The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-11-14
LACK OF SHIPS
 HTS ECONOMY
 OF PUERTO RICO
M LAWRENCE q. HAAS United Press latin American RalleF

M LAWRENCE q. HAAS
 United Press latin American RalaeF New York. Nov. iA,-SUpl--rs,eran RloN important U, N defense Naaalcn guarding tho outer approaches Nn the Panama Canal, is facing ihe most serious economic cFlnla ln alR ea years under the American llaR,
 The situation can be traced dl. rectly @ Che shipping shortage. Unemployment is lnounllnes res lief funds are dwlndllng.
 While factories ln the Q. 6. work around the clock, with labor ehort. ages constituting the nreAeest problem for American industry Co solve the Eagar.rlnh, lndNsargs poor island of Puerto Rlco. lying oeo miles southeast of Miami, hos more than ans. 600 euaplcyahles out of work, with ao,00o on the relief rolls. Tho WpA may soon seek funds Co increase the islandA 10. lief clients Co 5000.
 Governor Rexfcrd Guy Tugwen has sought a eiS,oO0 GOO apprc. priAtlon from the Q. s. Congress to finance planting of food crops in order to establsh A certain meas. urN of self~suffaclency in the island, but the project has been pigeon. holed In Washington.
 The average annual income of the islander formerly was about si50, but it has experienced e sharp drop.
 Sugar Industry Suffers
 Work on defense base eonstx1,ca ton has been completed. The is. lands needlecraft industry, which produced about SiO,OoO,O00 worth of goods annually for the mainland market, has virtually collapsed, due partially to application of the min. imum wage and hour laws to its workers, and because of lack of shipping space to carry the mer. chandise.
 Puerto Rico Is practically e one. industry country, and its estimated seo, 900, 900 sugar industrty is ham, 6icapped hy lack of fertilizer and machine parts, engine and motor fuel for its field operations. and shipping space to move its record crops to the mainland. With a huge forced reduction of harvest. ing in prospect it is believed that at least half of the 5000 work CTS normally employed in field and mill during the harvesting and grinding season, will be added 10 the rolls of unemployed.
 Proposals for mass immigration of Puerto Rican workers to the mainland for work on farms has aroused little enthusiasm in the island, as the shipping shortage Is believed to render the plan im- practical. The movement of from 10000 to i5.00o workers alone would require a fleet of transport and escort vessels large enough for a major troops convoy.
 The War Production Board and War Shipping Administration have not yet approached solution of the shipping problem. Many of the auxiliary -motore6 schooners which ply Caribbean waters could be placed in trade between Puerto Rico and the mainland. bringing much needed foodstuffs and other essentials to the island, but their owners refuse to engage in this trade unless they are enabled to carry payloads to the mainland.
 Rum Cargoes Prohibited
 The schooners are not especially equipped to carry sugar. and a sugar cargo would yield freight rates of not more than Si.0oo per trip. However, if the sailing ves- sels would he permitted to carry Puerto Rican rum, Governor Tug well has said. each trip would yield about s5.00O and each such ship ment would bring from $50000 to t60, 900 in revenue to the insular treasury and provide urgently needed funds for unemployment and work relief. 1t would also pro- vide added employment in the is- lands distilleries. which are faced with a shutdown.
 An overall ruling demands that % per cent of all export space be 6A&oCdtG1 UO cdkdi, anu lii1o AAA the insular government has been unsuccessful in effecting a change in the ruling in view of the islands pressing problems and peculiar cir cumstances of today.
 Meanwhile Tugwell Is beset with political difficulties in San Juan. His administration is supported in the insular legislature by a slim majority in both houses, held by the popular Democratic party. led by Luis Munoz Marin, president of the Senate. Members of the .oppo- sition Coalition have sought. thus far unsuccessfully. to persuade the Washington administration to re- move Tugwell, and they claim that he is making the island field for experimentation in state socialism.
 At the recent opening Of a spe- :ial session of the legislature. sum- moned by Tugwell to deal with emergency measures. all of the op- position members walked out when Munoz Marin introduced Tugwell