Evening star., 1942-07-13

because it is necessary to feed the
wheat to the animals and there are
few potatoes because of the difficulty
in obtaining seed potatoes.
The consumers themselves, ac-
cording to government spokesmen,
are causing some scarcities, for ex-
ample by eating more meat and
fish than before the war They are
obliged to do this, it is explained, by
the lack of other products to which
they were accustomed.
More rice Is consumed than be-
fore the war as result of the scar
city of bread, and so the story goes:
The lack Of one product to which
the people are accustomed causes
them to turn to other products
which in turn also become scarce.
Transportation also has thrown
a monkey wrench into Spanish
economy.
In the south of Spain, olive oil a
staple item in the country's diet. is
plentiful while in Madrid and North
ern Spain it is strictly rationed and
even difficult to obtain the allowed
ration.
Spanish fishermen are catching
more fish than ever before: yet it
is nearly ell consumed in the coastal
regions because there isn't enough
transportation to carry it into the
interior.
Spanish railroads, never well de-
veloped in peacetime. were damaged
greatly during the civil war. Repair
work on the roads has been slow
mainly because of the difficulty in
obtaining machine tools from abroad
because Of the World War and the
same situation is true of the rolling
stock.
Living Costs Treblsd.
Thus, in many producing regions
the warehouses are filled to over
flowing with no opportunity of
shipping the products to other
points in the country.
Much has been said of Spain's
poor food situation-Dr. Alexis
Carrel told me in Madrid. after an
extensive survey, that one entire
generation of Spaniards is ruined by
malnutrition, pellegra and other like
diseases. And yet, foreigners coming
to Madrid see little or nothing of
this.
They 60 to de luxe restaurants and
cafes or hotels that cater to for
eigners and pay 50 to $4-enormous
sums in Spain-for a pre-civil war
meal of five or six courses. And
they leave Spain disillusioned.
Official statistics, however, tell
the story in a nutshell: The cost
of living in Spain compared with
the last normal year before the civil
war, 1885, has risen $40 per cent and
in some provinces more than 300
per cent.
Salaries of ordinary day laborers,
on the other hand. have risen from
8 pesetas a day to 10.
Much has been done in social
welfare work, but much remains to
be done. All social work has been
centralized under the Phalange and
soup kitchens, maternity centers and
clinics, none of which
prior to the Nationalist
have been set up in the
capital and in some parts of the
country.
Politics Depend on War.
The Phalange. official state partv.
also is a strong force in the nations
politics, which is dominated in ad-
dition, by the army and the church.
Spanish politics, as in most of the
rest of the world. depends on the
outcome of the present war.
Much talk is heard OF the
organization. and both
the Carlists and the Alfonsists are
at present united behind the pre-
tender, Don Juan, son of the late
King Alfonso.
Gil Robles, leader of the now
disbanded Accion Popular parry, who
is in exile in Portugal, is often
spoken of, in the event of a govern
ment change, as leader of a regency
until the return of Don Juan.
The army and the church are said
to be strongly monarchistie and the
Phalange never has opposed re-
establishment of the monarchy
when the time comes"
Whatever the outcome of the war,
however. neutral observers say the
Spaniards will decide their own
internal policy
They are noted as a brave people;
they will not stand foreign domina-
ton supinely. it is said. They have
been known in history as the best
soldiers in Europe, when they were
well led.
Whether Franco is the chief who
can lead Spain to peaceful prosperity
depends on many things. some of
them purely Spanish problems, but
also upon events in the outside war
ring world.