when the Trade is allowed to absorb the sugar, the corn, and the barley which could go to the feeding of the people? If the Trade is too strong, and if we must allow it to have the first call on sugar and corn, let us admit the fact and record it. If we are to judge by Government action there is urgent need to prevent over-eating, none to prevent over-drinking so long as it stops short of intoxication.—En. Spectator.]
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