WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
[To TEL EDITOR OF TER " SPECTATOR.")
Sts,—As an old reader and admirer of the Spectator, may I be per- mitted to refer to a point which you appear to have overlooked in the article of the 3rd inst. reproaching Mr. Lloyd George for his intimation that brewers were to be allowed to brew ten million barrels of beer in the year which begins on the 1st prox.? I assumed that some one of your correspondents would have explained the actual position of affairs, but, to judge from what appears in your issue of the 10th inst., such has not been done. As a very old brewer, may I explain that the time for making malt, speaking roughly, begins on October 1st and ends April 30th?. It is true that light Mediterranean barleys may be malted all through the summer, but at present none of these are available. On February 9th maltsters and brewers who make their own malt were served with an intimation that not another quarter of barley was to be wet for the purpose of being made into malt, By that time more than half the malt required for the brewing of twenty-six million barrels, the quantity allowed to be brewed in the year about to end, had been made. What was to be done with it? Malt cannot be used in the same way as barley in the manufacture of flour, for bread made from such, containing fifteen per cent. of malt flour, would have a most unfortunate effect on the digestive apparatus of any one using it. So far as I can see, the Prime Minister's view was that for malt already made nothing could be done but to use it for beer; hence his permission for the ten million barrels referred to. There is more malt in existence at the present moment than is required for this. After that, I assume that unless there is a prospect of peace at an early date, total prohibition during the period of the war will follow. It would have been far better if the Government had simply taken over the whole trade. It will be a difficult matter for brewers to distribute the small amount of beer at their dis- posal, but the difficulty is greatly increased in the case of publicans. How they are to deal with customers I cannot at present conceive. Brewers are suffering greatly at present, and a year of disaster faces them, but I have heard no complaints. We all know that if it is a question between Bread and Beer, the latter must go to the wall.—I am, Sir, &c., Joni BARLEYCORN. [We do not for a moment challenge our correspondent's sin- cerity, but if the facts are as stated, why did not Mr. Lloyd George announce them F—Eo. Spectator.]
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