Evening star., 1949-07-10
Greek Farmers
Hit by Imports
Foreign Wheat Drives
Prices Down, Leads
to Hardships
SpecioI Dispofeh 10 The Stor

SpecioI Dispoteh 10 The Stor
ATHENS.-The heavy enervat-
ing heat of the Athens summer,
and the siesta to which it drives
most Greeks, seems to have calmed
the politicians. This calm has
hardly been disturbed by the all
important question of the wheat.
The production costs for wheat
in Greece are much higher than in
purely agricultural countries. Be-
cause of the inflated price of
manufactured goods the peasant
must sell four hundredweight (450
pounds) of wheat to get a pair of
rough shoes. For a man who only
tills one acre, this is large sum,
indeed, to pay.
The large imports of foreign
wheat leave a surplus of approx
imately 100000 tons of local wheat
which the farmers cannot sell on
the market. This brings the price
down, and the farmers starve. The
government was asked by the
agricultural leaders to buy this
surplus at $500 drachmas an oke
(6 cents a pound at free market
rates.. 1t was also asked not to
put any American wheat on the
market for some time, so as to give
the farmers a chance to sell their
wheat to the makers of paste
foods, biscuit manufacturers. etc.,
at price that would enable the
farmers to feed and clothe their
families.
Budget Deficit Looms
The government. after much
argument with the American ex-
perts who were against this protec-
ton policy, promised the farmers
that the moderate demands would
be met. Nearly every one ir
Parliament voted for the govern.
ment's decision and the MPs
seemed to enjoy this atmosphere
Of brotherliness.
But behind all the pleasant har.
mony looms the dark prospect of 9
budget deficit equal to $500, ,000,.
100000 drachmas ($200,000, ,000)
The Americans want to bridge this
gap by imposing a tax on import.
ers-who admittedly make colossa
prof1ts-but the government OBJ.
jects to this proposal. claiming
that the importers will add this
tax on to their prices and thus
further raise the cost of living
The government suggests that the
gap be bridged by additional
American aid.
The Populists, who hold all the
financial ministries in the gov
ernment and who have consist
emily opposed any attempt to con-
troll consumption on the plea that
such socialistic measures lead to
communism. are under heavy
pressure from the importers-who
contribute much to the Populist
Party flinds-not to allow the i'm
position of such a tax.
IDevaluation Proposed ,-
Mr.. Diomidis, vice president OF
the Council of Ministers, an orth-
odox economist of the liberal
school, hopes to solve Greece s
economic problem by a devalua-
ton of the drachma to $4,000 per
dollar instead of the present 10,-
900. This would. he believes. en-
courage Greeks who earn dollars
abroad. and especially shipowners
to send some exchange to Greece
The Americans oppose this with
the same argument that the
Greek government used about the
tax importers-they claim it will
raise the cost Of living. The Greek
citizens who read their papers
every morning wonder why both
the government and the Ameri-
cans worry about the cost Of liv-
ing only when they want to use
it as an argument.
And over all these problems
hangs the threat of a strike by
the civil servants. who get an av-
erage monthly salary of $50 and
are literally starving. If their
salaries are not soon increased,
as the government promised. they
threaten to go on strike and stay
out until their demands are met.
The Americans oppose any in
crease in the cost of running the
country. but the government
knows that a protracted civil serv-
ice strike would bred it.
(copyriEht London Observer Foreisn News