Trusts J H Rationing

The British System.

The British control of foodstuffs began to take shape in 1917. This system, as finally organized, depended principally on the fact that the bulk of supplies was sea-borne. Nearly all articles, therefore, came naturally and easily under public control from the moment they entered the country. Since Britain met her problems after Germany had been compelled to deal with similar difficulties, she had the advantage of the Ger man experience. The British authorities had first of all to find out the real incidence of demand. This was accomplished indi rectly by the first measures adopted to deal temporarily with the effects of shortage in the supply of sugar.

In August, 1914 a royal commission on sugar supplies was set up. By the end of 1916 sugar began to be in short supply. Each trader, wholesale or retail, was then given 5o% of his 1915 supply, and left to share this among his customers as best he could. In June 1917, the cabinet decided upon a rationing scheme, under which each householder was invited to register with a particular retailer, to whom supplies were issued at a given ration per head of registered customers. In order to work this first sugar ration ing scheme, some 1,800 food control committees were appointed by local authorities. Their expenditure was met from national funds, and they were supervised by 15 divisional food commis sioners. These commissioners were appointed by a special war time ministry of food, at the head of which was the food con troller.

On Jan. I, 1918, the rationing of individuals began, and as meantime other food supplies (e.g., tea, margarine, bacon, cheese) had begun to run short, and there was no hope of a national rationing scheme being made effective for some months, local food committees had to arrange for the consumers under their charge as they best could. Several of them, that of Birmingham notably, began to use the powers of requisition granted to them by the ministry of food, and to distribute supplies to retailers, with whom consumers had to be registered. General provision for such schemes was made by an order of the food controller, dated Dec. 22, 1917. The same difficulty arose, however, as had been experienced in Germany many months before; different action by the authorities of adjacent districts led to confusion.

A rationing scheme, covering meat and fats, for London and the home counties, came into force on Feb. 25, 1918. Each individual (about 10,000,000 were involved) received two cards, one with detachable coupons for meat, and one with numbered spaces, to be marked by the retailer, for butter and margarine. Each con sumer was registered with one retailer, and each retailer was sup plied with the appropriate quantity of rationed articles necessary for his registered customers. A short time before the rationing scheme for London and the home counties was put into force, soo,000 people stood in food queues every Saturday in London.

A month afterwards the queues had practically disappeared.

Since local authorities could not wholly ensure or control sup ply, they could not effectively ration meat. A national scheme for meat rationing was therefore introduced on April 7. The success was as great as that of the London scheme. On July 14, 1918, each member of the public received a single book, with coupons for meat, fats, sugar and lard. After May 3, 1919, coupons were abolished; and when sugar was decontrolled, in November 1920, the period of rationing was over. In Ireland, the only rationing was a control over the distribution of sugar.

The Two Systems Contrasted.

In Germany the essential idea was the administrative independence of the local authority, which, within its limits, was jealously guarded. The whole organi zation of food supply had to turn upon that which lay within the competence of the local power, namely, the actual distribu tion of the ration. In Britain, and the countries which followed Britain, the primary thought was the assurance of supply, and its control.

In none of the other Allied countries was food rationing so com plete or so successful as in Great Britain. Both in France and Italy the system was conditioned mainly by the allocations of the inter-allied programme committees (see CONTROL) and by the fact that the scheme was administered by local bureaucrats acting to a large extent independently, with the natural result of unco ordinated control and public indifference. Among the neutral countries Holland and Sweden had the most efficient organiza tion, built up on German experience.

United States.

Sugar and wheat flour were closely regu lated. Towards the end of 1917 the diversion of ships from the Cuban trade made it necessary to reduce the supplies to con fectioners and sweet-makers; and from July 1, 1918, shipments of sugar to retailers were made on the authority of certificates issued by the food administration on the basis of the number of their customers. The restrictions placed on the sale of wheat flour were at first voluntary, but compulsory regulations were issued in January 1918. These were dictated solely by the neces sity of maintaining export to the European Allies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Beitrage

zur Kriegswirtschaft (official, 1916, etc.) ; Daily Review of the Foreign Press, especially the Food Supplement (War Office publication, 1917, etc.) ; F. H. Coller, An Adventure in State Trading (1925) ; W. H. Beveridge, British Food Control (1928) ; A. N. Merritt, War-Time Control of Distribution of Foods (1920) ; H. Hoover, "Food Control, a War Measure," Banker's Home Mag., Vol. xii. (1918) ; I. L. Pollock, Food Administration in Iowa (1923) ; G. N.

McCain,

War Rations for Pennsylvanians (192o). (A. C. M.)