WAR, FAMINE, AND OUR FOOD SUPPLY CHAPTER I. OUR POSITION IN 1800 AND NOW. In comparing the high prices of bread mentioned in the following extracts from the history of the period with present day possible prices in war time, we must bear in mind the ominous fact that a shilling at the beginning of this century had far more purchasing power than it has to-day. One object of this little book is to show the gradual, almost unnoticed, but tremendous change in our position which has taken place since the beginning of this century. Then we numbered some twelve or fourteen millions, and we grew nearly all the corn we required at home; now we number nearly forty B millions, and we buy by far the greater part of our corn and other food from other nations thousands of miles from our shores. A glance at the coloured diagram opposite the title page will, I think, give a clear idea of the extent on which we rely on foreign countries for wheat alone. But the chief object in view is to show the possibility of immeasurable disaster to our nation which our present position unquestionably involves us in, and to suggest a possible and, as I hope to prove, a practical remedy. ON THE BRINK OF FAMINE. Knight, in his "History of England," says "The people of these islands were, throughout the year 1800, and partly in 1801, on the brink of famine.. "Deficient harvests raised the price of wheat to one hundred and thirty-four shillings a quarter in 1800, and to one hundred and fiftysix shillings a quarter in the spring of 1801. The danger had become imminent, at the time when the conclusion of a peace offered by France might have opened our ports to importations which would have fed that large body of the artisan class that were not fed, without stint, by the operation of a bread scale. "In February, 1800, palliatives were resorted to. The sale of bread which had not been baked twenty-four hours was prohibited. The people were exhorted to economy by proclamation. Brown bread was to be eaten instead of white. Noble lords resolved to discourage the use of pastry in their families. At the end of November the prospect became more alarming. Importation was encouraged by excessive bounties. GREAT BRITAIN DID NOT GROW ENOUGH CORN, EVEN IN AVERAGE YEARS, FOR THE SUBSISTENCE OF THE PEOPLE. • • "The Government, when the evil reached its culminating point at the end of 1800, and at the beginning of 1801, was powerless, except to bring in a Brown Bread Bill. They did something more. They again suspended the Habeas Corpus Act, FOR THE PEOPLE WERE RIOTING. Pitt clearly saw the social danger to which these riots would lead. "The author of this history has a distinct recollection of his alarm, when, a child of nine years old, he saw a mob parading the streets of Windsor, breaking the windows of the bakers, and going forth in a body with the intention of burning a neighbouring mill. "In the spring of 1801 the high prices of bread reached their maximum. On the 5th of March the price of the quartern loaf was one shilling and tenpence halfpenny. "A GOOD HARVEST CAME TO EASE THE SUFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE, and in the middle of October the price of the quartern loaf had fallen to elevenpence farthing. "In 1801 the poor rates had risen to a sum exceeding four millions sterling, with a population of nine millions. The provision for the poor had doubled since 1783." Charles Knight's personal recollection of the riots at Windsor was the common experience of our forefathers throughout all the land in those opening years of this century. And yet, during this period of actual want and threatening famine, IN 1801 WHAT WAS OUR NAVAL POSITION? "AT THIS TIME (1801) THE BRITISH NAVY WAS SUPERIOR TO THE COMBINED FORCES OF ALL EUROPE." -Mahan's Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire. WHAT WAS OUR NAVAL POSITION IN 1889 ? "At the present time (1889) FRANCE AND ENGLAND are the two powers that have the largest military navies; and it is so far an open question which of the two is the more powerful, that they MAY BE REGARDED AS PRACTICALLY OF EQUAL STRENGTH IN MATERIAL FOR A SEA WAR." It is well for us as a nation that these words of a, at that time, comparatively unknown American naval officer, were burnt into our minds. If we have, since they were written, again acknowledged that our sole strength as a nation lies in our sea power, it is in a very great measure thanks to his warnings. As the Times said, "" Captain Mahan's teachings are invested with an immense and capital interest for ourselves." We must, however, not lose sight of the fact that Captain Mahan's teachings were not directly intended for us, they were addressed by him as President of the United States Naval War College, to his own countrymen, and the lesson which has been taken to heart from them, has not been taken by us only, but by every other great power. His "teachings" have had results in France, Germany, Russia, Italy, and the United States, which, combined, measured in battleships, exceed the additions we have made to |