NOVEMBER, 1917
The Commoner
Mr. Bryan on Food
Conservation
Abstract of Speech delivered by William
Jennings Bryan, on Food Conservation at
Houston, Texas, Oct. 29, 1917, at the request
of Food Commissioner Hoover.
SITUATION.
Our nation is engaged in the biggest war the
world has ever known biggest in number of
men engaged, biggest in killed and wounded,
biggest in daily expenditure and in its drain
upon the resources of the nations engaged.
Our nation was taken into the war by act of
congress, the only body vested with authority
to decide such questions. It is, therefore, our
war, and the President, acting within his con
stitutional authority, is now directing the armed
forces of the government on. land and sea. It
is the' duty of every citizen to support his gov
ernment by word and act in every possible way;
it is his duty to stand back of the President and
congress in whatever they see fit to undertake.
We must win the war.
The war calls for men, for money and for
food. The men thus far required have been
supplied in the way the government prescribed.
The money necessary is being furnished, part
by taxation and part from loans, the subscrip
tions being in excess of the amount called for.
Food is the factor which we are assembled
to consider tonight. In every war food is a
matter of vital importance; in this war it is of
more importance than usual because of special
conditions that have to be met.
SCARCITY OF FOOD.
Food shortacev is due.
First, to a short crop in 1916. The world's
production of foodstuffs was below normal last
year and, therefore, there .was less to carry
over, less surplus with which to begin the new
year. v
Second, there are about forty-million men in
arms, a large percentage of them drawn from
the food producers in the countries at war.
Third, food carrying ships, to the extent of a
million tons In tonnage, have been sunk by
submarines since the first day of last February.
Fourth, soldiers drawn from lighter employ
ment to the hardships of war require more
food than they did in time of peace; and wo
men workers who are now taking the place of
men drawn from Industry into the army, need
more food than when employed at their usual
work.
Just when the world needs more food and
better food than ever before it finds it difficult
to produce as much as formerly, and the burden
falls most heavily upon the poor and the weak.
The rich can purchase food even at high prices,
and the government can supply the army at any
cost. Food shortage, therefore, will be felt
most severely by those least able to buy, es
pecially by the infirm and the young.
We are impelled, therefore, by sympathy as
well as by a spnse of duty, to make the best of
the situation and to protect our own people and
those who are making this fight with us, by in
creasing as far as we can the supply of food in
this country and by conserving the supply by
"wise use of-that which is produced. Secretary
Houston of the agricultural department has
from the time of bur entrance into the war, em
phasized the importance of bringing production
to the miximum and of reducing waste to a min
imum. The principal remedies are:
First lincreased efficiency, to be secured by
better organization and co-operation among
producers.
Second An increase in the number of labor
ers, the child group being the largest from
which recruits can bo drawn. Several hundred
thousand boys and girls have been brought to
gether into corn clubs, poultry clubs, calf clubs,
pig clubs, canning clubs, etc., and encouraged
by rivalry. This is not only valuahle because
of its addition to the total food product but to
the children it is "a lesson In practical patriot
ism. Third Legislation has been resorted to for
the restraint of those who attempt to take ad
vantage of the nation's necessities and for the.
encouragement of those engaged in productive
work. Further legislation is possible, such , as
inPn0frarffLSUSPrsl0? ot lawa WiMt the rals
ng of pigs and poultry in cities, so that those
vlion a? mav H Carr,Cd n ' ch aucr
of8public hTafth11! neCe88ary r th Pr0tcctl0n
tiJn0fnr,thrTleABavIng of tho od wasted, es
timated at $700,000,000 a year, is being urged
yFh0na aPPea-!8 t0 thG homes of th? land
lirth--It is estimated that foodstuffs to tho
ve ?oflOfn?.145,'?',(!()0,PGr year h Km Con
verted into alcoholic liquors during tho recent
past One-third of this Is to bo saved by pro
hibiting the manufacture of whlBkey during tho
war. The remaining two-thirds can bo saved
for food by similar legislation prohibiting tho
conversion of foodstuffs Into beer. Grapes here
tofore used in the making of wine can bo util
ized for tho making of sugar.
The food propaganda must bo carried on by
a patriotic appeal to the entlro public and Its
success will be measured by the voluntary re
sponse to this appeal.
At this crisis the President has been fortun
ate in finding a "man of the hour" in Mr. Her
bert Hoover, who has shown himself possessed
of rare executive ability and who has been pre
pared for his present work by the experlonoo
which he had in Great Britain during tho early
years of the war.
. His plan, though comprehensive, is eas!ly un
derstood, his arguments are unanswerable, and
his unselfish devotion to the work awakens tho
zeal of those to whom ho Is addressing himself.
He is a master of organization and the apos
tle of co-operation. He understands how to wold
individual units Into a mighty army and how to
impress them with tho importance of tho indi
vidual's part by dividing the work to be done.
The success of tho Liberty Bond loans has
shown the. advantage of assigning to each com
munity its proportion of the work. Mr. Hoover
carries the plan a step farther and assigns to
each family a task.
One illustration will show how co-operation
multiplies results. If all the people living on
the globe had walked single file across the Isth
mus of Panama it would never have occurred to
any one of them to attempt tho building of tho
canal alone, but forty-thousand men organized
and acting together, placed to the credit of tho
United States this greatest engineering feat in
history. So the citizens of the United States,
acting together and under wise guidance will
be able .to accomplish what tho units, acting
alone,woiild never have thought of undertak
ing. Mr. Hoover does not ask the American people
to starve themselves, or to suffer privation; ho
points out that there is food enough for all if It
is used wisely and without waste. The follow
ing are a few of the plain and simple rules
which will solve the problem and enable us to
do our share in the feeding of the army without
bringing suffering upon those at home.
First Substitute vegetables and fruits for
meats as far as possible, and thus save the meats
for those who need the stronger foods.
Second Substitute perishable vegetables and
fruits wherever it can be done, for the non-perishable
forms of food, and thus take tho strain
off the more permanent foods.
Third Wherever it can be done, use food
produced locally rather than food brought from
a distance and thus take the strain off the rail
roads. Fourth For wheat use corn, rice, rye, oats
and barley and thus leave a larger surplus of
wheat for export. A saving of one-fifth of tho
wheat consumed In this country will enable us to
Increase our export of wheat to tho amount de
sired. We have corn In abundance and It Is
better used here than exported because the peo
ple of other countries are not so accustomed to
It as a food and have not the machinery neces
sary for converting it Into meal. Meal can not
be shipped as safely as flour, it does not keep so
well.
Fifth For meat substitute fish and fowl
the obligation to use fish is greater along the sea
coast and by the rivers where fresh fish can bo
had daily, while the obligation to use fowls Is
the greater in the interior where poultry Is plen
tiful. X.X
gjxth For animal fats substitute as far as
possible vegetable oils. The demand for dairy
products has largely increased and we are In po
sition to economize in this form of food.
Seventh More sugar is needed by our allies,
the source of their supply having been cut off.
Sugar is a food which we can dispense with with
less oucrlfico than wheat, mont or tho fats. Tho
who served In tho arraloa of tho Civil war
loarncd that when necessary It could bo dis
poned with entirely in coffee ami In broad. To
a moderate extent saccharlno may bo substituted
for awootonlng.
If tho twenty-two million famlllos in tho
Unltod Status will make a ayatumntic offort to
follow tho advico that cornea from Washington
wo shall bo able to do our part. An avorago re
duction of ono ounco of moat per person per day
will onablo ua to make tho doalrod Increase in
moat export. If part of our days aro whoatlono,
part meatless and part sugarless wo ahall with
out suffering ouraolvca, be able to contrlhulo to
tho strength and efToctlveuoaH of thoao who bear
for us tho burdena of tho war.
Pledge cards will bo offend to ovcry household
there should bo no failuro to enlist in thin
mighty army which will help to win tho war.
The house carda that will bo supplied will fur
nish all tho information noccsaary to cnablo oach
houaewlfo to understand what nho is naked to
do for tho country, and why she la naked to do It.
Food conservation Is tho lightest burden im
posod by the war. As long aa it to nccrauary for
one soldier boy to ofrcr hlx lifo upon hla coun
try's altar, no amount of money collected on in
comes, on property or through loans can cora
paro with tho tax laid on blood. 8av:ng food by
substitution Is stilt easier.
It is inconceivable, therefore, that tho re
sponse should bo less than unanimous. Patri
otism Is a unlveraal and continuing vlrtuo.
Though moro apparent In tlmo of war It is none
tho loss proaent in tlmo of poaco. As Invisible
ink can be niado vialblo, ho the word "Patriot,"
written upon every American heart, however In
visible in ordinary times, In brought out by any
emergency which, liko war, tOBta tho quality of
our citizenship.
The response to Mr. Hoover's appeal should
como immediately and from every section.
The President has described this war as a var
"to raako democracy safe" throughout the world
and it is our hope that tho treaty of peace, whon
signed, will sound tho death knell of autocracy
on God's footstool. But this is moro than an at
tack upon autocracy In Germany it Js a teat of
democracy In the United Stutoa. Autocracy
claims that it can more completely than democ
racy, consolidate and command tho forcea of tho
country. It Is Its boast that It can not only hurl
Its legions against tho foe but that It can also
coerce its people at home into doing ovcry thing
necessary for tho success of the military power.
I have such faUh in democracy, In war as well
as in peace, that I believe that our people will
do, without compulsion, all that the subjects of
a monarchy will do under compulsion. We ought
to do more. As American citizenship carries
with It moro of blessings than citizenship in any
other land, our people should not only willingly,
but even gladly, endure more than the citizens
of any other nation to make aurc that the bless
ings of our government may descend unimpaired
to children and to children's children.
A OlflilSTMAS PIIE3KNT
The following notice appeared In the last is
sue of the Amethyst;
" 'Heart to Heart Appeals' is tho title of a
volume of extracts from the speeches of Hon.
W. J. Bryan covering a period of twonty-flvo
years.
"It Is characteristically rov(rent, beautiful,
suggesting and inspiring. The selections cover
such a wide range of subjects and aro made with
such taste and discrimination that the book la
an ideal gift for a pastor, college or high school
student or for any one who Is capable of ap
preciating the noble thoughts and high ideals.
It Is published by F. II. Itevell, Chicago and
New York, at $1.00."
(An extended announcement of "Heart to
Heart Appeals" may be found on another pago.
Ed.) .
Ono of the magazines prints a piece to prove
that Colonel Edward M. House, the President'
friend, Is not a mystery at all. Every now and
then you find chaps who are just as big blunder
ers as the lawyer's son who settled tho lawsuit
between members of a family, a suit that had
sent the young man through school. For three
years now It has been a standing order in all
newspaper and magazine offices, when things
got dull and Ideas'ran short, to toss together
another story about the "mysterious" Colonel
House. s
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