That is what drink is doing at this moment with the shadow of famine creeping on.
“He who withholdeth the corn the people shall curse him.” Proverbs.
The Shadow of Famine
The Government came into office with the food shortage in sight; it was its first duty to build up the great reserve of food we might have had now in our granaries if the drink trade had not destroyed it. We could have laughed at submarines, for our barns would have been filled to overflowing, and we could have lived in comfort for a year if no ship reached us.
Let us see how much food drink has destroyed during the war. We will take it from August 4, 1914, to April 30, 1917. It is 999 days of the war. The grain and sugar destroyed for drink have been:
| Grain | 4,400,000 tons |
| Sugar (for beer alone) | 340,000 tons |
How Canada sees it—A Canadian cartoon of the callous destruction of bread for beer and whisky
It is not easy to realize what this means, but it will help us if we think of one or two examples.