GERMANY'S FOOD TROUBLES.
(To Mg EDITOR or Sal " SPECTITOli."1
Su,—The Germans seem to be quarrelling among themselves over the Romanian opeils, to judge from a couple of most interesting articleo recently published in the T'ossische Zeitung. They shed a significant light on the food queotion. The first article, called " What Shall Wo Import from Rumania? " in a prominent piece in the paper, is by Herr Professor Paul Eltzbacher, of the Handelshochschule in Berlin. The problerd, he says, is whether iltmous the spoils of Remaaia preference shall be given to the maize ar to the wheat. Is it more important to give the people bread Or fat? ' The, number of pigs in the country he considered excessive in proportion to the fodder supply, and especially is view of the failure of the,petato crop. He continues :- "The conditions in the larger towns and industrial diatriotp are very hard. Not only meat, fat, and milk are scarce; but also bread, potatoes, pulbes, eager, .and other foods. There prevails net only the mnch-talked-ef lack of fats, but a lack of all other means of sustenance. . . . Oar Army, howeyer, is. well nourished, and the lowlands and small cities are in no want. -It is not the.whole Gorman people that is suffering from hunger, but only the iahabitants of the larger towns and the industrial districts—at most some, ten. million people. Therefore this can be remedied more easily than our enemies suppose. . . . It is a mistake to overestimate the value of fats. . . . The need of fats can for the most part be replaeed by ,garbon hydrates. So long as there. is plenty of bread it does not matter whether it be agreed *with butter or margarine; it is not necessary to fry potatoes presided there be enough of them. Of coarse fats, as highly concentrated, nourishing foodi are very pleasant and an aid to digestion, Lied we use them lavishly in our cooking. . . . But more important than the obtaining of fats is it that we should have sufficient food. Lack of fat, after all, is only an inconveni- ence, whereas lack of necessary nourishment is a danger to national health."
He then proceede to argue that, considering the claims of .Germany's allies and her difficulties of transport, a decision, must be come to regarding the maize or the wheat, failing the possi- bility of securing .both. He bases his argument for the superior claims of the wheat on the following estimate: Out of fivehundred- weights of maize abont one hundredweight of pork or .bacon is obtainable. This hundredweight contains the same quantity of nourishment as two hundredweights of wheat. IP instead of maize we obtain the same quantity of wheat for direct human consumption, we extract two and a half times as much nourish- ment.
The next day the Vossische Zeitung published a reply by Stadtrat Dr. Luther, Geschaftsfahrer des Dentechen Stadtetages, fiercely combating the above views. He ascribed the failure of this year's crop of potatoes partly to the excessive number of pigs in the autumn of 1916 in proportion to the supply of fodder. After recognizing the necessity of controlling their number, he very strongly and emphatically urged the necessity of fats for the human body—a need more widely felt than science appeared to acknowledge. He adds :-
". However just it may be to say over and over again that we must have bread, and that all field produce loses heavily in substance and nourishing power by being concerted into meat, it is not less true that we must have fats. Of course under the pressure of need it is easier to dispense with fats than with bread. . . : If Rumania had not been conquered we might perhaps have had to do without any fat, which would not have been easy to bear. Even then we should not have starved. Now, however, as the facts lie, our supply of bread is assured, and even for the early spring months, when potatoes and turnips might be seriously lacking, vermicelli and dough-stuffs are in reserve. In spite of the general demand to increase the supply of these, I hold it to be of the highest importance that during those months fats shall be included among the people's food. An adequate supply of fats is, however, not possible without pigs. Therefore we must go first for the Rumanian maize."
He added that owing to reasons over which she had no control Germany must not depend too much on the wheat, while making every effort to obtain her full share. Farther, the maize would also be required for the horses. Therefore he urged the necessity of obtaining it as speedily as possible. In conclusion, he added " that it is not so much food for the pigs that is wanted as fat for the people."
Unfortunately, I have not seen any of the subsequent numbers of the rossische Zcitung, so I do not know whether the con- troversy has been continued, nor what steps the German Govern- ment has taken in the matter.—I am, Sir, &c., Siam A. Lucas.
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