Imperial Valley press., 1941-12-21
BY PETER EDSON
INSIDE
WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON, Dec 90 - The
1 wonder of il is how the japanese
statesmen figurc they can afforc
/ to take on a war against both the
/ United States and Great Britain
IconSidering cnly Japan's unquestion-
ably lousy economic position -Four
/ wears Of War WCarlneSS are lust a
| beginning. On top Of lhat is gen
cral business recession that points
only to ultimate economic ruin.
/ Dcpartmen. of Commerce iafor-
nation on Japan'S internal economy
and her foreign trade present the
, real picture. Here is country
which is only half self-Sufficient
in normal and piping times of peace
More than 70 per cent of these
imports have come from the cOun-
tries on which Japan now wages
war-the United States, Great Brit
ain. Dutch East Indies and the
Philippines. All this trade il now
kisses Coodby. And it is only from
these countries that Japan can OBJ
tain the metals, chemicals, pe'Eo-
leum and machinery which are vital
to its heavy industries.
With the door 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 coun-
tries, Manchuria, KWantung and oc-
cupied China. These countries, while
they are valuable customers for the
materials which Japan manutac-
tured 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 it can Scrape to-
gether to keep going.
The result has been a series OF
salvage campaigns that make our
aluminium nd dwastepaper collections
look like the picnic affairs they
really were. Scrap iron has become
almost as precious as japanese
pearls. Manhole covers, sheet iron
roofing and the ornamental iron
fences around government buildings
have disappeared. Salvaging of
ships wrecked and sunk off Japans
rocky coasts has become a leading
, industry.
Transportation has been cut dras-
tically There is a 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 ven bloc countries. Motor We
hicles are at a premium and such
as there are in bad repair. Case
line and oil must go almost entirely
TO the military uses. Buses and
tayis can no longer use gasoline and
oil, and even the substitute fuels
| like charcoal gas are under govern
ment regulation.
Plant operation has been curtalled
not only because of the shortage OF
raw materials. but also by a short
age of skilled labo". Night shifts
have been eliminated. Glass manu-
! facturers were reduced in number
from nearly 1000 to so. Japan's once
thriving cotton textiles trade has
been cut so per cent. The Unlteo
States. India and Brazil were for
merlv chief sources of Japanese raw
cotton. but shipping shortages anc
/ embargOeS have cut off these sup
/ plies and the raising Of cotton II
! occupied China has been a dlSap'
| pOintment.
! SILK BECOMES SURPLUS
Silk trade. long the backbone o.
Japans worldwide export business
once accounted for a third of the
countrys sales abroad Raw sill
/ has been the one raw material o.
which Japan had a Sufficlency, anl
now it is an understandable surplu.
! because the United States anc
Great Britain have stopped buying
Limitation of the silk industry ha'
meant that much of the acreage II
mulberry trees is being converted t(
food crops, and this tells the story
Of Japans food shortage. Originally
only rice and wheat were rationed
but early in l94l fish, eggs, meat
rice wine, bread and edible oils were
restricted. In October the govern
ment added to the list COW peas anC
/ buckWheat.
Price control measures have beer
applied with a vengeance in an eff
fort to curb an increase in tht
cost of foodStuffS and commoditie
which. at the 1910 retail level, hav,
been 66 Per cent above the aver
age of 1896 when the China cam
paign began. Compared with 1914
the living cost in 1870 Was 266 pc.
cent higher
The japanese national debt ha,
! tripled from 10 billion yen to nearl!
30 billion. The cost Of the Chin;
. campaign alone has been O. billion
! yen. but that nothing compared
( To what this war against the Unitec
States and Grea Britain will cost.