The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-10-28
JONES JUMPS THE GUN

straight on details was demonstrated the other day by Federal Loan Ad- ministrator Jesse Jones, Usually when the administrator holds a press conference he is flanked by a row of dignified gentlemen who do the work on the dozen or more gov- ernment corporations of which MT. Jones is titular head. They laugh at the boss's jokes and answer ques- tionG he can't.
 On this particular occasion, how ever, when a question came up about new loans to Latin-A America. Mr. Jones said one had been granted to Mexico for road improvement when, as a matter of fact, the loan had not been agreed to or signed. Nego- tiators were still at work on 1t, in secret. Warren Lee Pierson, head of Export Import bank, wasn't there to correct the announcement, with the result that there was much confu- sion and covering up to be done in Mexico City, for Washington had agreed for simultaneous announce ment should the loan be granted and signed.
 Incidentally, in connection with Latin American loans, one of the new good neighborly deals under consideration is a Venezuelan ap- plication for finance to help tear down the red light district of Cara cas and build a modern workers housing project on the site.
 
 ERSATZ RUBBER
 SHORTAGE
 When the four new defense plants for making artificial rubber are in production, some time in l942, they will be able to turn out a total of only 60000 tons of artificial rubber a year, or 10 per cent of the 600,- 900 tons of raw rubber now con- sumed in the U. s. annually.
 Plants now in operation, making neoprene, koroseal and other syn thetic rubbers, have capacity of only 10000 tons. The four new de- fense plants, Firestone and Good year at Akron, Goodrich at Louis- vile, and U. s. Rubber at Nauga- tuck, Conn, have 10000-ton an- nual capacity apiece. The 60,000- ton total emphasizes just how de- pendent the country will still be on raw rubber from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.
 The small Business Unit of the Antitrust Division in the Depart ment of Justice has been doing a little spade work on government purchasing agencies which have un- consciously or not been supporting monopolies, aYrti-trust's pet enemy.
 What has happened IS that speci- hcations on some items have been so written that only one nanufac- turer has been able to supply the goods needed and the smaller, inde- pendent producers have been frozen out of the bidding. Whenever one oi these small independents yells, the Department of Justice boys move iil and try to break lip the monopoly quietly. Items which have been worked on so far include everything from filing cabinets for the limitlesS government correspondence to arti- ficial teeth for the Army.
 
 ABOUT-FACING
 THE FIGURES
 Whether 1t makes you. feel any better or not, Vice President Wal lace's recent piece on national in. come and national debt, written fol Land Policy Review, one of the De- pertinent of Agriculture's numerous magazines, has presented some fig ures which will no doubt be usec frequently as arguments a still big ger national debt.
 In brief, the Wallace theory i' based on comparison of private state and federal debts, income anc interest payments in the boom veal of 1929 and the boom year of 194l By the end of 194l, says Wallace private long-term debts will be $l( billion less than in 1929, private short-term debts SIS billion less state and local government debts 5; billion more, and federal debts $3t billion more, and federal debts $3( billion more. These add up to nel total indebtedness of "only" $ll billion more than in 1929. But inter est charges, because of lower interes rates, win be $3 billion less in 194l than in 1929. or $6.3 billion in 1s4' against s9.b billion in 1929.
 Carrying this argument to con clusion, the country could go int debt approximately 90 per cent nor than it is already and still be pay ling no more interest than it dAa . l1e2o,