HOW TO ECONOMIZE IN WHEAT.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sig,—During the next fire months it is clearly of vital import- ance (1) that every possible substitute for wheaten flour should be used, whatever its cost; (2) that the available supply of wheaten flour should be consumed by the classes who need it most, and whose general conditions of living and education make them physically and mentally least able to bear the strain of privation. Both these objects can be attained if the Govern- ment will make it a punishable offence to consume any wheaten product in a house (clubs, restaurants, hotels, and other build- ings included, except specially licensed eating-houses) whose urban rateable value is now assessed at a higher figure than £50, or, better still, £30, except in cases of medical necessity duly certified. The result would be that every known substitute would be used, and perhaps others discovered, and that one of the chief risks of dissatisfaction amongst the working classes—the suspicion that other classes were able to get wheaten bread and that they could not—would be avoided.—I am, Sir, &c., [We are glad to print Mr. Middleton's very interesting pro- posal. With the present shortage of wheat, which we fear is certain to become worse, it is imperative that the available wheat should be used primarily (and in the final resort entirely) by those whose physical labour produces the essential things for maintaining life and making war. The results of com- pulsory experiments in new forms of food by those who as a class use their brains more than their muscles, and who are there- fore less dependent on the stamina-producing grain, would be extremely interesting to watch. They would constitute not one of the least of the many lessons of this war. But we think Mr. Middleton's proposal needs a corollary : the Government must insist on merchant vessels bringing food of any and every kind from all quarters of the globe. No ship should come to our ports without its quota or " subscription " of food to the common fund. " Call nothing common or unclean," should be the motto for intelligent people—for those, let us say, living in houses of rateable talue above £50 a year !—Es. Spectator.]
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