War Devastated Philippines

...Following the Russian argument, Americans who are concerned with the fate of democracy in Italy, are demanding of Byrnes why then did he permit Russia to enter the discussions on the Italian peace treaty, since Russia did not contribute as much as a single gun to the liberation of Italy...

...A room that may have no roof or one wall missing will cost as much a week as a room in overcrowded Washington...

...A pair of clogs sells for $10, but almost the same thing can be bought in any dime store in the USA for 85«1...

...Here are some prices taken from a menu at an inexpensive cafe which occupies the only remaning room in a bombed-out apartment house: Coca Cola—50...

...A network of Coop Societies with stores covered the whole country and the Estonian Cooperative Union (E.T.K...

...Coops and Power Politics The Interantional Conference of Cooperatives, meeting in London, decided on Sept IS to recognise Soviet-occupied Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as "independent national republics and therefor* eligible to full membership in the International Cooperative Alliance...

...Some others were "requisitioned" by the Soviet-Estonia Trade Commissariat to organize State trading...

...After independence had been attained, the cooperative movement was largely ehcouraged and supported by Ihe (iov-stilment: The Baltic States are mainly agrirtiltural, and the coops served the needs of the farmers...

...The Central Union of Consumers' Societies in the USSR, "Tientro-soyuz," which is a governmental agency of the USSR with headquarters in Moscow, controls all coop organizations in all the republics of the Union...

...Four Roses $40...

...of international cartel...

...This agreement became known on Tuesday following the first meeting of the Commercial Policy Committee, headed by Assistant Secretary of State Will Clayton and the Earl of Halifax...

...It must be remembered als« that the prices cited above are not tour...

...And the fact that we have not turned the atomic bomb over to {he Ruissians, according to the latest "explanation," has confirmed Russian suspicions...

...Following a visit to the White House tajs week by William Green, Truman called in members of the House Ways apd Means Committee and demanded passage of the Unemployment Com pen-it tion Bill which would permit increases •f present unemployment compensation to as high as $25 a week and would permit increases of the period of payments up to "6 weeks...

...In particular he singled out legislation for unemployment compensation, increasing the present minimum wage of 40 cents an hour, and reducing taxes...

...Nobody ia certain Where the intent spiral will end...

...chop suey—13.00...

...The director-general of the E.T.K., J. Podra, and many other leading officials were arrested and de-P°i'<d to Russia...

...Other wag«-* run much lower...

...Old Overholt $40...

...16, 1944, following the hysterical campaign against Clayton by P\t and The...

...Costs continue to soar...

...Another outburst of potent protest comes from those who cannot understand why Byrnes retreated from the original American position on the Italian treaty and, in effect, encouraged the Russians in their imperialistic grab for democratic Italy's historic territories...

...On the hopeful side, Snyder pointed to (be great accumulation of capital— $140,000,000,000 — waiting for reinvestment, the huge demand for bousing, construction and durable goods which were not produced during the war, and the prospects of a greatly expanded foreign trade...

...Said thia column 10 months ago: "One may, if one scares easily, regard Will Clayton as the man who huilt * cotton cartel, and see as a result of his appointment a stream of cartels flowing out of the State Department...

...Do you want a bottle of liquor...

...But here in the Philippines is the perfect example of what can happen when inflation goes berserk...

...On the discouraging side of the picture for the next few months, Snyder cited the reduction in the nation's gross production from an annua) rate of 1206,000,000 during the first half of the year to somewhere near to 1106,000,000,000 by the end of the year...

...t. International cooperation is the maintenance of employment...

...two soft boiled eggs— 11.50...

...The returning serviceman will bring very few souvenirs from the Philippines...

...Even if there were a definite set of price eeilinri the government does not have the money to pay ? corps of inspectors and enforce, tnent agents...

...tea—20...

...America, feeling secure in its strength and industrial powers, >* °P" posed to cartels and wants free trad* because it fears csrtels more than it fears competition...

...Half of the entire population were members of Consumers cooperatives...

...Kut so far as is known at this moment, Byrnes received nothing in return from the Russians for this concession...

...Credit cooperatives in 1939 accounted for r>8 percent of the totail Estonian deposits and 48 percent of the loans made...

...They know that when the thousands of American troops pull out of here what little cash income they have will evaporate...

...tomato sandwich—76...

...The British have applied for a $?>,000,-000,000 loan...

...coffee—20«Do you want to buy a pair of shoes...

...hamburger sandwich—11.00...

...act got the 20 percent pay increase ^ are asking, bu^ the pay-off may [|lT j„ 16...

...This week "Dollar Diplomacy" scored an impressive victory when the British reversed themselves and agreed to include cartels in discussions on their loan application...

...Tht very fidst commercial ship carrying civil, ian supplies since the war (lucked m Manila harbor this week...

...When the Americans came in last February Japanese currency littered the streets and was thrown from windows...

...The Executive Branch, Snyder said, must maintain certain controls but must also speed up its close-out of war business, its disposal of surpluses, its breaking of bottlenecks and its stimulation of reconversion...

...jt's not merely that the White House is open to Bill Green whenever he wishes te see the President, but there's a big welcome sign hanging out for him whenever ha come* calling at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...

...The Russians' high-handed strong-arm methods succeeded in elbowing two members of the Big Five Council out of having any voice in the Balkan settlements...

...After June 1940, however, when Ihe Red Army invaded Estonia and Ihe country was "incorporated" into the Soviet Union, its economic life was at once »"sieiilated with that of Russia and the operative movement too underwent ¦¦•itic changes...

...The "explanation" offered by Soviet propagandists is that the Russians are "suspicious" of us...

...Already the mounting figure of unemployment, which currently exceeds ????,???, ka* prodded Congress into «gejagt of the f3,000,000,000 postwar ssai building program recommended by President Truman...

...In a fourth quarter report to Congress and the President, Reconversion Director John W. Snyder this week described a coming "period of paradoxes" in which there will exist, side by side, inflation and deflation, better business hut mora unemployment, capacity production and a tremendous drop in purchasing power...

...But there is nothing left of the democratic .character of the management of the Estonian cooperatives and they are used by the Moscow rulers mainly to <li ain away consumer goods into Russia...

...The late President Roosevelt last Fall drew up a memorandum on the abolition or, at least, control of cartels as a condition of any foreign Joans by this country...

...The British, seeking security in a postwar world where they feel they Will be much weaker than their two giant allies, want cartels as a measure of protecting British industry from com-petition...

...It must hold the line on prices and rents and on wages which threaten inflationary price rises, but it must prevent the rapid decrease of wage incomes and purchasing power...

...once in a while you will find a native who will tell you what happened to them during the occupation...

...An iron frame bed in a city where most people sleep on hard floors costs $100...

...Most American workers know today that the intense and persuasive propaganda for the purchase of war bonds was not, as...

...The Senator refused to name the nations he had in mind, but correspondents reported "there was no doubt in any delegate's mind that the outspoken Texan was referring to Russia...

...Insurance Cooperatives issued 65 percent of'the total number of policies...

...The consequent unemployment is expected by Snyder to reach 8,000,000 during 1946...

...The President signed the bt(I thia week...

...The fact that Clayton is leading th« international cartel-hunting drive for the United States moves me to reprint a couple of paragraphs from this column of Dec...

...Did you ever see anyone make such a paying proposition out of "suspicion...

...the Treasury Department first wanted us to believe, a matter of providing the money to buy guns and tanka and planes...

...The Secretary of State will be hearing directly— and by way of the President -from many politically potent circles demanding an answer to this question: What did Secretary Byrnes yet I mm Ihr Russians that was equal in value to what he gave away to them...

...The common people here have vety little money to buy even the barest necessities...

...The Filipinos are living mostly by barter but they desperately want a price control system...

...percent increases and passage ?/ Ute Emergency Unemployment Com-ptssatioo and Full Employment Biiis...

...It is a noticeable fact in Washington {hat the prestige of the ? FL was never higher her...

...Even today, seven months after the reoccupation of the islands, there is no semblance of price control...

...Anger is particularly centered on the inct that Secretary Byrnes reversed President Truman's press conference statement on sole American control of beaten Japan (which Americans feel they did single-handedly) and agreed in principle on establishment, of an Allied Control Commission This will admit Russian participation in governing Japan...

...Both President Osmena and his political opponent, Manuel Roxas, president of the Senate, admit that inflation has a terrible grip on the Philippine economy and that the black market is rampant...

...ist prices—there are no tourists...

...Not just an ordinary trade union movement but a tough, muscular one that would raise such a stink «bunt what's happening to the working people here that it would rock the Capitol Dome in Washington...

...This apology is now falling on deaf ears...

...That much is clearly projected by the barrage which awaited Secretary Byrnes on his return from London...

...Schenleys brings $32.50...

...3. Establishment ef an international trade orgaai-zation...

...Motion, as a "cartellist...

...We have received from an Estonian friend the following statement: The Estonian cooperative movement was always closely connected with the movement for national independence...

...The actual funds will it, appropriated later by Congress when the Appropriation Bills come up...

...Today the islands are physically and economically devastated...

...cartel-building — and, therefore, cartel-busting—from the inside...

...Chairman Tom Connally, of the powerful Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, who in the past has been a faithful follower of Administration appeasement policies vis-avis* Russia, this week became one of the worms that turn...

...This view overlooks completely, however, the fact that at this very moment British and American foreign policy art st dagger points on the subject of cartels...

...From here on out, the tough-talking Russians are going to hear much tougher talk themselves...

...A sounder view on Clayton, therefor*, is to remember that Roosevelt believes iii the old maxim of 'set a thief to ?***·1 a thief.' In appointing Clayton as As-sistant Secretary in charge of foreign economic affairs, Roosevelt is following the theory that what better instrument with which to cope with the schemers who will be busily trying to build cartels after the war than a man who know...

...If ever there was a place that needed a trade union movement," said one Army officer, "thia is it...

...And Clayton ThE ancient phrase "Dollar Diplomacy" may yet live to achieve a respected old age, if current loan negotiations between Britain and the United States are any indicator...

...One pound of meat, when you can get it, coats $1.62...

...To solve the difficult problems ahead, Congress must provide the necessary legislation, Snyder said...

...Coperative dairies were'the most important, but other marketing, credit insurance associations *lso prospered...

...The US escaped inflation with the help of bond purchases, price ceilings and other government devices...

...The Philippines, even in their best days, were never an opulent country...

...That's the meaning behind the C1»P ton appointment.'' Washington Miscellany By JONATHAN STOUT Washington, D.C.—strikers in the spreading weve throughout the nation auty...

...Molotov would not permit France und China to enter the discussions on the Balkan problem on the ground that they h.ad made no direct contribution to lilierating the Balkan countries...

...And although there will soon be a period whan business will expand, and more people will go to work, men and women will be coming out of the military services at an even greater rate, faster than industry can possibly absorb them...

...2. Tarifa and discriminatory arrangements, quantitative restrictions and other barriers to trade...

...Later the Treasury's line shifted closer to the truth —buying bonds was primarily aimed at preventing inflation...

...Dollar Diplomacy, Cartel...

...A House Appropriations Subcommittee in Washington thia week recommended to President Truman that the atomic bomb secret be kept from other nations pending further study...

...They announced jointly the following primary subjects for their negotiations: I. Centre...

...An egg costs 45 cents...

...Appeasement, as a method of dealing with Russian intransigeance, has never been more unpopular in official circles in Washington than it is right now...

...The tendency for inflation, Snyder reported, arise* from the fact that in moat durable goods—autos, washing machines, radios, and the like—there will be more buyers than can be satisfied for some time by industries' capacity to produce-But there will be deflation in'many other fields, because the drop in income that developed when the Government cut back war orders will not permit workers to maintain their purchasing power...

...long as Roosevelt was in the White House, the prestige of the (JIO was high on the theory that they had the inside track at the White House...

...The "socialist trade" in Estonia as well as in th* other Baltic States, has nominally a Stat* and a Cooperative Section...

...Heretofore the British were unwilling even to discuss the question of cartels...

...played r leading role in supplying, essential imported goods...

...Rent* are fabulous...

...These prices must be viewed in terms of the average wage paid by the Army— around $1.60 a day...

...Incidentally, there are no cats in Manilla...

...The communique made it plain tht British have accepted the Americas view that a loan must be tied up with the abolition ef trade restrictions...

...The United States must keep the secret of the atomic bomb because, frankly, there are nations in the world I wouldn't trust," Senator Connally told the convention of* the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Chicago last Monday...

...War Devastated Philippines Prices Go Berserk as One Egg Costs 45c By Les Finnegan (Sew leader Far Eastern Correspondent) MANILA, P. I. — All during the war American worker* her* were bombarded with fearsome poster* and newa stories of what would happen to them and to the nation if inflation came...

...Accordingly the Estonian E.T.K, was rechris-tened and directly subjected to "Tzen-trosoyux...

...1 » The Tide of Suspicion Is Turning A QUESTION heard frequently in Washington these days is: "If the Russians behave in this high-banded way without an atomic bomb, how would they behave if they had it...

...A toothbrush costs $2X0...

...Much of the money they had was changed into Japanese currency dining the three-year occupation...

...The centralization policy has been increased since 1944, under the puppet regime of the second Russian occupation...

...Th» tragic fact is that the government, after seven months, has shown itself to I« helpless to check runaway inflation...

...20 a pair for what sells for $4.70 in the USA...

...At present there is no price relief hi sight...

...Free Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania kav* been among the most consistent •apporters of cooperation'irr the international field...

...How Filipinos eke out an existence is baffling...

...Americans Can Get Tough, Too By Jonathan Stout WASHINGTON, D. C. — Add to "death and taxes" one more certainty . . . that the next time an American diplomat faces a Russian diplomat across an international conference table, the Russian is going to get a taste of some of his own medicine...