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THE' KING’ S BUSINESS Here we are told that while they are economizing on the various food products, that “ there are always, stout, ales, wines and whiskeys at the pre scribed hours.” All of these except the wines require a waste of wheat or barley. We are told that we must send wheat to England and that we must rigidly economize to do it, but why should we send wheat to England as long as they waste their wheat in the manufacture of intoxicating liquors, which at the best are not needed. When they save all their own wheat for food then we might wisely send to them, but as long as they persist in not doing it they ought to be left to take the consequences of their wicked waste at such a time as this. And as for barley, barley is good food, and if it is not the best food, the land now put into barley could be put into wheat, for land that will raise barley will raise wheat. This item is headed in the Los Angeles Express with this caption: “ L. A. Restaurants Might Follow London’s Lead.” No, they could not, for after the 31st of March intoxicating liquors are pro hibited in Los Angeles. If they could it would be much to be hoped that they would not. Better far eat meat than squander good food products in drink. In the same issue of the Los Angeles Express is another item as follows: “ London; Wednesday, March 13.—Consumption, of intoxicating liqubrs in Great Britain, owing to the reductions instituted by the government, is now only one-third of what it was four years ago, Premier Lloyd George declared in an address to the Free Churchmen at the City Temple today, when chal lenged about the drink traffic. No spirits were being manufactured at all, he said, and any one who four years ago had predicted such a thing would not have been believed. The premier reiterated that if it came to a question of choosing between bread and beer the government would not hesitate a moment. The present, he added, was an hour of grave national emergency, the appeal of war was greater than patriotism because it was an appeal for help against the forces of brutality and a cry of conscience against the greed and lust of one power. Speaking of the manner in which the carrying on of the war taxed his strength, he said : “ I know that the very zeal which, by my oath to my king and country and by my love of my native land, I felt bound to throw into my task, has led to misunderstandings with my best friends that have caused me more distress than I can tell you. But pardon me, I have no time to clear that up now. I have a terrible task upon my shoulders, a task almost more than a man can bear, and I ask your help, sympathy and prayers. Show me any way by which we can make peace without betraying the great and sacred trust for which we entered the war. I will listen gladly, gratefully, and thank God for the light given me. Short of that, more peace lalk is undermining the fibre and morale of the nation.’ ” It will bé noted here that it is, said, “ The premier reiterated that if it came to a question of choosing between bread and beer the government would not hesitate a moment.” If this is true, why should we not let them choose between bread and beer and instead of cutting down our own people on these necessaries in order that we may send wheat to them to make up for the wheat they squandér in the manufacture of strong drink, keep our wheat to our selves until such times as they show that they need it. Certainly we ought not to compel our own people to go without bread in order that the English may have booze. We ought certainly to sustain our allies, but we ought not to help them in their folly. It may be all very well to say that “ the consumption
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