The Daily Alaska empire., 1941-06-27
BULLS,L LIKE 5pANIARDS,
 HUNGRY TOO
There Are Fewer Smiles in Spain To oday Where
 People Underfed
By JOHN LLOYD AP Correspondent Just Back
 From Spain

NEW YORK, June 27.-Even the bulls live on abnormal rations in Spain these days. All that can be spared them is grass. They are underweight and lac: the old fire when they enter the ring.
 There are fewer smiles in Spain these days There are tighter belts People go to bed at the un- heard of hour of 1 am. They are up and working by mid-morning, ] grimly earning a pittance tn dG will not stay their hunger. Smokers go about with long faces. Tobacco is severely ra- toned. A man is entitled to two packages of cigarettes every ten days. Women get no tobacco.
 Spain always has been a coun- try of contrasts and this holds to- day, There is bountiful food for some, but these are the very few. The food is in the restaurants, noo in the homes.
 A dollar. which is more than many working mans days pay. is required for a meal in the ! cheaper places. For an average good meal in better restaurant one pays two and a half to three dollars. From there 1t goes on up.
 Olive Oil A Rarity
 Probably the most disastrous thing that could have been done to a Spaniard in normal times would have been to deprive him os his olive oil Oil has been the tra- ditional basis of all Spanish cook ! ing.
 Today olive oil is so scarce that 1 it is an occasion, indeed. when a i pint is available, People are so tired of boiled food that eating has become mechanical. Then there is the question of bread. Spaniards were always heavy bread eaters. They used to con- sume an amount that would amaze the average American. Now in some cases they get little more than a mouthful.
 Faced with an acute shortage, Generalissimio Franco's tary planners hit on what seemed the fairest arrangement. They decided that people who could afford to buy more of other foods should have less bread and the poorer people more.
 As result Spaniards in the high income brackets-that is those who earn $50 or more a month-are entitled to only 80 grams a day. Eighty grams is less than three ounces.
 Those who earn between $50 and $50 get l20 grams or approxi- mately four and a fifth ounces. The rest are allowed slightly more than six ounces.
 There is such shortage of meat and it comes at such relatively high prices that the working class es seldom have it on their tables.
 All this sums up to a general under nourishment which h a s weakened the people physically.
 Birth Rate Threatened
 An expert who made study of the results found marked influ- ence on the child-bearing capacity of spanish women. If present con- ditions go on for another couple of years, he said, the percentage of women incapacitated for bear ing children will reach startling figure
 The sad state of affairs in Spain is attributed both to the ravages of the civil war and the inpossi- bility of maintaining normal trade relations during the European con- flict that followed.
 It is hard for Spain's millions to keep skin and bone together Yet an official campaign is on to increase the population. The ex- ample of Germany and Italy IS being followed. The authorities hold that Spain has a race to con- quer in the future and must rear sons in abundance.