The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-12-12

foreign trade present the real pie ture. Here IS country which is only half self sufficient in normal and piping times of peace. More than 70 per cent of these illl- ports have come from the countries on which Japan new wages war the United States, Great Britain, Dutch East Indies and the Philip pines. All this trade it now kisses goodby. And 1t is only from theso countries that Japan can obtain the metals, chemicals, petroleum and machinery which are vital to It's heavy industries.
 With the ooor now slammed on these natural sources of supply, Japan has been set back on her own heels and the. resources of what are known as the yen bloc countries, Manchuria, Kwantung and occupied China. These countries, while they are valuable customers for the ilia- terials which Jaran manufactured from raw materials imported from other countries, are no good as sources Of raw materials. Japan It. self therefore must become the source of whatever 1t can scrape to- gether to keep going. N SALVAGE
 A BIG BUSINESS
 The result has been q series of salvage campaigns that make our aluminium and wastepaper collec- tlons look Ike the picnic affairs they really were. Scrap iron has be- come almost as precious as Japanese pearls. Manhole covers, sheet iron roofing and ornamental iron fences around government buildings have disappeared, Salvaging of ships wrecked and sunk of Japan's rocky coasts has become e leading indus. try.
 Transportation mas been cut draStieally. There is Q shortage of coal, further cut by the necessity of using more coal to reduce such low grade iron ores as can be obtained from the yen bloc countries. Motor vehicles are at e premium and such as there are In bod repair, Gasoline and oil must 60 almost entirely to the military uses. Buses and taxis can no longer use gasoline and oil, and even tho substitute fuels like charcoal gas are under government regulation.
 Plant operation has been eurtail. cd not only because of the shortage of raw materials. but also by e shortage of skilled labor, Night shifts have been eliminated. Glass manufacturers were reduced in mum Der from nearly 1000 to SO. Japan'g once-thriving cotton textiles trade has been cut 30 per cent. The Uni- ted States, India and Brazil were formerly chief sources of Japanese raw cotton but shipping shortages and enihargoes have cut of these supplies and the raising of cotton in occupied China has been c disap. pointment.
 SILK BECOMES
 SURPLUS
 silk trade, long the backbone of JapAns worldwide export business, once accounted for Q third of the country's sales abroad. Raw silk has been the one raw material of which Japan had a sufiiciency, and now 1t is an unconsumable surplus because the United States and Great Britain have stopped buying.
 Limitation of the silk industry has meant that much of the acreage in mulberry trees is being converted to food crODS, and this tells the story of Japar'S food shortage. Or- iginally, only rice and wheat were rationed, but early in lo4l fish, eggs, meat, rice, wine, bread and edible oils were restricted. Tn Oc- tober the government added to the list COW peas and huckwheat.
 Price control measures have been applied with a vengeance in an ef- fort to curb an increase in the cost of foodstuffs and commodities which at the l940 retail level, have been 66 per cent above the average of 1886 when the China campaign be- gan. Compared with 1914, the living cost in 1940 was 266 per cent higher
 The Japanese national debt has tripled from 10 billion yen to nearly 30 billion. The cost of the China campaign alone has been 9 billion yen. but that's nothing compared to what this war against the United States and Great Britain will cost. 7
 And the question naturally arises as to how any country can wage a war on an economy like that.