The Ration Book Muddle
The Ministry of Food has made some bad blunders over the dis- tribution of the new ration-cards. It is apparently unconscious of the fact that buses are crowded. and infrequent in country districts, and that private cars are not available. Its arrangements were such that many country-dwellers would have to give up a con- siderable part of a day in the journey between their homes and the food office ; and if different members of the household had different initials there might 6e as many journeys as there were initials. The Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Mabane, confessed to having met one man who would have to travel ten miles three times, and, he complacently added, treated the matter with characteristic British phlegm. Why should the characteristic British virtues be thus unnecessarily put to the test? Agricultural workers are busy people, and the rural transport system is already strained to breaking- point. One of two courses ought to have been adopted. Either more food offices should have been made available, or the offers of the W.V.S. or other volunteer workers to distribute the cards should have been accepted. In consequence of the protests Mr. Mabane is now looking into the matter, and promises ,that later on teams of distributors will visit remote areas. In the meantime he hopes that as many people as possible will continue the struggle.
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