FRANCE'S FOOD POSITION
should very much like to believe what Mr. Soren says about France's food position. He seems to be arguing from statistics which were drawn up in 1939, and I have reason to think that he is not making the allowances required for the present state of France. Even before the collapse the situation was not as bright as Mr. Soren thinks it is now. Last January there was a considerable shortage of coffee and meat, and in spite of what the statistics say, bread even was not too plentiful. Since then France has been cut off from her colonies. And what affected her more than that, were the thousands upon thousands of refugees, who passed to the south and west from Belgium, Luxemburg and North and East France. There was no milk, no cheese, very little meat, and the little that could be bought of anything was terribly expensive. There were ration cards for sugar and also for butter, but more often than not there was no butter. That was the position on July 27th. Of course since then things may have miraculously improved, but I can assure you that up till that date French people in unoccupied France were already dreading the thought of winter.
I feel something uncanny about Mr. Soren's optimism and bright- ness, and I wish he could give just one reason, based on information gathered from the post-armistice period, to show that his view is well
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