The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-12-19
FrGncO'S People ShOW Undercurrents . OfFeGr Gnd Unrest TOWard Future
ny R0skTTR IfARoRoVR

veNA anu t0rtn between bpain'e
 Franco and the United Nations
 Outward signs Of revolt are
 scare. But 90 are the outward signs
 or either gayety or freedom. And
 Mter talking with the Bpanlards
 ln the cities and the fields, with
 bank clerks and farmers, you caf-
 not miss the uiidercurrent of uns
 rest and fear of the future that
 runs deep beneath the surface of
 tranquility and order.
 If you have been ln Spain before,
 you will miss the swarins of begs gars who used Co beset pedestrians
 at every turn. Franco has forbid-
 den begging in the streets and the
 beggars obey.
 Black Markets Thrive
 He hes made announcements against the black market and inc
 flatlon, too, but the result has been far different In Bpaln's thriving black market, according to the have-nots, who are legion, the big. gest operators are members of Spalns Civil Service And every Spantard you talk Co Is convinced that the 100 percent boost iF the cost of living in the past nine months b q direct result of the governments commodity prlce-fix. ing at 30 percent or more below ace tual cost Of production.
 Coming to Spain from c ration- cd lean continent beyond the Pyre- nees, your eyes widen ct the inc credible number of full store windows offering shoes, gloves, leather goods, wooiens, shirts, silk ties, perfumery, cosmetics, candy, and pastries Bfnothered in fresh whipped. d.creain. All these are tflra. toned, and unlimited in quantity
 But to enjoy them, you need money, and plenty of 1t, far more than the working class spaniard can accumulate at wages of from SIPS to 9i.S0 . day. .t
 A three-course meal in . first class hotel or restaurant costs from | 60 to ei0. including a general ser. vice charge of i2 percent and . municipal tax of 10 percent. Gloves and shoes are about at U. s. levels A for 6 pair of handmade gloves, | S7 to Si4 for shoes. A mans white | shirt is q, nylons are se or si0. American cigarettes are 90 cents . pack.
 suppcrteFu in Coed Positions
 Lpxiiry hotels and restaurants are crowded, but like the luxurious American and French cars that abound on Madrid streets (and sell for s2,000 to e56 6,000), most of the people in the picture are high of. ficials in the Franco admintstra. ton or black market operators.
 Franno's active supporters, al. though they represent only frac- ton of the population, have posi-. tion ard means. They are the privileged who are waxing fat on the reeime-Falangists and mill. tary, as well as industrialists and businessmen who are convinced any change for more liberal form of government would upset the pleasant way of life which they manage to lead.
 The surface signs of totalitarian- ism are hardly more than the count less uniforms soldiers, armed po- lice, civil guard, and municipal po- lice--and the portrait of Franco Fl CaudilloA-thak ts in every pub- lie establishment.
 There are deeper signs in the hunger that haunts the mass or Spain's people. The fear of the Secret Police that has hung over them since Franco's rise to power does not prevent many Spaniards from making grim little jokes about the incredible number of bureaucrats, the inefticiency ana the red tape.
 NO ENTHUSIASM
 FOR REVOLT
 But nowhere, among the little people, can you find enthusiasm for any movement that would = plunge Spain into another revolu- ( tion. Their memories of the Civil a War are too vivid for them to cheer proposals from the outside s world for overthrow of the govern ment. c
 Their personal problem is eco f homie, and they seem to feel that a a solution to that problem would V end much of the urgency of the i political situation. It
 The olive oil producer shrugged i his shoulders in dispair and said: "In Spain today. everybody cheats the |  Until the government butted 1, in," he explained, life was dis c tinctly easier for everyone. Now I producers declare only 90 or 50 d percent of what they make or grow. e The rest goes to the black market.'
 The result is food economy in q Spain that makes 1t impossible to obtain food at the prices fixed by a ,he government and black market f which Bronco not only cannot stop a but which flourishes full-blown among the bureaucrats of his re- gme. a
 Face Grimmest Winter f
 And because of 1t, the wage-earn- = ing population of Spain, both in the cities and in the rural districts, face the grimmest Winter since the revolution. ]
 Although you can eat all you want at a price, in luxury hotels and rstaurants, the working -man and tn. white collar" employe must depend on the staples he can buy { and tale home, and these staples are officially rationed in amounts that male the quota for one week look hardy enough for one meal: ) Bread, three to eight ounces day, depeniing on the category of the worker. ( oil, one lint a month. (
 Rice, cerals or grains, a little over three ounces @ week. lI Sugar, six ainces a month. i
 Meat Not RatiOned ( Meat is no onger rationed, but Is obtainable, on the legitimate market, only onTuesdays, Wednes-