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پوچه
I attended at the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food on 9th November and saw Mr. W.R.
Harper, the Principal in the Ministry with the
greatest experience of rationing relevant in every
way to Hong Kong, together with other officers in
the Ministry concerned with relevant subjects. I
also had a brief interview with Mr. Crump, the
Assistant Secretary in charge of the Food Control
Division.
The conclusion of our talks was:
(a) that the circumstances of Hong Kong's
potential need for rationing, which
could only concern a limited period,
could not justify a system of rationing
on such a sophisticated basis as had
been found necessary in the United
Kingdom during the Second World War;
(b)
any system similar to that operated
in the United Kingdom would require
a very considerable staff to operate
it, but, more important, would require
a very considerable number of staff
in making the necessary preparations
for its inception. Essentially this
would involve complications politically
which any presentiment of rationing
would be likely to induce in Hong Kong.
It would be virtually impossible to
plan and train the necessary organisat-
ion for a rationing scheme such as was
/operated