Statistics have not yet been published as to the comparative food production before the war and during the war years. Statistics of this kind would go a long way towards settling the question whether high prices were due to currency inflation or due to a scarcity of food. It must be remembered that the arguments on both sides are expressed very dogmatically. Take, for example, the following passage from an address by Mr. Moulton: "The food problem," he says, "goes much deeper than conserving the use of an existing stock of foodstuffs. The real food problem is how to secure a supply of food large enough to meet the continuous requirements of this nation and our Allies. This is more a question of production than of consumption. That is to say, conservation in consumption is less important than large production. There is no possible escape from a substantial shortage of the necessities of life."
PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Figures are in round thousands; i. e., 000 omitted.] | ||||||
| Crops | 1918 (unrevised estimate November 1918). | 1917, Subject to revision. | 1916 | 1914 | Annual average 1910—1914 | |
| CEREALS | ||||||
| Corn | bush | 2,749,198 | 3,159,494 | 2,566,927 | 2,672,804 | 2,732,457 |
| Wheat | do | 918,920 | 650,828 | 636,318 | 891,017 | 728,225 |
| Oats | do | 1,535,297 | 1,587,286 | 1,251,837 | 1,141,060 | 1,157,961 |
| Barley | do | 236,505 | 208,975 | 182,309 | 194,953 | 186,208 |
| Rye | do | 76,687 | 60,145 | 8,862 | 42,779 | 37,568 |
| Buckwheat | do | 18,370 | 17,460 | 11,662 | 16,881 | 17,022 |
| Rice | do | 41,918 | 36,278 | 40,861 | 23,649 | 24,378 |
| Kafirs | do | 61,182 | 75,866 | 53,858 | ||
| Total | do | 5,638,077 | 5,796,332 | 4,792,634 | 4,983,143 | 4,883,819 |
| VEGETABLES | ||||||
| Potatoes | bush | 390,101 | 442,536 | 286,953 | 409,921 | 360,772 |
| Sweet potatoes | do | 88,114 | 87,141 | 70,955 | 56,574 | 57,117 |
| Beans(commercial) | do | 17,802 | 14,967 | 10,715 | 11,585 | |
| Onions, fall commercial crop | do | 13,438 | 12,309 | 7,833 | [8] | |
| Cabbage (commercial) | tons | 565 | 475 | 252 | [8] | |
| FRUITS | ||||||
| Peaches | bush | 40,185 | 45,066 | 37,505 | 54,109 | 43,752 |
| Pears | do | 10,342 | 13,281 | 11,874 | 12,086 | 11,184 |
| Apples | do | 197,360 | 174,608 | 204,582 | 253,200 | 197,898 |
| Cranberries, 3 States | bbls | 374 | 255 | 471 | 644 | |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||||||
| Flaxseed | bush | 14,646 | 8,473 | 14,296 | 13,749 | 18,353 |
| Sugar beets | tons | 6,549 | 5,980 | 6,228 | 5,585 | 5,391 |
| Tobacco | lbs | 1,266,686 | 1,196,451 | 1,153,278 | 1,034,679 | 991,958 |
| All hay | tons | 86,254 | 94,930 | 110,992 | 88,686 | 81,640 |
| Cotton | bales | 11,818 | 11,302 | 11,450 | 16,135 | 14,259 |
| Sorghum sirup | galls. | 29,757 | 34,175 | 13,668 | ||
| Peanuts | bush | 52,617 | 56,104 | 35,324 | ||
| Broom corn, 5 States | tons | 52 | 52 | 39 | ||
| Clover seed | bush | 1,248 | 1,439 | 1,706 | ||
[8]no estimate | ||||||
The same point of view is expressed in the following extract:
"It is not usually understood that the chief cause of the enormously high prices of the necessities of life at the present time is their relative scarcity. The supply of necessities in this country has not materially increased, but the demand for them, owing to the requirements of our Allies, has enormously increased. We can prevent a still further soaring of prices only by increased production of necessities—increased production to be accomplished, let it be repeated through a diversion of productive power from the non-essential lines.
"The wealthy have often been urged since the war started to spend lavishly on luxuries and to economize on necessities in order that the necessities will remain for consumption by the poor. This is sheer shortsightedness; for the energy devoted to the production of luxuries for consumption by the wealthy would, if diverted to the production of essentials, give us a sufficient supply of the necessities of life that all might have them in relative abundance. The result of a policy of spending lavishly on luxuries is an inadequate production of necessities and hence prices so high as to cause real privation among the masses. Those engaged in producing luxuries obviously cannot at the same time be engaged in producing necessities."
In a war of attrition, physical deterioration of the masses of society in consequence of inadequate nourishment was certain to result in a serious decline in national morale, and this was a decided factor in the final outcome of the struggle. Food and other physical necessities would win the war. Mr. F. A. Vanderlip used the same argument for economies:
"Thus the diversion of productive resources to public ends requires of each of us a voluntary or compulsory rearrangement of individual and household budgets and radical changes in the habits of our lives. We must encourage direct diversion by reducing to a minimum our consumption of articles which can be used by our soldiers. But it is even more important that we give up the consumption of non-essential things in order that the productive energy which they embody be devoted to the accomplishment of the purpose in hand. The amount which we are forced to give up or voluntarily surrender constitutes a surplus over private consumption that measures the extent of our ability to wage war. We are fighting a nation which continues to be willing to reduce private consumption to the barest subsistence minimum. Unless a large surplus is produced we can gain no active participation in war and cannot hope for a victorious peace. The larger the surplus the shorter the war will be, and the nearer we are to victory."
GREAT BRITAIN'S FOOD DANGER
Under the long régime of free trade Great Britain depended upon other countries for its food supply. To offset the submarine campaign earnest appeals were made to make England self-supporting in this respect. The appeals were answered and were given enthusiastic popular support. What strides were made in England's agriculture since the war began can be seen from a paragraph in the London New Statesman: