CHILDREN ON THE FOOD SHORTAGE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]
Ent,—The Liverpool Food Intelligence Committee offered prizes of War Savings Certificates to children in the elementary schools for essays on " The Causes of the Present Food Shortage and why the Resulting Difficulty must be Loyally and Cheerfully Endured by All." Of course the " terms of reference " gave the children the clue to what they were expected to say, but the fact, which I am sure will interest your readers, is that they said the right thing with extraordinary heartiness and goodwill and a diverse inge- nuity. Here are some extracts from the essays taken from the Liverpool Post and Mercury :—
" ' Sitting clown and grumbling,' writes one, ' is useless. It scorns a mockery to go to church and sing " God save the King " and then come home and, because there is a stew instead of a sirloin, abuse the King and country.'
A boy of fourteen is particularly strong upon the hoarders. He says : ' Hoarders are traitors; therefore buy your goods at one shop only. To eat less and win the war is better than to gorge and lose it. Do this with a smiling face, as discontent leads to riot.'
The following is certainly philosophical : The food is not very palatable, but if we are cheerful we shall keep healthier.'
Originality and force in introduction has been aimed at suc- cessfully by one boy of thirteen : ' This is the way to Grumbletown. Are you going ? Certainly not! There is no room there for• the true Britisher.'
According to one youngster, we have achieved the impossible. Re says : ' Though we shall miss our favourite dishes, the thought that Jack and Tommy are provided for will help us to buckle in and show the enemy that, though it could not be done, we have done it.'"
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