Vi.—: The Meat Ration.

This was Mr. Gladstone’s ideal forty years ago, and except for tea it has been attained in England. The 3d. per cwt. duty on corn and the sugar duty were retrograde steps, but the latter was paid by the Anglophobes on the Continent, thanks to their bounties.

Mr. Chamberlain wants to tax the bread, butter, milk, and cold meat on the breakfast table, but he has not dared to touch bacon or ham, or to force an Englishman to get his fresh eggs from the Antipodes.

The Reports of the Committee appointed in 1900 to inquire into the production and consumption of meat and milk in the United Kingdom by the Royal Statistical Society, give the following results, estimated on the five years ending May 31, 1903:—

If the inhabitants of the British Isles had to live on home-grown meat they would only have 67 lbs. per annum per head: imported meat brings the ration up to 121·77 lbs. To arrive at the ration of the French soldier, the population must be diminished or the ration increased by a quarter, which would give 135·34 lbs.; though this is superior to the diet of the French people by some 33 lbs., it still falls more than 83 lbs. below the standard, which is 218 lbs.

The consumption per head of certain classes is given:—

And those who do not eat meat do not make up the deficiency by milk or dairy produce per head per year:—

The duties on meat and dairy produce tend to reduce still further the already insufficient nourishment of three-quarters of the English population.