Our staff of life
Media
Part of Philippine Review
- Title
- Our staff of life
- Creator
- Paulino, Antonio
- Language
- English
- Year
- 1944
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- 88 December Our Staff of Life By ANTONIO PAULINO T P HE ORGANISATION OF THE Rice and- Corn Administration in mid: . November to supplant the Bigasang Bayan as the Government’s control agency in staples gives validity to the fact that war imposes upon governments the duty of supplying the bask needs of their people. Events of the past many months have in fact argued for governmental controj of the staple crops.. For precisely the reason that profiteering is a natural result of developments that dislocate normal channels of distrib 'tion, private enterprise cannot and should not be depended upon especially in the matter of prime goods Travelers from the north speak of lush ti( in the Central Plain — hectares arid hectares of yellow stalk freighted with a .rich harvest. The Ric o a s job is to see that this harvest sidetracks the profiteer’s bodega arid goes direct to the pot. Two facts must be aknowledged. The first is that the profiteer and the crooked police .agent are at the base of the whole business. The second is that the people are willing to go almost any length in helping eliminate these two, but that their cooperation ultimately would depend upon how uncompromisingly the’ Government would deal with them. This • season’s rice crop, allowing for adverse factors such as attacks by pests and unfavourable weather that usually subtract from a normal* harvest, should aggregate at least 450,000 cavans of palay in'the Central Plain alone.. Grain which has been hoarded for various reasons ought to number 50,000 cavans more. All of this total—or as much of it as can be made available—should go the people’s, larder- beginning this Chirstmas. If this is to be made more than a mere 'wish, the mailed fist should be used The Government should estah-. lish moral restraints calculated to make profiteering—and in fact the least intention to-abet the profiteering—really dangerous business. The maximum, penalty would be given offenders. under martial law. Profiteering begins at the source of the goods. Any serious attempt to discourage profiteering should begin at the same point. Hoarding of rice in the Central Blain results from two ' general causes; namely, the steady arid swift Climb of prices, which makes speculation attractive to producers, and the difficulty of transporting the grain from farmer to buying center due to risks on the road Organised banditry and the natural desire to stock up against a day of need add to these factors Faceci with bodily harm if tliey sfell their grain, farmers are cowed into keeping most of it. In the Central Plain the practise-is. wide-, spread to hoard a. considerable portion of the harvest as a reserve to 1944 .0‘t t St .*f f o f Tif e -, 89 <i?aw from in case the next crop should fail. Rice producers should therefore be extended full assurance of. security Their entire output should be controlled by the RICOA; trade iri_ the cereal other , than by this one organisation should be outlawed. Apart from the fact that it faces great temptations to profiteer, private enterprise is. handicapped by the restrictions imposed by war Conse■ quently there is a one-sided disparity between production and consumption As the Government—and the Government only—is in a position to hurdle t’ se restrictions, it should take un to- itself what normally is a function of private business. As an operating company the Govertyment can muster the country’s f- ':ns, mines and forests to yit-Id the row materials it would require; conso’idate factories and wo»*k th'*m under its management or control: and construct oascos and bate!? that it would need to procure raw mnt.orif.ls and distribute finished goods Wit!' those facilities, it can *urn. out th*, basic articles needed by it> customers: the people. . An office of production management, of wtych the Ra o a should be a part, can c’omdinat.< the production, transportation^ and distribution of prime goods. Already the Ihco?. has addressed itself to solving the key problem: rice. The rice problem is at bottom one of human values 'For this reason, th.* farmer should be tak n for what h* is; the foundation upon which ro/s the economic edifice of an agri cu’turaJ country such as ours. He b ! ould be tymilhissed with his k^y position in this edifice Rice is the staple food. It is scarce at this time.' Producing it is a respon.'bility which he is duty-bound to discharge because it. is vital to the potiona’ existence He must in. fact be taught that’t is his duty to plant his land . with the people’s crop. Only that part of his harvest which is sufficient for his needs may he legally keep; the people should hrvo the rest. The grain should be husked only in authorised mills, tranported only in government conveyances. A minimum price which would allow the farmer a'reasonable margin of profit should be fixed—and the Government should- stick to it. A question becomes pertinent here. At this minimum price, how is/the farmer to meet the rising ljving cost? Profiteering runs in a vicious circle. A majority of profiteers are not innately bad; they profiteer so that they can pay the price of other profiteers Most of those who profiteer in coconuts, for example, al’e forced to it by the desire to/meet the terms of those who profiteer in rice. The Government shou]d enable rice producers to have little traffic with profiteers As much as it possibly could, it . shov’d satisfy their basic wants: food, clothing, and shelter. Weekly or bi-weekly rations of pri’^e go-'-d? wou’d increas'-- their morale and indirectly the price fixed for th-air crop. P.ice travel* a long way from fin'd to pot: in between.. th- police agent holds destiny in the palm of his hand. His privileges should- for that reason, be n<r less. A private in the- Constabulary gets free clothing, quarters and hoard, and a basic pay of P(>O»n month The cheapest kind of cigarA1, at current prices cost ohe peso apiece No matter how good hi- arithmetic, d is hard t see how he can keep his budget balanced* The government should recognise the fact that honour is a very fine thing but that no amount of black magic will enable an empty sack to stand upright. Constabulary. officers and men should be given tations of those prime goods they need most— as many rations per wtek as would* be sufficient to eliminate every ex40 Ph il ippin e Re v ie w December cuse for bribery in the force. If in spite of these privileges they should persist in alining then;selves with .profiteers, they should immediately be arraigned before summary courts-martial. If found guilty, they should be disgraced in front of their companies and shot at dawn. The Government has, in . times past, handled the profiteer-and the crooked policemen with silk gloves The Filipino people, it has been stressed by those who expertise on such things, have a peculiar psycho logy; they are more amenable to policies of attraction than o5 force. It has in fact become common to read of high public officials asking the cooperation of rice producers with tears in their eyes. Clearly, the Government has been patient enough; it has tried that policy and it has found that it does not work. The corrupt peace office)- is still with us; the profiteer stiil lingers on. Better results will perhaps - be achieved if we take these people for what they are—soulless scoundrels who should join the devil in hell—and line them up against the wall. That would seem un-Christian and would shock many of the ’devout this Christmas. But at a time of zooming prices and precious 'ittle money, it would probably mean the difference between a bitter rejection of God and a calm assurance that He’s still in His heaven and all’s right with the world. Giving Up CTiunglting— HANSON BALDWIN, Military Commentator of the New York Times: Japanese forces are surging toward their military objectives. As a result, Chungking . has been thrown into confusion which seems to be beyond -relief. It is advisable for us to reconsider the role of Chungking in this war. When we deal a decisive blow on Japanese forces, it will be possible for the Americans to attack the heart of Japan from the air and from the seas with the use of troops to be detailed from insular bases which a,re already in our possession. We, therefore, have no need of continuing prolonged hostilities on the China continent.