Evening star., 1943-05-30

sent the cost Of living soaring. At the
same time Costa Rica is exporting food
to the Panama Canal Zone. The de-
mand takes practically everything little
Costa Rica has to spare.
Can't Replace Stocks.
The Canal Zone also is using up large
supplies of foods and other items and
merchants in Panama are unable to re-
place their stocks. Consequently there
are shortages and high prices and the
Panamanian standard of living has gone
down.
Lazo found bright postwar prospect
in store for Colombia. He called Colom-
bia "one of the coming countries of the
New World 1t has great possibilities
in both industry and agriculture, he said.
He took frankly serious view of the
situation in Ecuador, pointing out that
1t has great potential riches but empha-
sizing what he called its state of marked
acknowledgements. and shortages of
mechanical equipment and low-interest
financing.
Peru also brought up the matter of re-
qulrementS that the United States has
been unable to fill. Complaints there,
however, had reached nothing like the
proportions of those in Ecuador and Bo-
livia
AS an illustration of the economic sit
uation of Bolivia, Lazo said retail sales
of the city of Chicago were IS times
greater than Bolivias entire national in
come, although the populations are ap-
proximately the same.
In the case of Chile Lazo foresaw Sc
rious postwar problems which he be-
heved would have to be met by new de-
velopments. He pointed out that the
country's foreign economy is geared
mostly on the nitrate and copper indus
tries and that postwar slump in these
might throw $4,000 men out of work-a
large item in such a small population.
Argentine Fuel DWindles.
In Buenos Aires, a sharp drop in fuel
imports is causing concern in Argentina
as winter arrives, but the citizenry is be-
ing told to take comfort in the 2.nowl-
edge that neighboring countries are suf-
fering worse.
al StIllAlld pIOQuCtS Ilu(ll VI Ilel pc.
troleum needs and imports a bit more
through a new pipeline from Bolivia but
faces a deficit of AZ per cent because Of
wartime shipping difficulties.
Non-producer neighbors like Brazil,
Uruguay and Chile are feeling the pinch
more. although as members of the
petroleum supply pool for Latin America
Of tl,nir C,-
through a system OF pooling supplies.
tankers and other facilities organized
by the United States. Argentina has
chosen to remain out Of the pool, prob
ably in difference to her policy of neu-
trality in the war, and makes no secret
of the fact that she is better off than
the pool members.
The gasoline shortage is not yet grave
although private car owners are obliged
to get along with about half their nor
NAL consumption.
With fuel oil. however. the situation is
serious. There is available only so per
cent of the amount used in 1941 while
the demand has increased because coal
stocks have dropped from a pre-war
1lSult VI I5oO,O1f lOllS 10 1ZU,UUU IONS.
There is a deficit of 81 per cent in
the supply of Diesel oil and many trains
which formerly operated with this fuel,
as we'll as others which we're coal
powered, are now burning wood. Sched-
ules have been reduced sharply
Factories. hotels, Office buildings and
apartment houses burn wood, corn, lin
seed or charcoal as substitutes for coal
and oil. The government has been seek
ing means to develop coal industry but
the chief obstacle to the use of several
existing mines is their inaccessibility
The battle of agricultural production
in Northern Mexico is gaining momen-
tum from Matamoros, near the Gulf, to
Tijuana, near the Pacific. as barren
mesquite and cactus country Is being
transformed into cotton, wheat and to-
! mato fields.
Irrigation is the answer.
Between 1926 and 1910, 100000 acres
of arid land in the states along the
United States frontier were placed in
cultivation.
And in siXyear program from 1941
to 1916, 1,75O00O additional acres will
be placed on the productive list, the
National Irrigation Commission said. AS
large dam projects are being completed
new land constantly is being cleared