asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will arrange that, in order to save cargo space, the materials and small plants for brewing be purchased in France and supplied to the regimental cooks and their assistants who shall thereupon brew the beer required for their regiments?

I am advised that small plants for brewing would be difficult to obtain in the quantities required and that the duties of cooking and brewing could not be suitably combined. Further, there would be no saving of cargo space, as no beer or materials for brewing are being sent from this country at the present time.

Is my right hon. Friend not aware that at one time quite recently every farmer brewed his own beer for his harvesters and that prior to the war harvest beer was brewed at a price which allowed it to be sold for less than one penny a pint, and why cannot our soldiers have beer served to them with their rations in the same way as the French soldier has wine served free as a ration? Most Englishmen think that beer is a food.

Mr. De la Bère:

Toujours de la bière.