The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Vol. XXVI, No.9 (September 1950)

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Vol. XXVI, No.9 (September 1950)
Issue Date: Vol. XXVI, No.9 (September 1950)
Year: 1950
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extracted text: Published monthly in Manila by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Fourth Floor, El Hogar Filipino Building — Telephone No. 2-95-70 A. V. H. Hartendorp Editor and Manager Entered as second class matter at the Manila Post Office on May 25, 1921, and on December 10, 1945 Subscription rate: P5.00 the year; $5.00 in the United States and foreign countries Officers and Members of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Paul H. Wood, President; J. A. Parrish, Vice-President; C. R. Leaber, Treasurer; J. H. Carpen ter, Roy Q. Davis, T. M. Knight, N. Most, L. G. Wagner, and E. E. Selph. Marie M. Willimont, Executive Vice-President; I. T. Sa Imo, Secretary Vol. XXVI September, 1950 No. 9 Editorials— Contents President Quirino’s Vigilance Committee Proposal..................................................................................................................................................... The Philippine National Business is International.................................................................................................................................................................. Tax-Exempt Industries............. ................................................................................................................................................................................. Syphoning Off!................................... ............................... ................................................................................................................................. Note for our Economic Planners................................................................................................................................................................................................... The Cost of Re-armament......................................................................................................................................................................................................... Capitalism as the Cause of War.................................................................................................................................................................................................... Broken Reciprocity in Alien Registration Fees.................... ................................................................................................................................................ Reimbursing Enemy-confiscated American bank deposits as aid to the Philippine Economy.................................................................................. Statement to the Press.......................................................................................................................................... Economic Survey of Asia and the Far East, 1949............................................................. Philippine Air Traffic. .......................................................................................................................................... Report on the Reorganization of Government Corporations.................................................................... Ambassador Daniel W. Bell................... Secretariat of the Ecafe......................... P. C. Morantte.............................................. Department of Economic Coordination... 323 324 324 324 326 326 327 328 332 328 329 330 331 The Business View— Office of the President of the Philippines.............................................................................................. Banking and Finance. ....j................................................................................................................. Manila Stock Exchange .. 1....................................... ...................................................................... Credit..........................................’.................................................. •.............................................................. Real Estate.............................................. ...................................................................................................... Electric Power Production......................................................................................................................... Ocean Shipping and Exports...................................................................................................................... Lumber........................................................................................................................................................... Copra and Coconut Oil.......................................................................................................................... Desiccated Coconut..................................................................................................................................... Sugar............................................................................................................................................................... Manila Hemp.............................................................................................................................................. Tobacco.......................................................................................................................................................... Imports........................................................................................................................................................... Automobiles and Trucks............................................................................................................................ Food Products............................................................... ........................................................................ Legislation, Executive Orders, Court Decisions...................................................................... Philippine Safety Council.......................................................................................................................... Executive Order No. 341..................................................................................................................................... Cost of Living Index, 1946-50 (Table)........................................................................................................... The “Let Your Hair Down” Column............................................................................................................. Official Source................................................... 333 I. G. Spering.................................................... 334 R. Ewing........................................................... 334 C. W. Muilenburg............................... 335 A. Varias........................................................... 335 J. F. Cotton..................................................... 336 F. M. Gispert.................................................. 336 L. J. Reyes........................................................ 336 H. D. Hellis.................................................... 337 H. H. Curran.................................................. 339 G. G. Gordon................................................... 340 H. Robertson.................................................. 341 L. A. Pujalte.................................................. 342 S. ScHMELKES......................................................... 343 K. E. Gay.......................................................... 345 C. G. Herdman................................................ 346 E. E. Selph....................................................... 347 F. S. Tenny....................................................... 348 President of the Philippines....................... 349 Bureau of the Census and Statistics.......... 351 ................................................................................. 352 50 CENTAVOS THE COPY MOW MORI THAR MR.' With fewer new cars coming into the country, have you realized that your car is perhaps the most precious you've ever owned? Today, therefore, you have to be doubly careful to SAVE that car by giving it the best protection available-AAobilubrication ■ Mobilubrication means full protection of every chassis point with special Mobilgreases — correctly applied in the right way, in the right place by especially trained person nel in accordance with the approved Mo bilubrication Disc Chart. $Tmo***! p^SENm%Nb’uW°'T! cer Mobilubrication now/ At Mobilgas Service Stations STANDARD-VACUUM OIL COMPANY V Mobilgas, PHILIPPINES Editorials “ . . . to promote the general welfare” President Quirino’s proposal that the citizens band themselves together for their own protection against the Huks, could, in the form of this President Quirino’s bare statemerit, be easily inter Vigilance Committee preted as an admission that Proposal the Government can not protect them, that it has failed in the first duty of any government, to provide protection and to maintain law and order. But in the brave and touching appeal which citizens heard over the radio on the night of August 30 and read in their newspapers the next day, the President said very much more than that and indeed sounded the clear, true note of pure democracy. Delivered within a week after the new outbreak of Huk outrages in a number of provinces, including the foul massacre at Camp Makabulos in Tarlac, citizens heard in this brief and straight-forward address an appeal of the Government to them; they heard a proposal that they organize to help the Government. As there have always been so many appeals from the citizens that the Government help them, as if the Govern ment’s power were absolute and its abilities unlimited, and as the Government has generally grandly pretended that this was indeed so, and the people have therefore come to rely entirely too heavily upon the Government rather than upon themselves,—the address denotes possibly an auspicious beginning of a notable change in direction in the .flow of the relations between the people and the Government. As the present democratic forms of government here were imposed largely from above, the tendency has been to develop too great a centralization of government power, too much dictation from the Government, too much of a paternalism which has, on the Government’s side, promoted authoritarianism, and on the people’s side, dependence and weakness. It is wholly salutary that the men in the Government should learn that the Government is nothing without the people’s backing, and that the people should learn that the Government is theirs and is what they make it. The Government is an instrument of the people, weak if they are weak, strong if they are strong. The Government has no-resources,-either in power-or in finances, other than are bestowed on it by the people. Merely arbitrary govern ment is inevitable weak and vicious and inherently bank rupt. President Quirino said in part: “My beloved countrymen, I appeal to you and for you. Rally to your Government, which is yourselves. Give the necessary civilian assistance and encouragement. I ask you to organize. Whether the forces of the Government are large or small, they can do little to meet the menace of the Red Hand unless you, the people, you and I, rally behind them. Stand with them where they are strong. Step in to sup port them where they are weak. “ I do not ask you to protect the Government, or this or that govern ment official. I call on you to protect those things which are above government. Your homes, your families, the schools for your children, the hospitals for your sick, the churches in which you worship. “Our good people, unite. Citizens of this free land, form your selves into battalions of peace. Form your community assemblies, your neighborhood associations, your barangays for peace. Call on the civic organizations. Even the charitable institutions, religious institutions, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, Parent-Teacher Associa tions, and other civic and charitable institutions and our labor unions in every municipality. I ask you to call on them and all the prominent citizens in each community. Go on the alert. The enemy is around you, so learn of the enemy. Information is security. Unite to get the information. Relay it immediately to the nearest peace officers. “You have heard the Civilian Guards condemned. This, because their loyalty was to the man or the group that hired them. Take over the civilian guards. Form your community chests. Many there are who are contributing for less patriotic purposes. Our Government is poor, but our individual citizenry is not poor. Everyone can afford to contribute to a common peace fund. Fill those chests with your con tributions. Name your own trusted men to disburse them, and make the civilian guards your guards, loyal to the people. “I do not call you to a campaign of war. I summon you to a cam paign for peace. Unite, my dear friends, to keep the dread Red Hand of murder from your doorsteps. This is our fight to preserve the Phil ippines.” The President did not go into any details as to the local organizations he proposes, and it would perhaps be better if he did not, but leaves this to the people themselves and their “own trusted men”. Much of the Philippines is still, or is again, virtually frontier country, with the people naturally thrown largely upon their own resources. The vigilance committees of the American frontier in the old days are still well remem bered. This form of voluntary organization is the natural answer to certain conditions of lawlessness, and the Govern ment is wise in recognizing this and encouraging it at least in those regions at present seriously menaced. 323 It will, of course, be necessary to modify the laws and regulations covering the licensing of fire-arms in these areas because the arming of small groups of chosen volun teers in the various localities must necessarily be permitted. It would be murder to encourage men armed only with bolos and clubs to make a stand before armed outlaws. The best weapon for local patrol purposes probably would be double-barreled or repeating shot-gun. Since the President outlined his plan, we have noted that various bureaucracies in the Government are preparing to take over the organization of the movement. This, we believe, is contrary to the President’s original conception, the value of which lies precisely in the local, private, and voluntary nature of the proposed citizens’ groups led by “their own trusted men.” All that is necessary on the part of the national, provincial, and municipal officials is for them to adopt such enabling measures as may be required, always recognizing that the plan rests basically on the people’s elemental right to organize for self-defense. Otherwise we will see a repetition of the same old story, —over-centralization and over-regulation killing the spirit of a promis ing development. When a committee of the Philippine Association called on President Quirino ' ' ~ The Philippine National Business is International one day last month, the President noted, with interest, that the committee included men of var ious nationalities,—Filipino, Span ish, Chinese, and American. The international make-up of the Philippine Association is indeed considered one of the best features of the organization, perhaps its strongest feature. Though the oldest chamber of commerce in Manila, the Manila Chamber of Commerce, was and remains inter national in its membership, national chambers were organized in later years,—the Philippine, the American, the Spanish, the Chinese, the French, etc., and this was for good and sufficient reasons since national interests play a not inconsiderable part in most business relations, affect ing organization, agencies, sources of supply, principal markets, etc. However, this division of Philippine business into national entities has to an extent tended toward a certain narrowness of view which has not always been conducive to an understanding of the fact that the interests of busi ness as a whole are not so much national as communal. It has, in fact, at times tended to weaken the position of business and has made it possible to play one element against another when a united front was most desirable. In this situation, the organization of the Philippine Association may serve as a very necessary corrective, and opportunities will no doubt arise in which the Association will be able to appear for Philippine business as a whole, because the national business of the Philippines is, in fact, international in make-up. In this fact, indeed, lies its greatest strength. Business nowhere is wholly native, parochial, or domestic. Everywhere business is strengthen ed by the foreign elements its absorbs. The Philippine Association may assist in bringing about a keener realization of the fact that all of our present business is the national business, no element of which may be wantonly or deliberately injured without damaging the Philippine itself. In the August, 1949, issue of this Journal, we pub lished a letter from Secretary of Finance Pio Pedrosa in reply to a letter from the Journal re Tax Exempt questing information as to what the quaIndustries lifications were of those industries enti tled to the benefits of Republic Act No. 35 which provides for tax exemption for four years of “new and necessary” industries. The answer was helpful, although it was necessarily phrased in broad terms. A more detailed answer to this question is now avail able in Executive Order No. 341, signed by President Quirino on August 9, which establishes the “rules and regulations for the qualification of industries for tax exemp tion under Republic Act No. 35”. It is published in full elsewhere in this number of the Journal. Among the statements made by Secretary of Finance Pio Pedrosa at a luncheon meeting of the Philippine Cham ber of Commerce late last month, there is Syphoning one statement especially which, at least Off! as it was reported in the press, cries for comment. The following is taken from the Manila Daily Bulletin: “Touching on the broader aspects of the Philippines’ economic problems, he pointed out that the new tax rates were aimed not only at wiping out the Government’s budgetary deficits, but at coping with the threat of inflation arising from controls and large investments by private enterprises as well as by the Government. “These new taxes, he explained, would ‘syphon off excess pur chasing power, excess profits’.” If it is indeed true that the aim of the Government in increasing certain tax rates is what the Secretary said it was, that aim, and the rates, are all wrong. Among the so-called agents of production, of which there are five (the entrepreneur, the landowner, the la borer, the capitalist, and the community), the remunera tion of the community, as represented by the government, is paid in the form of taxes. Taxes constitute the rightful share of the government in the fruits of production as they are paid for the protection and the regulation which is the function of the government to supply in the pro ductive process. The entrepreneurs, who organize, direct, and bear the risks in production, earn their profits (if they succeed); the landowners, who furnish sites, raw material, and power, earn their rents; the laborers who perform the work, earn their wages; the capitalists, who furnish buildings and machinery, tools, implements, and materials for work (capital goods), earn their interest; and so also, the govern ment, which protects and regulates, is entitled to taxes. The proportionate amounts of these various forms of remuneration drawn by the five agents in the produc tion process, are delicately balanced and are basically determined through the operation of the law of supply and demand as it applies in each case. The operation of this law automatically adjusts excesses if these temporarily occur for one cause or another. When profits are too high, they are soon reduced by increased competition; when rents are too high, lands are left idle; when wages are too high, unemployment sets in; when interest is too high, no loans are contracted. If a government arbitrarily demands too large a share in the fruits of production, the other elements in the pro cess suffer accordingly, as their shares must inevitably decrease. Arbitrary action by the government, however, can only go so far. It, too, is checked, the penalty being a general retardation of production; the final penalty, flight of capital from the country. A tax program, therefore, aimed at “the threat of inflation” or at anything else than to obtain the funds to support the legitimate functions of government, is most unsound. Furthermore, inflation and deflation represent only the ebb and flow of an economy; they are temporary conditions. How unwise, therefore, it is to deal with in324 September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 325 Dependable power with big, rugged International Power Units Throughout the world . . . smart, profit-minded manufacturers praise reliable, modern International Power Units. In the Philippines . . . world-famous, economical International Power Units assure essential industries of a dependable, low cost source of power. See your International Harvester dealer for full particulars. INTERNATION ALHARVESTER COMPANY McCORMICK International OF PHILIPPINES/ ||{ 154 Marquez de Comillas, Manila •• J OiioTnn Rlvd. a.t. Palma. St.. Cebu v Tractors and Farm Equipment International Industrial Power International Trucks International Refrigeration Quezon Blvd, at Palma St., Cebu Sasa, Dav? * —Lacson St., Bacolod flation through a general increase in the tax rates which are all too often permanent! It is true enough that the Philippines has since the war been in the stage of inflation. The currency in cir culation is still approximately four times what it was before the war and prices are, partly as a consequence, three times as high. The government controls have checked the people in spending their money for imported goods, but this result (we will not say benefit) has been largely offset by a fur ther rise in prices not caused chiefly by too much money, but by too few goods. There are other and more proper ways to deal with this situation, and a general and sharp increase in taxa tion, increasing the burden on the economy and the people, is not one of them. As for the “large investments by private enterprises as well as by the Government’’, which Secretary Pedrosa spoke of, what • are the large private investments? We know of only a few local investments since the liberation which could properly be called large. The Government has made large investments of the people’s money and these have been largely unproductive. As to “syphoning off excess purchasing power and excess profits’’, we ask also, why, if there can be such a thing as “excess purchasing power’’, which we doubt, what sound reason and, in fact, what right has the Government to “syphon it off”? This is just a fancy phrase for taking the people’s money. They don’t want their purchasing power syphoned off; they want to buy the many things they need with it, and perhaps save some of it for their old age. And excess profits! Normally there can be no excess profits. It is an economic'fact that most new enterprises fail and that only a minor fraction of them succeed. If good profits are possible in some line of industry or com merce, that should be a matter of great satisfaction, not only to the entrepreneur concerned, but to the community and the government. It should not be anything the govern ment should frown at. It is not only that the possibility that a profit will be made, is the principal incentive to economic enterprise, but that only profits enter into the vitally important process known as capital formation. Without new capital being formed all the time, without, in other words, saved profits, the economic system could not develdp or expand. For a government to set about “syphoning off” profits is to do about the worst thing economically as well as morally that a government could do. What would it do with the profits? Let the bureaucracy spend it. And, under such conditions, how long would profits continue to be made by the entrepreneurs who only can make them? Profits shpuld be left in the hands of those with the courage and foresight and ability to make them, so that they may build up capital for necessary expansion and new investments. Heaven protect us from a government bent on “sy phoning off” both the spending money of the people and their savings! Private advices received from the United States by an important agricultural machinery importing firm in the Philippines point to the possib ility of the development of critical shortages here in certain very essen tial types of equipment. And what is said of this equipment holds true for other machinery, spare parts, etc., as well. Government “planners” may well consider the follow ing excerpts from the message received: "... The warfare in Korea has had its effect upon our business in S notable way these last few weeks . . . First and sharpest effect has Note for Our Economic Planners been the rush to buy our products,—all of them, by all kinds of cus tomers ... As a result, July sales will show the second highest dollarvolume in the Company’s history ... A great deal of the buying has been for cash. . . Orders being placed for next year’s delivery are large. Customers continue to clamor for goods. Indications are that we may be able to sell every possible machine that we are able to build for the next several months. ”... The rush to buy repair parts has been so great in many lines that we have had to resort to the careful screening of orders simply to prevent our entire supply being sold out to a few large users, thereby penalizing the customer whose machine might go down for lack of a single part. The outlines of many of the old allocation headaches have begun to reappear, with customers pleading for special attention and consideration. “A difficult new condition has arisen in the shortage of sufficient railway freight cars to move finished machines from our plants. The demand for flat cars, which are used primarily in the shipment of trac tors ... is so great . . . that we have had great trouble in moving these machines ... It is even difficult to obtain box cars in the required num bers. “Heavy demands have resulted in many price increases on the materials and parts we use in building our machines. . . ” We should remember that great machines, whole factories may be brought to a stand-still for the lack of one or two small irreplaceable parts which, if they could be obtained, would cost only a few pesos! Concern is being expressed that the United States economy may not be able to bear the extra burden imposed on it by the cost of the mounting conflict The Cost of with the forces of aggression, but Prof. Re-armament Sumner H. Slickter of Harvard Uni versity, a leading economist, was recently quoted as saying that “the net effect of the rearmament effort upon the standard of consumption in the United States will be much less than the increased expenditures on defense and foreign aid seem to indicate”. His reasons are that (1) the greater demand for goods will accelerate the expansion of production; (2) the strong demand for labor will help increase the labor force,— retirement of older men will be postponed and more wo men will engage in work outside the home; (3) the demand for labor will result in a more productive distribution of the labor force—from the less productive areas and indus tries to the more productive; (4) the rearmament will greatly stimulate technological research, and the expansion of the productive capacity both for military and civilian purposes will thereby be accelerated. Professor Slickter comes to the conclusion that the Russian policy is not making the United States weaker, but is making it stronger. “All in all, it looks as if the Russians, by their policy of hostility, may, over the next decade, actually help to raise the standard of living in the United States”. We have only an abbreviated news report to go on, and we do not know whether Professor Slickter took an actual total war into consideration and whether he holds any opinion as to the possibly immense physical destruc tion and loss of life which might be suffered in such a case and the effect of this on the standard of living, indeed the chances of bare survival. This matter involves so many uncertainties that prob ably no man could formulate an answer. If another world war can be averted, Professor Slickter is probably,—almost certainly, right. The historian, Arnold Toynbee, quoted in another editorial in this issue of the Journal, has pointed out the important role of what he calls “challenge and response” in human history and the stimulating effect of “blows” and “pressures”, as well as of “hard countries” and “new ground”, and, in the case of classes of individuals, “penalizations” such as have been inflicted on the Jews, to name a familiar example. And the great hope of the world is that the Korean conflict will not turn out to be the overture to another 326 world war but, instead, the prelude to a regime of permanent peace. The heroic forces of the United Nations now en gaged in Korea are fighting, in the very truest sense, a “war to end war”. As the United States representative to the United Nations, Warren R. Austin, said before the Security Coun cil last month: “The United States, like almost every other member of the United Nations, wishes to live in peace, in tolerance, and in productive co operation with its neighbors in the world community. The United States is determined to support the efforts of the United Nations to ensure that all countries, small and great, may be free from aggression. The United States believes that if aggression is stopped in Korea, it is less likely to break out elsewhere. The United States believe that the restoration of peace in Korea by the United Nations will strengthen peace everywhere”. And Ambassador-at-large Philip C. Jessup, speaking in opposition to a suggestion that the United States con sider launching a “preventive” war against Russia, said more recently: “War is never .inevitable. Destruction of war is so catastrophic that no stone must be left unturned in an effort to maintain our se curity and our highest values by peaceful means. It is the conviction of our Government that this can be done.” As to the measures taken in Korea, Mr. Jessup said more specifically: “We seem to be on the way to finding means for making interna tional organization effective as a collective way to keep the peace.” Capitalism as the Cause of War One very satisfying result of Communist Russia’s policy of imperialistic aggression, is that it is serving to blow up the Lenin thesis that “capital ism is the cause of war”. Lenin, in his small book, “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism”, building on the Marx theory of the economic interpre tation of history, attempted to prove that capitalism results in the growth of monopoly and the expansion of colonial possessions, and this in turn in imperialist rivalries and war. This was a theory so easy to grasp and off-hand so convincing that it was widely accepted, misleading many thinkers. It charged the capitalist system and the capital ists with the arch-crime of the world, war. And yet there was war long before there was capital ism in the modem sense, although possessions indeed at tracted raiders long before the beginning of history. War had its inception in inter-tribal conflicts over hunting grounds and fertile valleys, in the raids of nomads on semi settled pastoral and settled agricultural populations, in the expeditions of barbarians against rising centers of civiliza tion, in the offensive and defensive wars of various ancient empires. Then there were tfie feudal wars between petty princes in various parts of the world, the dynastic wars which followed the formation of monarchial states, the wars between Christendom and Islam, the later religious wars in Europe, colonial and revolutionary wars, the Na poleonic wars against a master whose dream was unifica tion. It is easy to see in all or most of these wars, whether they were wars of limited objective, or wars of extermina tion, enslavement, and wide conquest, fundamental econ omic drives and motives. The First World War, unfortunately, presented many aspects which lent strength to Lenin’s theory. Germany was a “have not” nation; it was competing for markets, demanding colonies; the capitalist nations allied against Germany combined to destroy a rival. World War Two, however, was harder to fit into the Lenin pattern, although, again, even in this war fought primarily against fascism, economic drives undoubtedly played a part on both sides. But the question is not whether economic or material interests play a part, or the main part, in war, or in most wars. It must be accepted that they do. The question is whether Lenin was right in charging that imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism and that capitalism is the cause of war. As everyone knows, it is the capitalist nations which have freed their colonies,—India, Pakistan, Burma, Cey lon, Indonesia, the Philippines have all been made inde pendent; Indo-China is on the way to independence; so also various colonies in Africa. It is Communist Russia which has of recent years achieved conquest not only of large parts of Germany, all of Poland, and of the Baltic states on its western border, but of large parts of Eastern Europe, and, in Asia, of Outer Mongolia, Sinkiang, Manchuria, and North Korea; fur thermore, it now holds all of China practically in fief. And not content with exercising general dominion, it has exter minated whole populations, and it has transported and holds in actual slavery tens of millions of hopeless people. There is an imperialism on a scale, and of a ruthlessness, such as the world has never before known. After World War Two, the capitalist nations im mediately demobilized and disbanded their armies. Through the formation of the United Nations they not only hoped for, but planned a peaceful world. Only Russia continued to build up its armed strength to such an extent that it now has all the other powers at a disadvantage. Recently, through its North Korean puppets, it re sorted to open warfare, invading and overrunning most of South Korea. The United Nations, in opposing this ag gression by armed force, supplied chiefly by the United States, but aided by seven or eight other nations, is making a heroic effort to halt it, thus to prevent this small war from developing into a third World War. And although Russia is a member of the United Nations, solemnly pledged to uphold the Charter, it is the one nation which is opposing the effort to restore peace in Korea. On the contrary, it is continuing to supply the aggressive forces with vast quantities of war equipment and supplies. If World War Two was hard to fit into the Lenin pattern, the World War Three which now threatens man kind, could not be fitted into it at all. For it would not be a war of capitalistic imperialism, but of communist im perialism. It would be a war brought on by the most vi cious form of monopoly of all,—state monopoly; by the most vicious form of colonial expansion of all,—the expan sion of a totalitarian state. It is not capitalism as such, but political and economic nationalism which has engendered the wars of modern times, and Communist Russia is proving to be as nationalistic, imperialistic, and militaristic as any power in history. Only some form of cooperative world government will end war. The organization of the United Nations was a move in that direction. Capitalism does not oppose this development, but favors it, as capitalism would work best under a system of world-wide organization and coopera tion. “The forcible establishment of a universal state by some single surviving power” (the phrase is Arnold Toyn bee’s), which is the aim of the Kremlin, would not perma nently establish peace, for, as such a state would not be established by universal consent and would have to be maintained by force, it would break up in the end, as have all the great empires of history. While democracy is inherently inclined to peace, totalitarianism is, in its very nature, militaristic. A further extension of individual freedom and of democratic government, and not a spreading slavery to totalitarianism, will give us permanent peace. 327 In the August Journal we quoted from a letter from the Philippine American — • - - Chamber of Commerce, Inc., New York, with reference to immigration and alien regis tration fees in the United States. Subsequently, we received another letter on the subject from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce which read in part: Broken Reciprocity in Alien Registration and Other Fees “. . . I am very happy to secure for you information concerning our own alien and immigration fees and charges. The proposed legis lation in the Philippines certainly looks like another one of these fee charging rackets which are excessive and unnecessary. “There is attached a schedule of charges made by the American Government through the consular offices abroad in connection with applications from aliens for visas, immigration permits, etc. “I have discussed the matter with Mr. Barber, head of our Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization. The charges that are generally assessed here after an alien has entered the country legally and paid the fees normally charged by the American Consul, are very nominal. For example, if an alien loses his registration card, he can secure another one for $1. If an alien has illegally entered the country and then clarifies his status in order that his entry would be legal, his fees totalling $18 would be no different from an alien applying in Manila or any other foreign city for permission to enter. After being here and desiring naturalization, the naturalization fee totals $11, made up as follows: $3 for first papers, $8.00 for petition for final naturalization. Should he lose his naturalization certificate, he can secure another one for $1. “We have no resident taxes or any other special assessments against non-residents and or aliens. I believe our fishing and hunting license is $3; for non-residents of California, I believe it is $5, and $8 or $10 for an alien. There are no other taxes or assessments I can find any record of that especially apply to aliens. I hope these facts will assist you in your representations to the Philippine officials.” The schedule of consular charges referred to in the letter runs as follows: Tra Visa of 9.00 9.00 2.00 The Journal checked with the American Embassy in Manila as to the correctness of the information contained in the letter from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and received the following statement from Consul General James E. Henderson: “The enclosure to the letter from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is a true and correct excerpt from the current Tariff of United States Foreign Service Fees. The Embassy is not in a position to verify immediately the miscellaneous fees mentioned in the letter itself. How ever, since those related to naturalization were obtained from the U. S. Bureau of Immigration and Nationalization, they ought to be correct. Furthermore, the Department of State has recently confirmed, in con nection with the Embassy’s protest against the fifty-peso fee prescribed by the Philippine Alien Registration Act of 1950, that no fee is charged in the United States for alien registration.” Statement to the Press * By Ambassador Daniel W. Bell Chief, U. S. Economic Survey Mission for the Philippines THE members of the Economic Survey Mission and its staff wish to take this opportunity, now they are completing their work, to express their appreciation for the courtesies and cooperation that have been extended them by the Government and the people of the Philippines. In our two months here, Government officials, busi nessmen, civic groups, and individual citizens have done everything within their power to give us assistance in our work and to make our stay most pleasant. Our Mission will leave the Philippines with the warmest feelings of af fection and admiration for your people. We also wish to express our appreciation to'the editors and reporters of the Philippine press for their many courtesies. , By their willingness to refrain from speculation about the contents of the report at a time when we could not discuss it with them, they have done their country a distinct service. As you know, President Truman sent this Mission to the Philippines at the request of President Quirino to study the economic and financial problems with which you are confronted and to make recommendations regard ing measures which might be undertaken toward their solution. Upon our arrival we started our work by consulting with the officials of your Government. From them we wished to get the factual material to appraise the current financial and economic status of the country. We also met 'September 1, 1950. Ambassador Bell and another member of the Mission, Edward M. Bernstein, left the Philippines for the United States the next day, via Paris, and Gen. Richard J. Marshall, Deputy Chief, and David I. Ferber, Adviser, also left for the United States later on the same day. Other members and advisers were scheduled to leave before the end of the following week. with the Economic Commission appointed by President Quirino, and the members of this Commission made available to us the very extensive analysis that it had made of the economic problems of the country. The next stage of our work was to consult with private business groups and individuals. Many of them spent long hours of arduous work preparing valuable studies and recommendations for our use. As we became familiar with the broad outlines of the current economic situation, members of the Mission began to travel throughout the provinces to obtain first-hand information about agricul ture, mining, commerce, finance, and industry. These trips were particularly valuable to the members of the Mission and its staff. We were able to observe for our selves the natural resources and potentialities of the coun try and, perhaps even more important, come to know the splendid qualities of the Philippine people. In recent weeks we have been assembling the data that we have collected and analyzing it for our report. I believe that with your cooperation we have been able in this short time to obtain a clear and realistic picture of the economic situation in the Philippines. We hope our report contains suggestions and recom mendations that will, if adopted, contribute to the solu tion of your economic and financial problems. I regret that I cannot give you copies of this report before we leave but my instructions are to report directly to the President of the United States. When I return to the United States I shall promptly report to President Truman our recom mendations regarding your problems. 328 Economic Survey of Asia and the Far East, 1949 * By the Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East THE year 1949 has been one of significant developments in Asia and the Far East, including Japan. It may mark the end of the first phase of the slow and painful post-war recovery paving the way for a more promising future. There has been an over-all im provement in the AFE region ** in mineral and industrial production as well as in transport and to a lesser extent in agricultural produc tion, except in China where, on account of disturbed conditions, there was a set-back. The deterioration in the Chinese situation, partly arrested toward the second half of the year, affects significantly the economic picture of the region, as China has 40% of the population, 52% of the land area, 33% of the current rice production, and a large proportion of iron ore, coal, and other mineral resources of the region. Also, the regional economic picture would have presented a greater improvement over 1948 were trade between India and Pakistan not virtually suspended over the currency dispute arising from the sterling devaluation toward the end of September. Inflationary factors which were a menace in 1948 have not only been arrested, but in a few coun tries the measures taken have brought about disinflationary condi tions, if not actual deflation. The recession in late 1948 and early 1949 in the United States, which threatened to disrupt the price structure of some of the countries in the Far East, was fortunately short-lived, and prices and exports recovered. One of the most outstanding econ omic events in Asia, no less than for the rest of the world, was the deva luation of the pound sterling and the chain of devaluations of the cur rencies of most of the countries of the region; although it is too early to trace its full effects there can be little doubt of its having exerted a favourable influence on the general economic, trade, and financial conditions of Asia. Plans for economic development, which had been somewhat unrealistic in the past, were reviewed by most countries in 1949. The interest in the United Nations expanded program of technical assistance, and in the United States program of aid, has been very general all over the Far East, and never before in Asia has so much energy and enthusiasm gone to the drawing up of plans for develop ment. This is not to say that plans have always been precisely for mulated or carefully prepared. Indeed, sound planning is still a basic, and perhaps the greatest, task to be achieved initially in the region’s struggle for economic development. Preliminary reports show a 2% decrease in agricultural production * in 1949, as compared with 1948, or 8% below pre-war as com pared with 6% in 1948. But if China is excluded, the region’s agri cultural production appears to have improved over 1948. Rice pro duction rose by 1%; there was an increased output of wheat in many countries, and coarse grains maintained their 1948 level. Oil-seed pro duction in 1949 showed an increase for the whole region, including China, as compared with 1948. In other crops, such as sugar, tea, and raw cotton, China’s output declined in 1949. The most disquieting feature of the post-war economic conditions of Asia and the Far East is the low level, both absolute and relative, of agricultural output. Nutritional conditions in the region are among the poorest in the world. Despite the legitimate ambitions of Asian countries to diversify their economics and to promote industrialization, the pressure of economic factors has tended to bring to the forefront the problems of mere subsistence. Food is still the basic want of the AFE countries with their growing population, and agricultural development their main pre-occupation. The post-war period has witnessed a serious decline in the region’s position in the world as a producer and supplier of foodstuffs, as well as of fibres. In other respects, too, its position has been weakened. The restoration of agricultural production, not only to pre-war levels but to pre-war per capita consumption levels, is singly the dominant problem facing not only the region but the entire world. There was a more marked improvement in industrial and mineral production in 1949 in the region, despite the decline of production in China in most categories and the decline of textile production in India. Among the ECAFE countries production increased over 1948 by 8 to 9% for electric power, coal, iron, and steel; 15% for tin concentrate; 22% for iron ore, and 40% for cement, but fell by 17% for cotton yarn. In Japan the corresponding percentages of increase over 1948 were much higher, being 13% for coal and electric power, 17% for machinery, 26% for textiles, 38% for iron ore, 78% for cement, 81% for steel, and 91% for pig iron. •The present article constitutes the Preface to a 500-page volume with the same title. ••The term “ECAFE region” is used in reference to the more restricted group of countries covered by the Commission’s terms of reference, namely, British North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak, Burma, Ceylon, China, Hong Kong, India, Indochi nese Federation, Indonesia, Korea, Federation of Malaya and Singapore, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippine Republic, and Thailand. These countries, with the addition of Japan, constitute the wider “AFE region”. •••These are not to be considered as on a par with loans and grants, although they have more or less the same immediate effect on the balance-of-payments posi tion of these countries. As compared with pre-war, production in ECAFE countries rose by 34% for cement, 40% for steel, and 105% for electric power, while cotton yarn, coal, and iron ore fell respectively by 17, 28, and 59%. Both tin concentrate and pig iron, however, regained their pre-war level. In Japan, as compared with 1936, production of iron ore and electricity rose respectively by 24 and 45%, while all other items fell, especially textiles. However, on account of its more advanced indus trial development, Japan’s production in 1949 of such items as elec tricity, iron, and steel, cement, machinery, and chemicals, exceeded that of ECAFE countries taken together, by 1 to 6.5 times. There was a welcome improvement in transport compared to pre war mainly due to greater utilization of existing equipment and to a lesser degree to increased supplies, but the strain on the transport systems continued. Civil aviation expanded at a more rapid pace than in previous years. Although not to the same extent, railway transport in the region registered a further improvement over pre-war. In the ECAFE region, despite a 1.7% decrease in passenger and freight cars, there were in 1949 increases of 36% in freight traffic and 134% in pas senger traffic. In Japan, with a 43% increase over pre-war in passenger and freight cars, there were greater increases in freight and passenger traffic, being 95% for the former and 181% for the latter. In the sphere of international trade, 1949 registered a further ad vance over 1948. The total value of trade of the ECAFE region (ex cluding China, Nepal, and British Borneo) was 6% above that of 1948 in spite of the temporary recession in the United States at the end of 1948 and the beginning of 1949 which affected the export of rubber, tin, and other materials, and practical cessation of trade between India and Pakistan toward the end of 1949. The 1949 trade of ECAFE coun tries was, in fact, 125% higher than that of 1938, but apart from the registering of Indo-Pakistan trade after partition, this was mainly due to price rise. There was a greater increase in imports than in ex ports, resulting in an import surplus larger than in 1948. The trade deficit, which for ECAFE countries (excluding China, Nepal, and British Borneo) grew from $838,000,000 in 1948 to $1,412,000,000 in 1949, but for Japan declined from $424,000,000 to $355,000,000 during the corresponding period, brought about a net increase of 40% in the trade deficit for the AFE region, from $1,262,000,000 to $1,767,000,000. 80% of the trade deficit in 1948 and 85% in 1949 were incurred by India, Japan, the Philippines, and Korea, the magnitude of the deficits in 1949 being in the order given. The deficits in the balance of payments of ECAFE countries, arising mainly from the large import surplus, have been financed by external loans, aid, and finance of one type or another. For China, Korea, and the Philippines, direct United States aid programs and loans have been the principal source. For Ceylon, India, and Pakistan the sterling releases *** by the United Kingdom have played an equally - important part, while the credits extended by the Netherlands and France to Indonesia and Indochina, respectively, have been the chief sources of external finance. Contributing to the increase in the balanceof-payments deficit of the ECAFE region was also a marked increase in dollar deficits, to which India among the sterling-area countries and the Philippines among the non-sterling-area countries contributed the major share. The sterling-area countries had a combined dollar deficit of $68,000,000 while the non-sterling-area countries had a deficit of $570,000,000. Various measures have been taken in 1949 to relieve the dollar deficits, principally by devaluation and export, import, and exchange controls. Export drives to dollar countries have been en couraged in several countries, but in view of the limited effectiveness of the available measures so far taken, continuance of external aid seems to be necessary. It should, however, be borne in mind that the dollar deficit, and measures adopted merely to relieve the hard-currency deficit, can only be a partial solution. The close association of the majority of ECAFE countries with Europe in the past suggests prima facie that a partial solution may lie in exploring ways and means of strengthening the economic and financial relation with European countries. It is true that the pattern of trade of ECAFE countries has un dergone a significant change since the war. The United States has be come a more important supplier to this region, thereby reducing the share of Europe and Japan in the total trade. But already the region’s dependence on the United States aid is declining; trade with Japan has increased substantially in 1949 as compared with 1948. Exports from Japan to ECAFE countries increased by about 80% in 1949jand im ports by 67% compared to 1948. The recovery of European produc tion may also be expected to lead to an increased volume of trade with the region. A return to pre-war patterns of trade is not to be expected immediately or even in course of time. To the extent that the world’s balance of economic power has shifted and that the demand for the United States goods has increased, some modifications of the pre-war patterns must be accepted as permanent. But there is considerable scope for the expansion of trade with Japan and Europe, thereby re ducing the present excessive dependence on imports from the United States. 329 The role of public finance in the economies of the region is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Heavy deficits, although less in 1949, continued to exert an upward pressure cn price levels. These deficits were caused partly by large outlays on capital equipment for rehabili tation and recovery, social services, and food and other subsidies but mainly by expenditure on defence. Most of the countries were unable to raise enough by taxation and even by borrowing, and the gap be tween expenditure and receipts continued. Not all deficits on current and capital accounts had inflationary effects, however, because part of the expenditure was incurred outside the countries concerned. The latter, putting a strain on the balance-of-payments and the financial position of the Governments concerned, did not result in increasing domestic money incomes and were therefore not inflationary. The continuance of inflationary pressures, arising from low production and large budgetary deficits, was one of the major problems confronting the various economies of the region at the beginning of the year 1949. Attempts were made to tackle this on various fronts. The most successful of these was the heavy increase in import surpluses in the first half of the year. Increased imports succeeded considerably in arresting price rises, and in a few countries in bringing prices down by a threefold operation. Firstly, they increased the supply of goods which were badly needed. Secondly, these imports were obtained from countries where the rise in prices was substantially lower than in the importing countries. In the first half of 1949 in particular, the American recession caused a fall in the prices of these imported goods, and in the general price levels. Thirdly, the monetary systems in most of the importing countries were closely linked with the holdings of foreign assets by the central banks and the fall in these assets, as a result of import surpluses, led to a reduc tion in money supply. The countries of the region differed greatly in their experience during 1949, and in their prospects at the end of the year. The emerg ence of the United States of Indonesia as a sovereign State in December was a welcome development. But in none was the economic situation without difficulties. In many countries, economic activity was still gravely impeded by civil war and political difficulties or by disputes with neighboring countries. Trade between India and Pakistan came almost to a standstill because of the failure of the Governments to reach agreement over the exchange values of their rupees. The ports of east and south China were under blockade during the second half of. 1949. In Burma parts of the country were under the control of insur gents. In Indochina the Governments established under agreement with France were fighting against the forces under the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam. In the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaya, operations against more or less organized forces involved the Govern ments in great expense even if they did not greatly affect production and trade. A heavy burden is placed upon the under-developed economies of the region by the maintenance of large armed forces, which have to be paid for either out of taxation or by inflation. The mobilization of domestic resources and the attraction of foreign capital, for investment are hardly possible while such conditions prevail. Without a great increase in invest ment, which is still a much smaller proportion of the national income than in Europe or America, there can be neither ade- ' quate rehabilitation nor rapid progress. But national income in all ECAFE countries is small, very small in absolute amounts. Such improvement of production as has been recorded has depended in large part on external aid. Some of the more ambitious plans for devel opment have already had to be reconsidered and others may be hin dered by lack of financial resources and especially of foreign exchange required for the purchase of capital equipment. Although imports of food grains and textiles to satisfy the essential needs of people may not require such large expenditures of foreign exchange in 1950 as they did in 1948 and 1949, the countries of the region are still not in a posi tion to dispense with large imports, a good deal of which still come from the dollar area. Devaluation of currencies in the sterling area and other countries of the region has increased the cost, in terms of such curren cies, of imports from the dollar area; though dollar earnings increased in the latter part of 1949, when the recession in the United States was halted and the demand for rubber and other major products of the region rose, there was still a long way to go before most of the countries of the region could balance their receipts and pay ments. The continuance of exchange, import, and export controls for some time has to be expected. It is clear that the present resources of the countries of the region are being stretched nearly to their limit. Aspirations for development and for social welfare are very much in evidence. But it is not yet possible to say that agricultural and industrial production and oppor tunities of employment will increase faster than the popula tions of the countries of the region, which are likely to continue to grow at a rate exceeding 1% per year. Meantime, the region’s share in the distribution of world income has diminished. Although the region is predominantly agricultural and depends for livelihood on agricultural products, it was able to con tribute, with one-half of the world’s population, less than 33% of the world’s food production as compared with 35% before the war. Be fore the war two-fifths of the world’s aggregate production of natural fibres was contributed by the ECAFE countries. In 1949 the contri bution has declined to less than 30%. The region’s per capita con sumption of food, essential consumer goods, and durable goods is declin ing. In contrast with the situation in other regions of the world, even pre-war food consumption levels remain a distant goal. While before the war consumption of cotton textiles in the region averaged about 2 kilogrammes per person, in 1949 the per capita consumption was less, than 1.5 kilogrammes. In the face of the above facts, particularly the region’s low level, both per capita and aggregate, of savings and capital formation, it would be totally unrealistic to talk in terms of a rapid increase in the standard of living and welfare of the peoples of Asia and the Far East. It would in fact take all the presently avail able resources of the countries of the region in the next five years to ensure at least maintenance of per capita production and consumption levels. Even this limited goal cannot be attained without the conti nuous and systematic efforts of the peoples and Governments of the region, supported and encouraged by the active assistance of countries outside the region which are in a position to grant loans and other forms of aid, and not least of the United Nations, the specialized agen cies, and other international bodies. Philippine Air Traffic By P. C. Morantte Aviation Education Officer, Civil Aeronautics Ad minis tra tion BECAUSE there is an apparent increase in the number of planes soaring in the Philippine skies as well as a continued augmentation of air navigational facilities being established throughout the Philippines, many people have been led to believe that our aviation industry is steadily progressing. There are even many persons engaged directly or indirectly in aeronautical activities who point to these physical manifestations as incontrovertible evi dence that aviation in our country is certainly here to stay! There are a few of us, however, who, closely observing the operations of our local airlines with a detached con cern for their welfare, are beginning to be apprehensive. Something seems to be undermining the life of this new industry which is so vital to the progress of our nation. The Philippine domestic air traffic volume is on the decline. It has been declining since 1947. (The figures for 1946 are not comparable because of the unstable and irregular operations of the local airlines that year.) For the fiscal year of 1947-48, the number of domestic revenue passengers was 308,129, or an average of 25,677 monthly. For the fiscal year 1948-49, it was 268,926, or an average of 22,327 monthly. For the fiscal year 1949-50, the number of passengers as shown by the first 11 months, averaged 20,921 monthly revenue passengers. In other words, since 1947 there has been a decrease of 18.5% in the domestic air traffic density. From these figures we may be tempted to conclude that a saturation point has been reached, and that we are presently experiencing a leveling off which is certain to be below the traffic peaks attained in the previous years. But this conclusion would be untenable, as in the field of international operation, air traffic has been, instead of declining, registering a steady rise since 1947. For the , fiscal year 1947-48, the number of revenue passengers was. 19,300, or an average of 1,600 monthly. And for the fiscal year of 1948-49, it was 29,300, or an average of 2,442 month ly. And for the fiscal year of 1949-50, the first 10 months 330 registered an average of roughly 3,400. These figures indicate the fact that our air travel to foreign countries can be further developed, and that there are factors which make for flying abroad which could be applied to the pro motion and development of our domestic air traffic. The difference between the fall in domestic air traffic and the rise in international traffic is in part due, no doubt, to such factors as the amount of money in circulation, the brisk ness of trade and commerce (particularly between the United States and the Philippines), the types and kind of equipment, and the rates. The first two factors are beyond the control of airline operators, and if one so desired one could easily lay the blame for the decline in our do mestic air travel to the general conditions prevailing in our national economy. But let us examine the relationship between rates and traffic, for I believe that there lies much of the trouble. In an editorial in Aviation Week Magazine for July 4, 1949, it was pointed out: “Lower fares, not higher ones, offer the best promise of developing the air transportation market. . . Northwest (Airlines) pointed out that during 1948 it made several fare increases on the theory that be cause of increased costs, increased fares were necessary. However, ex perience shows that such fare increase resulted in further limiting the potential market for air transportation, and its total revenues were not correspondingly increased.” Northwest Airlines was not the only company in the United States which experimented in fare increases with unfavorable result. Practically all the major airlines in 1948 (at one time or another) lent themselves to this cure, but all went back to the basic solution which lies in the development of air traffic through reduced operational cost and reduced fares. The year 1949 saw the trunk airlines in the United States and many feeder lines make considerable gains in the number of passengers. For the first 9 months last year there was a 15% jump in revenue miles flown by the 16 trunk airlines in the United States. The result of these increases in revenue passengers is that the air carriers gained an estimated operating profit of $25,000,000 and a net of $15,000,000. There are those who might argue that these profits were made possible by the mail subsidies granted to the air carriers by the United States Government. The Avia tion Week magazine for November 14, 1949, categorically denies this: “Mail pay increases contributed little or nothing to the industry’s financial comeback.” Last year many of the major United States airlines showed a decisive disposition to accord only minor importance to the mail payments granted to the various airlines. According to the latest information, our local airline is planning to reduce its fares in the domestic field. This is good news, which, in my belief, could start an upward swing in air traffic volume. Rates should be adjusted not to the pocket-books of the constant air customers whose earning capacities are in the higher brackets; the rates should be so adjusted as to lure a price-conscious public into taking advantage of air travel. I do not mean to say, however, that the airline should. plunge headlong into the 8-10 centavos per-plane-mile fare, which is the standard rate in the United States. I realize that the lowering of rates must depend upon the ability of the airline to bring down its operational cost as low as possible consistent with efficient public service. To exer cise economy at the expense of safety would be most detri mental to the industry. There must be a constant drive against inflated payrolls, inefficient flight operations, and other forms of wastage. Hand in hand with this policy, should go the general promotion and development of our air traffic by means of (1) the family plan, (2) discount on fares during days of lowest payload, (3) special excursion fares, (4) perhaps discount on government travel for the benefit of low-salaried government workers, and (5) appli cation of the air-coach system. It is not enough that we should have more modern air navigational facilities, more adequate airports, more air routes, more airmen and more technical men. The future of our aviation industry depends to a large extent upon the development of our air traffic potential. For unless we can develop our air transportation market to the extent that it can support the industry as a vital ad junct to the nation’s transportation system, there is little to hope that civil aviation in the Philippines will survive. The Government, together with the airlines, should initiate at once a program to induce more and more people to travel by air. Report on the Reorganization of Government Corporations * * From a Malacanan press release. August 22. By the Department of Economic Coordination A REPORT containing 34 recommendations, including the consolidation of several government-owned and controlled corporations, was submitted to the Pre sident during the August 22 meeting of the Cabiriet by Secretary Placido L. Mapa, in his capacity as acting head of the Department of Economic Coordination. The report was prepared by the Committee on Reorgan ization of Government-owned or controlled Corporations, originally appointed by Vice President Fernando Lopez as chairman of the former Government Enterprises Council. The committee was composed of Hermenegildo B. Reyes, chairman, and Salvador Araneta, Delfin Buencamino, Pedro M. Gimenez, and Oscar Ledesma, members. The report will be turned over to the Government Reorganization Commission for consideration and possible inclusion in the over-all reorganization plan due to be sub mitted to the President by the end of the month. Highlights of the recommendations include reduction of government enterprises from the present 24 to 16 cor porations; the encouragement of private enterprise in the development of the country’s resources, with the Govern ment assisting only in the financing of these projects; and the organization of development banks in rural areas. The full outline of the recommendations follows: 1. In the development of our resources, preference should be given to private initiative, if necessary, with government financing in the form of preferred shares. 2. The organization of development banks in rural areas should be fostered by having the Rehabilitation Finance Corporation sub scribe to one-half of their capital in the form of preferred shares. These banks would greatly help in the creation of a local market for government debenture bonds. 3. The present 24 government enterprises should be reduced to 16 corporations. 4. The following activities and programs are not recommended for government corporations: trading activities in export products; engaging in agriculture; and activities in competition with private enterprise. 331 5. A Price Stabilization Corporation should be created to absorb the present functions of the NARIC, the PRATRA, and the National Cooperatives and Small Business Corporation. 6. An Agricultural Processing Corporation should be created to absorb the present functions of the NAFCO, the NACOCO, the NATOCO, and the National Food Products Corporation, limiting its functions to the processing of agricultural products, by-products and wastes either directly or by promoting among farmers more modern and efficient processing practices. The other functions of the said commodity corporations should be disposed of as follows: Trading in commodities and farming should be discontinued. Financing of producers should be handled by the RFC through the Price Stabilization Corporation. Research and extension work of the said commodity corporations should be transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. 7. A National Land Settlement and Development Corporation should be created to absorb the National Land Settlement Adminis tration, the functions of the Rural Progress Administration in rural areas, and the departments of the National Development Company known as the Rice and Corn Production Administration and the Ma chinery and Equipment Department. 8. The functions of the Rural Progress Administration in urban areas should be transferred to the People’s Homesite and Housing Corporation. 9. The purpose clause of the National Power Corporation should be amended to include flood control and the manufacture of fertilizers. I. 0. The Shipping Administration should be abolished and its assets and liabilities transferred to the RFC. II. The paid-up capital of the RFC should be increased to its authorized amount. 12. A substantial amount of the resources of the RFC should be used to finance cooperative marketing associations through the Price Stabilization Corporation. 13. The Insular Sugar Refining Corporation should be sold but the Cebu Portland Cement Company should not be. The Manila Hotel Company should neither be sold nor leased. 14. A congressional policy should be enacted limiting buses and freight trucks which' operate parallel to the Manila Railroad lines to a maximum haulage of 100 kilometers. 15. The National Development Company should be divested of its investment functions, limiting its scope tq owning and operating industrial and mining enterprises. The investment functions of the National Development Company should be transferred to the proposed Philippine Development Authority. 16. The over-all coordination and direction of all government corporations should be entrusted to a non-political officer to be known as Director General of the Philippine Development Authority. 17. All shares of stock of the Government in all corporations whether government-owned, controlled, or minority-held, should be transferred to the name of the Philippine Development Authority, a body corporate and a holding corporation. 18. The assets of the Philippine Development Authority con sisting of all the shares of stocks, bonds, and interests, of any nature in all corporations, plus dividends paid on the same and loans obtained with the guarantee of the same, plus any fresh appropriation contri buted by the Government to the said assets, should not be answerable for the general debts of the National Government and should be known as the Government Corporate Assets. 19. The disposition and investment of the Government Cor porate Assets, including the organization of new government corpora tions for the economic development of the country, should be placed in a Development Investment Committee composed of the Chairman of the National Economic Council as Chairman of the Committee, the Governor of the Central Bank, and the Director General of the Phlippine Development Authority, as members. 20. The office of the Government Corporate Counsel should be transferred to the Philippine Development Authority. 21. A uniform Government .Corporate Charter should be pro mulgated for all government-owned- or controlled corporations. 22. In the selection of the board of directors, two of the direc tors in all government corporations should be chosen, one from a list submitted by the minority members of the Commission on Appoint ments of the Congress, and the other with the cooperation of a civic organization. 23. The position of full-time directors should be created, who would act as assistants to the Director General of the Philippine Devel opment Authority. A full-time director should be appointed director to not more than five government corporations. Other persons should not hold more than two directorates in government corporations. 24. The general manager of the corporation should be selected by the board of directors with the approval of the President of the Philippines. 25. A profit-sharing system should be established in all govern ment corporations, to give the directors, officers, employees, and la borers of these corporations a direct interest in their success, thereby solving one of the problems pointed out from time to time by American Governors General who remarked that government corporations are not likely to succeed due to the fact that the directors and managers of these corporations have no direct financial interest in the success of the corporations. 26. The consent of the Commission on Appointments of the Congress should be secured on all appointments made by the President to the board of directors of all government corporations. 27. A people’s control over government corporations should be established by providing that a group of taxpayers and certain civic organizations are entitled to file suit to question the legality or fidelity of any proposed or accomplished transaction of the Philippine Devel opment Authority or of a government-owned or controlled corpora tion. 28. The National Shipyards and Heavy Industries and the En gineer Island shops departments of the National Development Com pany should be constituted into a separate corporation to be named National Shipyards and Steel Mill Corporation. 29. The National Airports Corporation should be abolished and its functions transferred to or consolidated with a bureau or office under one of the executive dppartments. 30. In the establishment of essential industries by the Govern ment, preference should be given to the following: a. Industries using processes that are already well proved in other parts of the world and which can be advantageously and economically duplicated in the Philippines; b. Basic industries such as the steel and iron industries along the lines re commended by the United Technological Organization of the Philippines (UTOP); c. Industries using local products as raw materials, specially those which can be acquired on a participation basis. Industries which require the purchase of raw materials, specially if they have to come from abroad, are not generally to be favored. 31. An agricultural development policy should be based on the following in addition to other recommendations already listed above: a. A huge appropriation of public funds for the construction of more roads and bridges in the undeveloped areas in Mindanao and Palawan to increase the supply of agricultural lands, thereby helping reduce the prevailing high prices of agricultural lands. b. Balance agronomy with animal husbandry to do away with seasonal un employment and to bring about greater fertility in our soils. This would require earmarking in the RFC of Pl0,000,000 to finance producers cooperative associa tions for the acquisition of animals and processing plants. 32. Authorize a more liberal plan of acquiring locally-produced gold to increase more rapidly the gold holdings of the Government with which to build up our reserves, thereby also giving added impetus to our gold mining industry. 33. Provide a borrowing plan for the Government through direct compulsory loans, to be raised by a special 3% income assessment on corporations and a special 2% assessment on net incomes above P7.2OO of individuals, to be covered by government bonds. 34. Authorize, as soon as possible, a government debenture issue not exceeding Pl,000,000,000 to finance the total economic mobiliza tion plan of the Republic. Among the recommendations made to the U. S. Econ omic Survey Mission by private individuals, the Journal Reimbursing Enemy-confiscated American bank deposits as aid to Philippine economy has been informed of one recommendation, with re spect to the Japanese seizure of American credits and bank deposits, which was stated as follows: “Approximately 2,000 American citizens and American-owned corporations have claims totalling over Pl5,000,000. (I am informed that losses of this character by British and other allied individuals and companies exceed P20,000,000.) Unfortunately, as of March 31, 1950, only U.S.$l,750,000 of these claims had been filed with the War Claims Commission pursuant to the War Claims Act of 1948, Public Law No. 896, 80th Congress, as amended. (Report of War Claims Commission, p. 49.) With your permission, I file this Memorandum on how these claimants’ problems tie into your economic survey of the Philippines. “If you decide that the Philippines require additional dollar credits or exchange, I respectfully submit that the American citizens whose credits and bank deposits were confiscated by the Japanese could be reimbursed these losses with the proviso that payments be made in Philippine currency; the corresponding dollars would then be available to the Central Bank of the Philippines. By doing this, the Congress of the United States would correct this injustice and at the same time materially help the rehabilitation of the Philippine economy.” We believe this to be a very constructive suggestion332 The Business View A monthly review of facts, trends, forecasts, by Manila businessmen Office of the President of the Philippines From an Official Source AUGUST 1—President Elpidio Quirino personally delivers his mes sage on the opening day of the 10-day special session of Congress in the newly-reconstructed Legislative Building. Aug. 2—The President gives a luncheon in honor of E. S. Turner, in charge of Y.M.C.A. activities for the past 40 years including the post-war rehabilitation of Y.M.C.A. centers in Manila and the prov inces at a cost of over Pl,500,000. Budget Commissioner Pio Joven, commenting on a statement made in the Wall Street Journal, states that the Government realized more than P98,000,000 “in cash sales and goods actually transferred and used by government offices and entities” from the war surplus goods transferred to the Philippine Government by the American Government and appraised at P200,000,000. Aug. 3—At ceremonies held on the newly-rehabilitated Pier 13 (formerly Pier 7), the President receives from Ambassador Myron M. Cowen the document which formally transfers the pier to the Philip pine Government. Said to be the largest pier in the Orient, 426 meters long and 73 meters wide, it cost P13,000,000 to build it before the war, and the American Government allocated P3,250,000 from funds au thorized by the Rehabilitation Act of 1946 for its reconstruction. Secretary of Education Prudencio Langcauon states in a radio address that the Philippines spent approximately P120,000,000 for the public schools last year out of a total government appropriation of P370,000,000, and that this year the Government is committed to spend P130.000.000 for the purpose. In 1949 the annual enrolment in the elementary grades alone rose to 3,941,363, an increase of 105% over the 1940-41 figure. He states also that “became of the low purchasing value of the peso we have to spend three times more than we did for an equal number of students in pre-war years.” Aug. 4—The President issues a directive requiring that real prop erty throughout the country be re-assessed as close to actual market values as possible; Secretary of Finance Pio Pedrosa states that in many localities taxes are still being collected on assessments made 20 or 30 years ago. The Cabinet rules that “alien flour importers who have been in the business for a long time should not be discriminated against and should be given a fair share of the trade.” ie Cabinet defined thia policy after Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Feri reported that the Department had received numerous representations, from old British flour importing houses, alleging that the PRATRA was ing some discrimination in the allocation of Hour. The Cabinet made it wever, that the PRATRA would be acting in consonance with the national Filipino businessmen were given preferences in the allocation of new flour It is the Government's policy to encourage Filipino citizens to participate as possible in the country’s trade and industry, the Cabinet pointed out. y Neri said the Cabinet ruling meant that American and British and other g firms would be given a square deal in the allocation of flour on the basis traditional quotas, although in the allocation of new quotas Filipino imvould be given preference in accordance with the existing policy”. In the course of a call on Vice-President Fernando Lopez, Am bassador Daniel W. Bell and Maj.-Gen. Richard Marshall, of the United States Economic Survey Mission for the Philippines, “expressed satis faction over the cooperation extended them by the Philippine Govern ment in connection with their work here”. Aug. 5—Secretary of Commerce and Industry Cornelio Balmaceda submits a memorandum to the President recommending the increase of the sugar quota for local consumption from the present 200,000 short tons to 225,000 short tons. The figure represents a compromise between the recommendation of the Philippine Sugar Association and the Na tional Federation of Sugar-cane Planters that the quota be maintained at 200,000 short tons and the Sugar Quota Office and the PRATRA that it be increased to 250,000 short tons. The pre-war consumption was 150,495 short tons. Aug. 8—The Cabinet approves three policy measures affecting Philippine preparedness for a war-emergency: (1) recommending legisla tion increasing the amount payable to the heirs of enlisted men in.the Armed Forces who are killed in line of duty from P1000 to P3000; (2) requiring that shipments of Manila hemp to foreign countries be made subject to the approval of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency to prevent shipment to unfriendly countries; and (3) waiving certain technicalities to permit immediate expansion of the United States Army air base at Clark Field. Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 35, Malacanan approves the request of Philippine Industrial Chemicals, Inc., that it be exempted from payment of internal revenue taxes in connection with its manufacture of sulphuric acid and superphosphate, necessary ingredients in the production of fertilizer. Aug. 9—The Department of Justice issues a ruling upholding the right of the Government to examine the books of charitable insti tutions and to impose taxes on their profits; a similar ruling was released recently in connection with private educational institutions. Aug. 10—The President issues Executive Order No. 341 estab lishing rules and regulations for the qualification of industries for tax exemption under Republic Act No. 35. The Order defines what may be considered “new” and “necessary” industries and authorizes the Secretary of Finance to determine this on application, availing himself of the opinion of the Secretary of Economic Coordination and the facilities of the Department of Commerce and Industry, the Central Bank, and the National Economic Council. Secretary of National Defense Ruperto Kangleon states in a radio address that the official estimate places the entire number of “Huks” at approximately 6,700. The President signs the first two bills passed by Congress in special session:. (1) House Bill No. 841 (Republic Act No. 565), increasing radio registration fees, and (2) House Bill No. 839 (Republic Act No. 564), amending the Internal Revenue Code so as to double the rate of the premium tax imposed on owners of property who obtain insurance policies direct from foreign insurance companies not authorized to do business in the Philippines. Aug. 12—Executive Secretary Teodoro Evangelista states that the President is considering means to establish a branch of the Import Control Office in Cebu in response to many requests from importers there. He also reveals that a circular letter has been sent to all Depart ment heads stating that the President has ordered strict enforcement of the pre-war executive order against nepotism in government offices. Aug. 16—The President sends a telegraphic message to President Syngman Rhee of the Republic of Korea felicitating him on the second anniversary of the independence of the Republic and stating that the Philippines shares in the “respect and admiration of the free world for the people of Korea in the heroic struggle in which they are now engaged”. Aug. 17—The President approves the suspension by Secretary Pedrosa of Ceferino R. Dino, Provincial Treasurer of Camarines Norte. Aug. 18—The President, on the occasion of the 72nd birthday anniversary of the late President Manuel L. Quezon, formally opens this year’s Anti-Tuberculosis Fund Drive. The Cabinet authorizes Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Placido Mapa to make available 7,000 cavans of palay to farmers of Central Luzon for seed to replace the crop damaged during the recent extensive floods. Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P. Romulo having called the attention of the Cabinet to reports of discourteous search of foreign visitors at the airport and piers by customs inspectors, “such practices giving a bad reputation to the Philippines abroad”, the Cabinet directs the Department of Finance to eliminate them. Aug. 19—The President formally opens the Roxas Liberty Park 333 just outside the Walled City, intended to be a local counterpart of London’s famed Hyde Park, but makes an appeal for "restraint in our speech” as what is said too freely here “weakens our prestige as a people”. The President opens the Quezon Museum in the National Library and Museum now again housed in the newly rehabilitated Legislative Building. Aug. 20—The President issues Administrative Order No. 130 amending Administrative Order No. 32, dated April 12, 1947, to faci litate the work of the committee appointed to investigate the use of rivers and the obstruction and pollution of streams, headed by the Secretary of Justice. Aug. 21—Malacanan suspends four provincial treasurers pending final disposition of administrative charges brought against them in con nection with;the purchase of equipment and supplies “in quantities grossly in excess of the reasonable requirement of the service at highly excessive. prices”; the men are Andres Agcaoili (Quezon), Gregorio Solis (Camarines Sur), Ubaldo D. Laya'(Misamis Oriental), and Ildefonso Jimenez (Iloilo). Aug. 22—The President orders swift action in the prosecution of persons responsible for a shooting affray in Bacolod, Negros Oc cidental, involving the deaths of a number of persons, including private guards of the Provincial Governor. The■ President inaugurates the newly-constructed P300.000 Chil dren’s Pavilion at the Quezon Institute of the Philippine Tuberculosis Society; the construction was financed by the United States War Dam age Commission and the 1 * 30,000 equipment was purchased from the proceeds of a ball sponsored by the American community in Manila last year. Aug. 25—The Cabinet authorizes the Philippine Charity Sweep stakes Office to invest Pl,700,000 of its unencumbered funds in national treasury certificates which will yield 2-3, 4% interest instead of the present 1-1 2 to 2-1 2% in private banks. Domestic Securities......... Trust Account-Securities Stabilization Fund.... Other Assets....................... Liabilities Currency—Notes.............. Coins............... Demand Deposits-Pesos. Securities Stabilization Fund................................. Due to International Monetary Fund............. Due to International Bank for Reconstruc tion and Development. Other Liabilities................ Capital................................. Undivided Profits............. Surplus................................. P 6,460 92,197 20,390 123,817 6,848 32,230 125,780 6,848 26,663 132,337 6,848 27,707 P793.629 P804.651 P807.765 P818.151 — — — — P555.576 P534.567 P531.477 P545.125 74,384 80,779 81,320 81,929 117,682 134,546 139,282 140,122 2,000 6,848 6,848 6,848 22,498 22,498 22,498 22,498 2,389 2,388 2,388 2,388 2,636 7,837 8,130 2,749 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 6,464 3,572 4,206 4,875 — 1,616 1,616 1,616 P793.629 P804.651 P807.765 P818.151 Contingent Account Forward Exchange Sold.. Aug. 26—The Philippines observes the anniversary of the “Cry of Balintawak”, which opened the 1896 uprising against Spain. (From the 24th to the 26th, the Hukz stage bloody assaults in 11 different places from Santiago, Isabela province, in the north, to Santa Cruz, Laguna, and Casigurah, Quezon, in the south, it being reported that 52 Constabulary officers and men and 13 civiliahs were killed and 20 Constabulary men and 9 civilians wounded; the most savage attack was made Friday night, on Camp Makabulos, Tarlac headquarters of the Constabulary, where even the sick in the camp hos pital were murdered; most of the force was away in pursuit of Huk outlaws at the Aug. 27—The President issues a message urging support for the campaign sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce to raise a fund for the families of troops to leave shortly for Korea. Aug. 28—The President holds a long conference with top military officers and the Governors of the Huk-infested provinces to discuss ways and means of dealing with the situation. The National Economic Council recommends to the President the immediate release of P5,000,000 for the rehabilitation of the mining industry, the money to come from the balance of the P200,000,000 ear-marked by the Central Bank for self-liquidating productive pro jects. Aid would be granted in the form of loans under the administra tion of the Rehabilitation Finance Corporation. Aug. 29—The President administers the oath of office to Under secretary of Justice Jose P. Bengzon as Acting Secretary of Justice. /. Aug. 30—The President delivers an address over the radio con cerning the new Htlk outrages and proposing the organization of local citizen’s defense committees. Secretary Evangelista announces that the Import Control Office will be transferred to larger quarters in the Philippine Charity Sweep stakes Building on Taft Avenue next month. Aug. 31—The President signs five more of the tax measures pas sed during the special session of Congress. (See page 347) The President issue? an administrative order authorizing a 60-day extension to the Government Reorganization Commission to complete its report and recommendatipns. •pxESPiTE continued rigid screening of applications for dollar exchange, the “International Reserve” con tinued to decrease, although this decrease amounted to only Pl,922,000 during July as compared to P9,182,000 in June, “Domestic Securities” increased by P6,557,000. repre senting additional advances made to the Philippine Govern ment. The increase in “Loans and Advances” is caused principally by a new P5,000,000 loan to the Philippine National Bank. Notes in circulation also increased by Pl3,648,000, reversing a downward trend that began in April. Current regulations permit Philippine gold mines to sell 75% of their gold production in the local open market. The balance of 25% is sold to the Central Bank at P70 per ounce. Open market prices for gold rose to Pl 17.60 per ounce during the month. This rise was probably caused by a combination of the Korean situation and an announce ment by the Central Bank that effective September 1, 1950, certain U. S. Treasury checks drawn in dollars would be payable only at the Manila Branch of the National City Bank of New York. It is estimated that about $2,000,000 a month in these checks has been sold in the black market. Henceforth, these dollars will be surrendered to the Central Bank. Checks covering second payments on War Damage claims began to be mailed about the middle of August to 80,000-odd payees. This operation will take an estimated two months to complete and will pour about Pl75,000,000 into the Philippine economy. This should have a stimu lating effect in general, and further ease the money situa tion. Banking and Finance I. ’G. Spering Sub-Manager, National City Bank of New York Manila Stock Exchange By Roy Ewing Swan, Culbertson & Fritz, Inc. /COMPARATIVE Statement of Condition Central Bank of the Philippines. of the As of As of As of As of Assets ,Dec. 31 May 31 June 30 July 31 (In thousands of pesos) International Reserve... 7 P460.689 P450.432 P441.250 P439.328 Contribution to Interna tional Monetary Fund. 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 Account to Secure Coin age .......... 113,306 113,306 113,306 113,306 Loans and Advances........ 77,047 48,018 63,918 68,624 August 1 to August 31, 1950 THE market gave a good account of itself in August, moving steadily upward to close with the Mining Share Average at 80.89, within a few points of where it was just before the outbreak of the warfare in Korea. The better news from Korea was an important factor; some buying could be attributed to an increase in devalua tion rumors and the resulting desire to have funds in com mon shares. Volume was moderate and almost' entirely in a few of the producing issues. 334 The gold mining shares were strong on a further rise in the price of gold to around Pl 15 per ounce and pleasing earnings and dividend reports. Surigao paid a 50% stock dividend to stockholders of record on August 15. Mindanao Mother Lode declared a P0.02 cash dividend to record September 9 and approved a 50% stock dividend to be paid as soon as American and Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission requirements can be met. The latter also reported a substantial increase in ore reserves for the first half of this year and showed a strong cash position as of June 30. Lepanto again attracted the most interest, reflecting the strong position of copper and the satisfactory earnings reported at a stockholders’ meeting on August 22. A stock dividend of 2 for 3 was declared at the meeting to stock holders of record that day. There was little business done in the chrome issues, probably because of low productions and the lack of any particularly favorable news from the properties. In the Commercial and Industrial group, several of the sugar shares made good gains on investment-demand for dollar producers and the strong position of the com modity in the United States and world markets. San Miguel moved up to P30 on investment buying and the report that the current dividend rate was more than earned in the first half of this year. OVER THE COUNTER High H. E. Heacock— Pfd......................... 100.00 Jai-Alai Corp, of the Philippines. . . 3.50 Mine Operation................................ 0.001 Palidan Suyoc................................... 0.001 Pan Philippine Corp......................... 0.00475 Paracale Gold................................... 0.005 Philippine-American Drug Co......... 130.00 Philippine Electric Manufacturing Co.................................................. 90.00 Philippine Iron Mines—Com........... 40.00 Victorias Milling Co............................ 160.00 Low 100.00 3.50 0.001 0.001 0.00475 0.005 130.00 90.00 40.00 144.00 Close Total Sales 100.00 • 3.50 0.001 0.001 0.00475 0.005 130.00 90.00 40.00 160.00 1949-50 Range High 94.40 Low 60.32 MINING SHARES Low High Close Change Total Sales 0 375 024 0 0 0 68 0 0 07 0 3 0 75 0052 5 30 0 05 014 0 0 0 115 08 53’ 021 70 0 22 0 08 0 22 0 26’ 043 0 88 00 75 00 200 00 35 00 200 25 00 00 00 0 35 0 40 25 00 0 200 8,333 40,000 4'000 25 783 Credit By C. W. Muilenburg Manager, Credit and Collection Department International Harvester Company of Philippines ONE credit manager recently remarked that in his business there has been almost a complete cycle with reference to credit since the war. Immediately after liberation there was no credit problem. Demand was brisk and stock was extremely limited; money was plentiful and the limited stock was sold for cash. Small and preferential credit terms were arranged, which were gradually re stricted. Credit restrictions were then relaxed and terms extended until a large percentage of transactions was on a credit basis. Since last December the latter trend has been reversed, with many firms limiting all transactions to cash and others materially restricting credit terms and amounts. While many credit managers still say that “credit is not the problem”, there has been noticed in recent weeks some relaxation of the interpretations of credit terms by some firms. Several credit managers have reported a slight increase in installment-credit arrangements, particularly in sales involving heavy equipment or larger-unit com modities. Credit managers representing firms dealing' in items in short supply, however, report their firms can still readily sell all of their merchandise for cash. Current receivables and credit transactions are naturally consider ably reduced both in number and in amount over this time last year, but it is not likely that there will be any material changes in credit terms or arrangements in the near future. In spite of credit continuing as “no problem”, the matter of collections is still one of considerable importance to credit managers. Since last December some firms, be cause of the nature of commodities sold, have noted markecl improvement in collections; while others have found the collection problem becoming increasingly difficult. The latter is particularly true for firms dealing in automobiles, motor trucks, and allied equipment, and materials such as gasoline, oil, tires, etc., due to the fact that one-half year licenses had to be purchased in August. Collections are becoming more difficult in the northern and central provinces due to the unsettled conditions there and the heavy rainfall which has restricted normal business activities. M.S.E. Mining Share Average............ 80.65 Acoje Mining Co....... — Antamok Goldfields Mining Co.............. 0.014 Atok-Big Wedge Min ing Co..................... o ■“ Baguio Gold Mining Co............................ uu Balatoc Mining Co.... 0025 Batong Buhay Gold Mines..................... Benguet Cons. Mining Co............................ 016 Coco Grove. Inc......... 0078 Consolidated Mines, Inc.......................... Itogon Mining Co...... IXL Mining. Co.......... Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.............. Masbate Consolidated Mindanao Mother Lode....................... Misamis Chromite, Inc........................... Paracale Gumaus San Mauricio Mining Co............................ Surigao Consolidated Suyoc Consolidated Mining Co. United Paracale Min’Adjusted for stock dividend. 80.65 Up 13.57 3,438,940 04 00 2 50 0 0 0 0 038 015 17’ 0 016 0 31 0 055 0 0 105 0 12’ 0 01 0 59 00 51 00 00 20 00 185 23 165 28 38 00 100 00 9 00 0.36 0.04 0.0035 3.35 0.0086 0.05 0.04 0.51' 0.016 0.49 1.09 0.21' 0.01 1. 012 0.0035 2.75 04 0 0 016 36 0 055 0.185’ 0.01 0 33 Up .06 04b 20 003b 0 00b 018a .0086b ,042b 0 0. 54 Up .10’ 0 018b 48 Up .11 0 035b 05b 0 0 12b 205b 012b 0 045 188,000' 394,000 200,000 29,230 619,000 30,000 345,100 34,000 100,000 20,000 00 50 2 00 . 0 35 0 25 00 0 04 00 24 50 97 00 100 00 7 00 COMMERCIAL SHARES Bank of the Philippine Central Azucarera de Bais......................... Central Azucarera de Cariota................... Central Azucarera de Tarlac..................... China Banking Corp. . Filipinas Cia. de SeManila Wine MerMaraman to ' Co.Common ................. Marsman to Co. — Preferred................ Philippine Guaranty Co........................... Philippine Oil Deve lopment .. . Philippine Club....... San Miguel Brewery— Com......................... San Miguel Brewery— 7% Pfd................... San Miguel Brewery— 8% Pfd................... Williams Equipment Co........................... 86.00 58.00 133.00 125.00 30.00 0.075 30.00 86.00 Up 22.00b 190.00b 26.00b !.40b 0.45a 26.00b 28 70 176 0.065 1.20b 7,500 30.00 Up 1.50 95.00b — 7.00a 9,647 125 Real Estate By Antonio Varias Vice-President, C. M. Hoskins & Co., Inc., Realtors REAL estate sales in the Greater Manila area registered during the month of August numbered 564, with a total value of P6,654,153, of which 169 sales, with a total value of P3,741,735, represented deals within Manila proper, and 395 sales, with a total value of F2,912,418, were in the suburbs. A number of the larger properties which changed hands during the month in the City of Manila were: A 3-storey building with 14 store doors on a lot of 527 square meters, situated at Tabora, corner M. de Santos Street, facing the Divisoria Market, was sold by Benito Lopez to Fernando Chua for the reported sum of P400.000 ; 335 The “Cine Paco,” with a lot of 679.84 square meters, situated at Dart street, Paco, sold by Francisco Sta. Maria, Jr. to Leonarda Garcia for P200.000; A property with a lot of 3,964 square meters at Dewey Boulevard, corner Sta. Monica and L. Guerrero Streets, Ermita, sold by Rafael Perez Samanillo to Cosmopolitan Investments Co., Inc. for P198.200; A parcel of 4,171.3 square meters at Castillejos Street, Quiapo, sold by Tomas de Vera to the Philippine Education Company for P146.016; A property with a lot of 1,837.5 square meters at Dewey Boulevard, corner Fresco and M. H. del Pilar Streets, Malate, sold by Maria L. Hidalgo to M. C. S. Tanunliong, Inc. for P137,812; and A property with a lot of 1,894.8 square meters at Dewey Boulevard, corner Fresco corner M. H. del Pilar Streets, Malate, sold by Cesar Ledesma to Carolina Tuason Vda. de Zaragosa for Pl25,000. Real estate' mortgages placed in the Greater Manila area during the month numbered 302, with a total value of P6,413,816, of which 111 mortgages, with a total value of P2,286,501, are in Manila proper, and 191, with a total value of P4,127,315, are in the suburbs. Monthly figures of sales and mortgages as compiled from reports of the offices of the Register of Deeds of Manila and suburbs are: Month, 1950 February ............. March................... April...................... ...................... July. *................... Cumulative .... Monthly average REAL ESTATES SALES (January to August, 1950) Manila (No) Value 267) P 4,486,846 240) 3,002,289 239) 2,660,652 146) 1,757,506 225) 5,715,108 196) 3,508,044 180) 2,995,048 169) 3,741,735 1662) P27,867,228 208) 3,483,804 Suburbs Value P 3,554,460 3,703,126 3,564,944 3,176,939 2,567,044 2,180,895 3,063,272 2,912,418 P24.723.098 3,090,387 P 5,891,606 6,569,351 8,079,083 6,317,160 6,849,771 5,766,143 7,201,342 6,413,816 P53.088.272 6,636,034 Electric Power Production (Manila Electric Company System) J. F. Cotton Treasurer, Manila Electric Company 1941 Average—15,316,000 KWH January.................................................. February .............................................. March.................................................... April....................................................... May........................................................ June........................................................ July......................................................... August................................................... September............................................ October............................................. November........................................... December.............................................. KILOWATT HOURS 1950 1949 37,661,000 33,745,000 33,828,000 31,110,000 38,107,000 34,776,000 35,378,000 33,048,000 37,611,000 34,453,000 37,529,000 34,486,000 38,774,000 * 35,726,000 39,900,000 ** 35,394,000 35,763,000 37,461,000 35,856,000 38,673,000 420,491,000 Total..................................... ** Partially Estimated qutput in August soared to another new record, straining the present generating capacity to the limit. The increase over August, 1949, was 4,506,000 kwh, or 12.8%. The first of the two new turbines at the Rockwell Station was under test at the end of August. Ocean Shipping and Exports By F. M. Gispert Secretary, Associated Steamship Lines TOTAL export for the month of July showed a decided increase over exports during July of last year. 84 vessels lifted 229,255 tons of exports during the month, as compared to 189,210 tons lifted by 102 vessels, during the same month last year. Two items of special interest may be noted: the first being that the scrap-iron shipment dropped to a negligible quantity of 399 tons, and the second that lumber and log shipment jumped from 700,266 bft., to 7.247,486 bft. and 1.485,976 bft. to 3.961,639 bft. respectively. Exports for July, 1950, as compared with exports during July, 1949, were as follows: 1950 1949 Alcohol............................. 13 tons 86 tons Beer................................... 863 ” — Coconut, desiccated.. . 11,153 ” 9,412 ” Coconut oil..................... 5,945 ” 9,472 " Concentrates, copper. . ” gold. . .. 3,700 ” 1,397 ” 539 ” 174 ” Copra............................... 67,017 ” 50,014 ” Copra cake/meal........... 5,512 ” 4,544 ” Embroideries.................. 208 ” 176 ” Empty cylinders........... 315 ” 450 ” Fish, salted..................... 37 ” 51 ” Fruits, fresh................... 23 ” — Furniture, rattan.......... 854 ” 307 ” Glycerine........................ 130 ” — Gums, copal................... 64 ” 21 ” Hemp............................... 54,506 bales 43,284 bales Hemp, knotted.............. 35 tons — Household goods........... 769 ” 154 tons Junk, metal.................... 399 ” 12,345 ” Logs.................................. 3.961,639 bft. 1.485,976 bft. Lumber............................ 7.247,486 ” 700,266 ” Molasses.......................... 4,777 tons — Plywood.......................... 43 ” — Ores, chrome................. 19,055 ” 13,000 tons ” lead....................... 98 ” — ” iron........................ 32,655 ” 21,084 ” ” manganese.......... 823 ” 4,329 ” Pineapples, canned.. .. 8,082 11,564 ” Rattan, palasan............. 78 ” 119 ” Rope................................. 126 ” 360 ” Rubber............................. 118 ” 114 ” Shells................................. 42 ” 25 ” Skins................................. 147 ” 52 ” Sugar................................ 33,271 ” 35,412 ” Tobacco.......................... 81 ” 50 ’’ Transit cargo................. 621 ” 2,107 ” General merchandise... 1,448 ” 2,181 ” Lumber By Luis J. Reyf.s Philippine Representative, Penrod, Jurden & Clark Company EXPORTS for the month of July continued active with a total of 10,679,351 board feet, showing an increase of a little over 1,000,000 feet over exports during the previous month. About half, as usual, went to the United States, while a little more than half went to the Far East and Pacific Islands (Guam and Hawaii). Europe and South Africa took about 300,000 feet. While exports to America consist largely of lumber, those to Far Eastern countries are mostly round logs, particularly Japan, For mosa, and Korea, which took only round logs. The lumber shipments to these countries were destined almost wholly for American military installations. According to the Bureau of Forestry, the amount of logs and lumber inspected for export during the month of July is as follows: 336 September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 337 Lumber Logs Total Destination (Bd. ft.) (Bd. ft.) (Bd. ft.) United States and Canada .... 2,951,569 1,790,317 4,741,886 Far East, including Guam and Hawaii............................. 2,091,822 3,528,819 5,620,641 Europe and South Africa........ 133,811 183,013 316,824 Total.............................................. 5,177,202 5,502,149 10,679,351 Even before the Korean conflict started, there was already a noticeable increase in shipments of logs to Japan and Formosa, and now General MacArthur desires to obtain from the Philippines 10,000,000 board feet of lum ber in the near future. We can readily supply this by cur tailing our shipments to the United States and other coun tries. The request of General MacArthur has been favor ably acted upon by the Philippine Lumber Producers’ Association, the members of which control about 85% of all the lumber produced in the Philippines. Prices of export stock range from $135 to $150 for FAS dark red, and about $15 to $20 less for light red Phil ippine mahogany of similar grade. Many companies are fully booked up to the end of the year, as has already been mentioned in this column. Wholesale prices in the local markets increased by about ?5 per thousand feet and might easily take another jump of P10 during the next month or two because of the Korean conflict. Furthermore, weather conditions will begin to improve from September on, and producers look forward to better prices because of increased local demand. Many companies are having difficulty securing bot toms for the United States. Some vessels scheduled to come to the Philippines cancelled their trips and those that come will prefer to take Manila hemp and copra to logs and sawn lumber. Copra and Coconut Oil By H. Dean Hellis Manager, Philippine Refining Company, Inc. July 16 to August 15 IT will be recalled that in our last month’s article we told of rather sharp price increases in the copra and coconut oil markets due to the Korean and the tense interna tional situations,'and said that it would not surprise us any to see still higher prices paid than was then the case at close. The general international situation is, of course, generally unchanged, and somewhat true to our anticipations, the market has continued to rise as a result of strong demand and nervous buying from abroad,—from European coun tries as well as from the United States. Though actual consumption may have increased to some extent, we feel reasonably sure that most of the recent demand for both copra and coconut oil is for purposes of stock,-piling and filling the “pipe lines”, which, in turn, is creating a danger ous condition for any trader who is not attempting to maintain as closely a balanced position as possible. It is quite probable that any turn of events for the better, or the completion of present stock-piling requirements, will result in a considerably easier undertone in the market, with the possible complete withdrawal of buyers for some time, due to the fact that their inventories will be more than sufficient for their needs. The logical reaction, if and when the foregoing should occur, would be for a sharply downward trend in prices, with very little new business being done on the decline. Fortunately, the recent and the present strong demand abroad for both copra and coconut oil has coincided with the season of greatest productivity here in the Philippines, and it is interesting to note that the July exports of copra from the Islands were the largest since January, 1948, when shipments totalled 79,598 tons. Another feature in the present situation which can not be overlooked is the supply and demand for steamer space, which already shows signs of becoming exceedingly tight. Freight rates, therefore, may advance upward from time to time, unless the overall situation eases somewhat and there is again plenty of space to be had. The latter, however, is not likely to be the case at any time in the near future, and, as a consequence, shippers may well be * faced with a shipping problem, particularly if supplies here continue to be above average. A situation such as this, should it become more acute, could eventually result in a condition comparable to that experienced during 1940 and 1941, when markets abroad remained at comparatively good prices, but prices suffered locally due largely to the inability to obtain sufficient cargo space for shipment from the Philippines. Though the present situation is nowhere near as acute as at that time as yet, we feel nevertheless that shipping facilities are already such that this particular feature must be watched closely. The World Is Yours...When You Own an It provides the highest possible efficiency and dependability on both short wave and standard broadcast reception. It's a musical and radio instrument of the highest calibre. Any broadcast is at its best when you listen in on an ECHOPHONE! May we invite you to a demonstration at our showrooms? F. II. STEVENS & <<>., INC. El Hogar Filipino Bldg. — MANILA — Tel. 2-86-13 338 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1950 yvTHBREAS the period under review opened with buyers ™ of copra at approximately $195 c.i.f. Pacific Coast, but sellers generally holding for $197.50 to $200 c.i.f., considerable business was done during the period all the way up to $205 c.i.f. at the close. Sellers, as usual on a tight market, are anticipating a further rise in prices, and they are therefore presently showing some reluctance in their further offerings, most of them asking from $2.50 to $5 higher. The demand from European countries for Philip pine copra has been exceptionally good during recent weeks, and here again considerable business was done, some of it for fairly well forward positions, as high as $235 c. and f. basic ports. This demand no doubt has done much to bring about increased copra prices, and as the period closes there are indications that it is still far from being satisfied, with the result that it is logical to assume prices will advance further The local markets for copra both in Manila and Cebu have followed the same general pattern of the export mar kets, and accordingly prices have advanced to around P38 and P39 respectively, with supplies generally fairly plen tiful. 'T'he situation as to coconut oil in the United States and elsewhere has likewise taken a definite turn upward recently, and whereas most buyers have been willing to trade only on a hand-to-mouth basis for some time past, most of their purchases having been coconut oil already afloat and reasonably close to destination, now they appear ready and almost anxious to buy for ship ments not yet made from the Philippines, some of them even for slightly forward positions. Business recently was done for September arrival in the United States as high as 15-3/4 cents c.i.f. New York, as compared to a market of around 14-1/2 cents c.i.f. at the opening of the period under review. This represents a reasonably fair advance in price, though present indications are that the top has not yet been reached. r^oPRA exports during the month of July, 1950, amounted to 67,017 tons, as compared to 48,451 tons during June, 1950, and 50,014 tons during July, 1949. The total for the January through July period in 1950 amounted to 297,101 tons, against 289,354 tons for the same period last year. July, 1950, exports are broken down as to destination, as follows: United States Pacific Coast.......................... 41,407 tons Atlantic Coast........................ 5,805 ” Gulf Ports............................... 1,400 ” Europe.............................................. 12,550 ” Japan................................................. 4,155 ” Formosa............................................ 300 ” Africa................................................ 1,400 ” 67,017 tons Coconut oil exports for July, 1950, amounted to 5,945 tons, as compared to 3,635 tons during June, 1950, and 9,472 tons during July, 1949. The total exports for the period January through July, 1950, amounted to 28,424 tons, against 35,229 tons for the same period last year. Exports of coconut oil continue to be disappointing and extremely low as compared to the pre-war figures, for reasons which, however, are beyond the control of Philip pine crushers, and in spite of the fact that there is presently sufficient crushing capacity already installed in the Philip pines to permit an annual exportation of approximately 150,006 tons, over and above domestic consumption for engineers • contractors MANUFACTURERS • DISTRIBUTORS Specializing in the Fabrication and Erection of Bridges, Tanks and Buildings — OPERATING — MACHINE SHOPS FOR CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR FOUNDRY FOR CAST IRON. BRASS AND BRONZE STEEL PLATE AND STRUCTURAL STEEL SHOPS ATLANTIC, GULF & PACIFIC CO. OF MANILA PHILIPPINE CONTRACTORS SINCE 1905 September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 339 purposes of soap, margarine, shortening, and edible oil production. July, 1950, exports of coconut oil are broken down as to destination, as follows: United States Atlantic Coast........................................ 5,587 tons South Africa.................................... . 358 ” 5,945 tons The market for Philippine copra meal has continued at reasonably good prices, more or less unchanged since our last month’s review. Though the Pacific Coast market for meal is presently inclined to slide off somewhat, due largely to increased purchases of copra by the Pacific Coast crushers, Denmark has now started to buy against its ECA allocation of $400,000 for the purchase of this com modity at $80 per ton c. and f. Copenhagen, this price representing a very fair return to Philippine crushers f.o.b. Manila or Cebu basis. summarizing, there are undoubtedly few markets in the world for any commodity that have been subject to such violent fluctuations as the oils and fats markets, and Philippine copra and coconut oil being among the latter, the situation is, as usual, most confusing and unpre dictable. Accordingly, we hesitate somewhat to venture any guess as to future market probabilities, but it does seem to us at this writing that prices for copra here in the Philippines may continue to advance further before any reactionary downward movement takes place. It is our feeling, however, that a subsequent decline in prices in the not too distant future is almost bound to occur, and it is merely a question in our mind presently whether this anticipated break in prices will be of a moderate, or sharp nature. Much undoubtedly will depend upon unforesee able developments throughout the world, coupled with local conditions as to availability of supplies, shipping facilities, and such. Desiccated Coconut By Howard H. Curran Assistant General Manager Peter Paul Philippine Corporation THIS report covers the period from July 15 to August 15 during which time copra stayed firm with very little variation. Nut prices stayed below the copra equiv alent due to plentiful supply. Much copra is being made in the desiccated coconut production areas but factories are running at full production. The Peter Paul case in the Court of Industrial Rela tions was settled and decision given. Franklin Baker Com pany had demands made by its laborers and this has also been settled. ' The shipping statistics for the month of July are as follows: Shippers Pounds Franklin Baker Company.................. 3,856,600 Blue Bar Coconut Company............. 1,851,380 Peter Paul Philippine Corp............... 2,000,000 Red-V Coconut Products................... 2,738,600 Sun-Ripe Coconut Products............. 1,068,800 Standard Coconut Products............. 20,000 Cooperative Coconut Products........ 296,100 Tabacalaera............................................ 0 Coconut Products (Phil.) Inc........... 293,940 Luzon Desiccated Coconut Corp.... 334,127 _________ Total............................................ 12,459,547 pounds NOTE: Zamboanga Factory production................... 1,085,480 lbs. Lusacan ” ” 765,900 " Total BLUE BAR shipments....................... 1,851,380 lbs. INSULAR LUMBER COMPANY FABRICA, OCC. NEGROS --------- ¥---------SPECIALISTS IN KILN DRIED LUMBER and MANUFACTURERS OF BOXES OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS MANILA DISTRIBUTORS: Norton & Harrison Company 814 Echague Manila D. C. Chuan & Sons, Inc. 14-30 Soler St. Manila Insular Saw Mill, Inc. 340 Canonigo, Paco Manila MANILA OFFICE-. 401 FILIPINAS BUILDING 340 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1950 Sugar By G. G. Gordon Secretary-Treasurer Philippine Sugar Association THIS review covers the period from August 1 to 31, 1950. New York Market: During August, the market was completely under the influence of the international situation, as the buying spree which set in during July and which resulted in the United States Government pur chasing the available reserve supplies from Cuba eliminated factors which normally dominate the movements of the market. The month opened with negotiations under way to determine the price at which the Cuban reserve sugar would be taken over. These negotiations involved a request from the Cuban Government for a guarantee as to Cuba being able to obtain food supplies from the United States at current prices^ On August 2 the Exchange spot price delivered was quoted at 5.70/ ( = 6.20/ duty paid). On August 3 it was reported that all the remaining unsold sugar that could be imported into the United States under the present quota was: Cuba, 168,000 short tons, and Puerto Rico 50,000 short tons. Refined distribution figures as of July 29 showed an increase over the corresponding period of last year of 595,513 short tons. On August 4, it was reported that the Cuban reserve sugar, totalling approximately 600,000 short tons, would be taken over at the price of 5.38/ per pound, f.a.s. Cuban ports, which is equivalent to 6.23/ duty paid at Atlantic ports, on the basis of current freight rates. The U. S. De partment of Agriculture announced: “Any amount in excess of United States needs would be available for resale to the world market at United States cost price.” It was also announced that Cuba was assured of the avail ability of United States Government stocks of wheat, rice, eggs, milk, butter, and other commodities held in C.C.C. storage. Following the foregoing announcement, the market price was quoted at 6.25/, as it appeared that the supplies purchased by the United States Government would not be available to refiners below that price and all offerings at 6.25/ were taken. Refined sugar advanced in line with the increased raw price and was quoted at 8.25/. On August 9 there were offerings of raws at 6.30/, but buyers showed no interest. The U. S. Department of Agriculture issued estimates of the domestic crops as follows: Beet............................................................. 1,900,000 short tons Cane........................................................... 575,000 short tons These figures indicate an increase over 1949 production of 400,000 short tons of beet sugar and 52,000 short tons of cane sugar. Refined sugar distribution for July was reported as 1,185,371 short tons, this being the second largest monthly distribution on record. The market continued to show little activity, though on August 15 there was some business done to Gulf ports at 6.27/ and on the 16th Puerto Ricos were sold at 6.30/. On that date, it was reported that until arrangements had been concluded whereby the recently purchased Cuban reserve sugar would be made available to refiners and the price at which it would be resold had been fixed, the New York market must of necessity be very restricted with prices more or less nominal. On August 17 the C.C.C. announced that it would ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT r> & SUPPEY COMPANY, Inc. MACHINERY • MECHANICAL SUPPLIES • ENGINEERS • CONTRACTORS AIR CONDITIONING For Offices, Theatres, Hospitals, Stores, Restaurants, Hotels, Clubs and Homes ★ ★ ★ Suppliers of MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT and INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES For Sugar Centrals, Mines, Sawmills, Power Plants, Machine Shops and All Industrial Plants ★ ★ ★ INSTALLATION — MAINTENANCE — SERVICE — REPAIRS ENGINEERING — DESIGN — APPLICATION — ESTIMATES ★ ★ ★ Operating: General & Sales Office 1 74 M. de Comillas Manila Tel. 3-29-21 MACHINE SHOPS • STEEL PLATE SHOPS Engineering Shops STRUCTURAL STEEL SHOPS • WELDING No. 1 Calle L. Segura SHOPS • BLACKSMITH SHOPS • SHEET Mandaluyong'Rizal METAL SHOPS • MARINE RAILWAY Tel. 6-65-68 September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 341 make the recently purchased sugar available at the contract price of 5.38/ f.a.s. Cuba. It was also announced that a further quota increase would be necessary to make this reserve Cuban sugar immediately available to refiners. Such increase was expected shortly and would be made large enough to create a technical deficit for Cuba. The deficit would then be reallotted to Puerto Rico and Hawaii if it is the desire of C.C.C. to buy some or all of the reserves in either or both of those areas. On August 24 an increase in the quota of 850,000 short tons was duly advised. Under normal conditions, a quota increase of this magnitude would have an un favorable effect on the market, but under the circumstances this increase had no effect. It was realized that Cuba’s share of the increase is owned by C.C.C. and will be sold to refiners only when they certify that free market sugars are not available at the equivalent of 5.38/ f.a.s. Cuba, or say 6.23/24/ duty-paid New York equivalent. The increase in the quota therefore made available to the free market only the Puerto Ricos and possibly a few extra cargoes of Hawaiians. From this it would appear that the C.C.C. is holding the umbrella over the market and that the market will settle down around 6.23/25/, duty-paid, until a price divergence is created by new crop offerings. On August 24 business was done on Puerto Ricos and Cubas at 6.25/. Up to the end of the month, the market, under the influences stated above, remained unchanged and there were further transactions at 6.25/. It may be well to bear in mind that the extraordinary purchases of refined sugar which have advanced the value of raw sugar, do not imply increased consumption but should properly be regarded as the transfer of stocks from visible to invisible supplies. The Cuban world market, which was quoted at 5.90/ on July 31, closed at 5.80/ on August 31, and thus remained well above the parity of the United States market. We give below the quotations on the New York Sugar Exchange as of August 30 for Contracts Nos. 4 and 6: Contract Contract No. 4 No. 6 September...................... 5.84 — November............................. — 5 72 January........................... 5 42 5 65 March.............................. 5 07 5 41 May....................................... 5.07 5.41 July........................................ — 5.43 Local Market, (a) Domestic Sugar: There was prac tically no movement in domestic prices during the month, quotations on August 30 being the same as those quoted on July 31. (b) Export Sugar: On August 9 export sugar was quoted at Pl5.15, but there being little sugar available, very little business was reported. There are reports of small transactions on new crop sugar for delivery before December 31 around P14. Manila Hemp By H. Robertson Vice-President and Assistant General Manager THIS review covers the period July 16 to August 15, 1950. Over the period prices both in consuming markets and in the Philippines registered substan tial advances; however, at the close, terminal markets were very weak and prices, abroad and locally, closed sub stantially under the highs for the period. The spectacular advance which reached its height early in August was due to panic buying by United States consumers at a time when offerings from here were extremely limited. Very RECAP YOUR WORN TIRES Avoid the hazards of skidding and add up to 80% safe extra mileage to your old tires. Let the Goodyear Technical Man in spect your tires—he'll give you expert ad vice and prompt service. good/Vear DCPAD DI * MT- 111,1 & A,la,lla Streets, KtUAr rLANl. 1>ORT ARKA> MANILA Telephone 3-32-16 342 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1950 I'm a busy little atom I split myself in two, I multiply as many times As I have jobs to do. In summer, winter, spring or fall I'm ready every hour; lust push a switch and watch me zip With... light... or heat... or power. Reddy Kilowatt YOUR ELECTRIC SERVANT MANILA ELECTRIC COMPANY little business was done near the top and the market has declined rapidly with little or no business recorded on the decline. There is every indication that production will continue at not less than current levels with every likelihood of a further increase in Davao. This production should be suffi cient to satisfy world cordage requirements despite the increased demand caused by the Korean affair. It appears highly probable that the 1950 production will turn out to be 37 to 40% above 1949, or say around 700,000 bales. New York quotations: Per lb. c.i.f. New York July 15 August 15 Change ........... 25-1/8^ 28-3/4f$ +3-5/8^ Davao JI........................ ........... 24-7/8 27-1/2 + 2-5/8 Davao G........................ ........... 24 27 +3 Non-Davao I................. ........... 24 27-1 '8 +3-1/8 Non-Davao JI.............. ........... 22 26-1/2 +4-1/2 Non-Davao G............... ........... 16-1/8 19-1/2 +3-3/8 Philippine provincial quotations: Per Picul—Basis Loose Davao I............................... P55.50 P61.50 + P6.00 Davao JI............................ .... 54.50 60.50 + 6.00 Davao G............................. 51.50 58.00 + 6.50 Nnn.Dnvan I.................... .... 54 00 58.00 + 4.00 Non-Davao JI.................. 49.00 56.00 + 7.00 Non-Davao G................... 35.00 41.00 + 6.00 Pressings for July amounted to 58,914 , bales—up 2,812 bales from June and up 23,289 bales from the cor responding month last year. Davao pressings were 34,573 bales, or 59% of the total. For the first 7 months of this year pressings totalled 413,008 bales, compared with 317,266 bales for the same period of last year—an increase of 95,742 bales, or 30%. The following shows comparative figures for balings and exports for the first 7 months of 1947 through 1950: Balings—January-July, inclusive 1950 1949 1948 1947 Albay, Camarines, and Sorsogon.......................... Leyte and Samar............. All other Non-Davao. . Total bales......................... 200,611 129,118 128,410 219,357 99,917 71,863 122,769 139,792 66,461 66,793 72,591 47,111 46,019 49,492 77,361 47,195 413,008 317,266 401,131 453,455 United States and Ca nada.................................. Japan.................................... Continental Europe......... United Kingdom.............. China.................................... India..................................... Korea................................... South Africa................. Australia and New Zea land................................... All other countries........... Total bales........................ Exports—January-July, inclusive 1950 1949 1948 1947 194,575 113,663 180,905 319,343 55,105 79,735 109,661 1,600 71,213 64,578 66,600 76,186 44,599 23,207 49,945 28,745 8,491 8,641 7,436 1,331 3,930 2,800 665 4,850 3,100 — — — 3,675 2,896 1,857 . 3,150 625 350 42 500 ■ — — 2,853 2,075 385,313 295,870 419,964 * 437,780 Tobacco By Luis A. Pujalte Secre tary-Treasurer Manila Tobacco Association, Inc. OF interest to local manufacturers of the Virginia type cigarettes is a crop report for last July which I have received from Messrs. J. E. Bohannon Co., Inc., of Bowling Green, Kentucky. It reads: ...n CROP REPORT The opening dates of the Flue Cured markets have been announced as follows: Georgia, July 24; South Carolina, August 1; Eastern North Carolina, August 18; Middle East, September 1; Old Belt, September 11. September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 343 Georgia—Reports are that harvesting and curing is well advanced. The majority of the crop promises to be good quality. South Carolina—Conditions have improved in this Belt. While there is some irregularity in the crop in certain sections, as a whole conditions seem favorable. Eastern North Carolina—The crop is very uniform and promises to be of excellent quality. Middle and Old Belt—The crop is early and has made rapid growth and promises to be one of the best for several years. Burley—Some sections have had excessive rains which have washed up a lot of the plants but the majority of the acreage shows normal growth for this time of year. One Sucker—The entire crop has been planted under favorable condi tions and it is showing satisfactory progress. Green River—Despite heavy rains in this section, most of the crop has been planted and the growth is normal. Dark Fired—Excessive rains have not prevailed in these sections so the crop is getting off to a good start. a recent trip to the Cagayan and Isabela provinces, I had occasion to see the 1950 crop which is already harvested and with a large portion already bundled and in the fermentation stage. In Cagayan the crop is excel lent; for a number of years, going back even to before the war, Cagayan has not produced such a fine crop. (Cagayan tobacco is mostly cigarette and filler tobacco, as the per centage of binder and wrapper is very low.) In Isabela the picture is different. Classes (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) wrapper, binder, and select fillers, are not only of very fine quality but the proportion to the whole crop is very high,—estimated at between 25 to 30%. The filler and cigarette tobacco, on the contrary, is very poor, excepting Cabanatuan, Gamu, and Cabagan. It rained for several days before the harvest and most of the crop is washed and lifeless. Luckily no worms have developed as yet (upi) which usually happens in the case of a washed crop. The tobacco does not have a very strong odor, but does not smell stale. Imports By S. ScHMELKES Mercantile, Inc. THE following tabulation of imports into the Philippines is taken from a specially prepared report of The Robot Statistics, summarizing approximately 102,400 ship ments listed by The Robot as having entered Manila during the first half of 1949, and 100,300 shipments during the first six months of 1950. The figures are in metric tons. The total-tonnage does not equal the sum of the tonnages of the countries shown, as not all countries shipping to the Philippines are listed. First Six Months First Six Months %of From 1949 1950 1949 All Imports—Total Tonnage Arrived......................................... 935,434 899,800 • 96% Belgium............................................ 31,535 20,874 66% British Isles............... .................. 4,199 10,870 259% China........................ .................... 3,500 — 0% Indonesia.......................................... 123,795 191,319 154% Canada—Western Coast............. 39,658 34,912 20,427 88% Hongkong......................................... 26,140 78% Japan................................................ 73,672 70,148 95% Persia................................................ 134,699 189,791 140% USA, East Coast............................ 147,940 117,557 79% USA, Gulf Coast..................... 41,331 37,802 91% USA, West Coast.......................... 249,940 169,979 68% It is interesting to note that in spite of the fact that the effects of the import and exchange controls were most withering during the first half of 1950, the total tonnage shows a drop of only 4%. An examination of the figures reveals, however, that this deceptive percentage is largely the result of the tremendous increases in the imports from PACIFIC MEIM IIODISIM. CORPORATION •119 Dasmarinas Manila EXCLUSIVELY REPRESENTING.... CORBIN LOCK COMPANY AMERICAN RADIATOR & STANDARD SANITARY CORPORATION UNION CARBIDE & CARBON CORP. National Carbon Division “Eveready” flashlights & batteries LINDE AIR PRODUCTS CO., INC. “Union” Carbide THE PARAFFINE COMPANIES, INC. “Pabco” Products AMES BALDWIN WYOMING COMPANY BALL BROS. MASON JARS EKCO PRODUCTS CO. MALLEABLE IRON FITTINGS CO. FAIRBURY WINDMILL CO. CAPEWELL MANUFACTURING CO. SLOAN VALVE COMPANY BOMMER SPRING HINGE COMPANY COLUMBUS COATED PRODUCTS CO. KEENEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY BADGER METER MANUFACTURING CO. DICK BROTHERS MANUFACTURING CO. CARBORUNDUM COMPANY BADGER FIRE EXTINGUISHER CO. STEEL PRODUCTS HOUSE FURNISHINGS GENERAL HARDWARE PLUMBING 344 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1950 Persia and Indonesia. These two countries show a com bined increase of 122,616 tons over the 1949 arrivals during the same period. The item shipped in such huge quantities from Persia and Indonesia is gasoline and other petroleum products. If these two countries were not included, a truer picture of the effects of the controls would emerge: All Imports—except above......... 676,940 518,690 77% These figures show a drop of 158,250 metric tons during the first half of 1950, covering all commodities, from under wear to automobiles, excepting only the heavy petroleum imports from Persia and Indonesia. Trade with Japan rose throughout the year 1949. During the second half of 1949, the tonnage arrived from Japan was 107,002, as compared to 73,672 tons during the first half. Arrivals in 1950 dropped to a lower level, due more to the new barter agreement than to the controls in general. Another point of interest is that Great Britain Only PAN AMERICAN flies Never before such luxury and comfort aloft! Spacious club lounge on lower deck. Superb meals and refreshments^^ More power...more speed. And you fly the Sunny Southern Route where air travel is smoothest. All at regular far eg! Two Flights Weekly to Los Angeles, Son Francisco Call your Travel Agent or 2-79-91 Manila Hotel Downtown Office (270 Plaza Cervantes) WORLD’S MOST EXPERIENCED AIRLINE Pax American World Alrways\ / -n.de Mark, P.„ Am.rU.,. Wodd Aitw.r, .nc. showed so great an increase, due largely to the devalua tion of the pound plus the fact that heavy machinery, the importation of which is on the upswing, is one of Great Britain’s main exports to the Philippines. As a matter of fact, other countries, Belgium, for instance, whose cur rencies were also devalued, did not show increases. Bel gium, shipping largely building materials, dropped from 31,535 tons to 20,874 during the periods under comparison. Another tabulation follows which shows in a general way what commodities were most affected, and what com modities defied the downswing trend: Firat Six Firat Six Months Mon ths % of 1949 1950 1949 Building Materials............... 120,589 57,989 48% Cigarettes................................ . .. . 8,134 2,063 25% Foods........................................ 231,507 133,962 58% Machinery............................... 13,099 13,234 101% Textiles.................................... 22,703 10,601 47% Tobacco Leaf......................... 447 9,223 2063% The foregoing indicates that the controls are perform ing as they were meant to, although the drastic percentage cuts specified in the law certainly did not manifest them selves quite so sternly in the actual arrivals. Another point, insofar as raw materials and machinery are con cerned : although machinery does not yet show a significant increase, the trend is there. During the first quarter of 1950, arrivals totalled 5,972 tons, in the second quarter, they rose to 7,262 tons. During the month of July, 1950, machinery imports rose 145% over arrivals in July, 1949. Similarly tobacco-leaf imports were only about 900 tons during the first quarter of 1950, compared to 8,300 tons during the second quarter. ll figures are in kilos with the exception of those for ■ foodstuffs which are given in package units. Com modi ties Automotive (Total)......................... July, 1950 722,848 July, 1949 2,656,646 Automobiles................................... 75,593 937,445 Auto Accessories........................... 445 10,394 Auto Parts...................................... 196,696 306,354 Bicycles............................................ 3,532 32,384 Trucks.............................................. 7,759 Truck Chassis................................ 214,240 385,794 Building Materials........................... 5,123,917 11,853,692 Board, Fibre................................... 57,459 14,334 Cement............................................ 103,909 8,818,582 Glass, Window.............................. 355,264 319,634 Gypsum........................................... 1,086,167 88,652 Chemicals (Total)............................ 5,088,573 1,761,491 Caustic Soda................................... 137,938 212,947 Explosives (Total).......................... — 181,031 Firearms (Total)............................... 109,921 7,845 Ammunition................................... 108,344 3,176 Hardware (Total)............................. 5,526,090 5,388,809 Household (Total)............................ 849,932 1,746,371 Machinery (Total)............................ 2,638,479 1,814,276 Metals (Total)................................... 8,583,858 12,863,477 Petroleum Products (Total).......... 70,534,780 69,482,291 Radios (Total)................................... 22,634 72,479 Rubber Goods (Total).................... 675,571 684,521 Beverages, Misc. Alcoholic............. 20,464 26,361 Foodstuffs (Total Kilos)................ 23,240,304 50,627,216 Foodstuffs, Fresh (Total)............... 125,996 124,879 Apples.............................................. 1,664 14,075 Oranges............................................ 22,120 16,607 Onions.............................................. 52,845 26,362 Potatoes........................................... 17,971 11,825 Foodstuffs, Dry Packaged (Total) 34,058 44,444 Foodstuffs, Canned (Total)........... 288,047 363,835 Sardines........................................... 129,289 38,092 Milk, Evaporated......................... 64,208 131,520 Milk, Condensed.......................... 400 52,201 Foodstuffs, Bulk (Total)................ 438,568 790,277 Rice...................................................... — 512,945 Wheat Flour....................................... 398,253 233,265 Foodstuffs, Preserved (Total).... 269 1,631 Bottling, Misc. (Total).................... 1,070,249 1,646,733 Cleansing and Laundry (Total)... 1,095,523 186,637 Entertainment Equipment (Total) 13,107 10,230 September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 345 Livestock-bulbs-seeds (Total).... Medical (Total)................................. Musical (Total)................................. Office Equipment (Total).............. Office Supplies (Total).................... Paper (Total)..................................... Photographic (Total)...................... Raw Materials (Total).................... Sporting Goods (Total)................... Stationery (Total)................. ;;. . . Tobacco (Total)................................ Chucheria (Total)............................. Clothing and Apparel (Total). . . . Cosmetics (Total)............................. Fabrics (Total)................................... Jewelry (Total)................................. Leather (Total)................................. Textiles (Total)................................. Twine (Total)..................................... Toys (Total)....................................... General Merchandise (Total). . . . Non-CommercialShipments(Total) Advertising Materials, Etc.(Total) 3,180 874 419,048 327,152 90,092 94,863 56,545 68,215 59,789 45,245 6,491,878 2,787,372 12,571 41,165 377,959 243,607 13,240 33,071 415,913 280,683 4,192,834 795,745 95,855 70,019 182,744 398,456 76,509 137,001 1,093,671 665,638 ■ — 17 192,277 164,982 1,961,535 2,201,711 62,160 29,364 2,573 32,742 320,301 942,739 47,474 44,675 379,296 1,039,522 Automobiles and Trucks By Karl E. Gay Sales Representative, Ford Motor Company REPORT OF SALES Philippine Total July, 1950, Only Make Passenger Trucks Total No. % No. % No. % Ford.................. Mercury........... Lincoln............. Prefect......... 19 73 08 61 32 11 80 37.03 Chevrolet......... Buick................ Cadillac............ Pontiac............. Oldsmobile. . . . 3 11 54 62 32 63 65 30 09 GMC................. Chrysler........... DeSoto............. Plymouth......... 4 2 10 4 1 85 Dodge............... 6 3 16 6 2.77 Fargo................ International. . Willys............... 49 25.79 49 22.68 Nash.................. Packard........... 3 11 54 3 1 59 Studebaker... Reo.................... Austin............... 1 3 84 2 1 05 3 1.59 Hudson............. Bedford........... 6 3 16 6 2 77 Total... 26 190 216 Philippine Total Accumulated to July, 1950 Make Passenger Trucks Total No. % No. % No. % Ford.................. 331 27.56 534 32.20 865 30.24 Mercury........... 49 4.08 49 1.71 Lincoln............. 9 .75 9 .31 Prefect............. 5 .42 • 5 .17 Chevrolet......... 405 33.72 649 39.13 1054 , 36 85 Buick................ 51 4.24 51 1.78 Cadillac............ 1 .08 1 .03 Pontiac............. 21 1.75 21 .73 Oldsmobile. . . . 2 .17 2 .07 GMC................. 28 1 69 28 .98 Chrysler........... 21 1.75 21 .73 DeSoto............. 44 3 66 27 1 63 71 2 48 Plymouth........ 15 1 25 15 .52 Dodge............. 32 2 66 58 3 50 90 3 15 Fargo................ 9 .54 9 .31 International. 260 15 68 260 9 09 Willys............. 94 7.82 36 2.17 130 4.54 Nash............... 45 3.75 45 1.57 Packard......... 22 1.83 22 .76 Studebaker... 38 3.16 18 1 08 56 1.96 Reo................. 14 .84 14 .49 Austin............. 11 .91 1 .06 12 .42 Hudson.......... 5 .42 5 .17 White............. 2 .12 2 .07 THE COLLIES COMPANY Established 1826 Incorporated 1934 COLLINSVILLE, CONNECTICUT Commonwealth Axes Dayton Pattern also Double Bit Patterns for swamping and falling The Collins name on any axe is your guarantee of high quality Obtainable in all the leading Hardware stores everywhere Exclusive Agents CHAM SAMCO 4 SONS, INC. General Hardware 300-308 Sto. Cristo, Manila, P. 0. Box 928 Telephones 2-81-72 & 2-81-76 Private Exchange connecting all departments SMITH-CORONA PORTABLE One glance at the new SMITH-CORONA. . . and you’re convinced that it’s the most beautiful and sturdy portable typewriter you’ve ever laid eyes on! Not just a “new model”. . . it’s a revolutionary all new typewriter. . . with a total of nineteen new features plus fifteen SMITH-CORONA “exclu sives”! Its smart, new Color-speed Keyboard is full standard office machine size. . . has rimless keys colored a restful non-glare green and “comfort shape” to cup your finger tips. ERLANGER & GALINGER, INC. 123 T. Pinpin, Manila • Magallanes St., Cebu City 346 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1950 Bedford............... 23 1 39 23 .80 Renault............... 1 .08 1 .03 Total... HOI 1659 2860 ★ LUZ01I STEIEIIOlilUi COMPANY, IM. Manila ★ -------------------------------POWER IN ANY LANGUAGE The leadership of "CATERPILLAR" Products knows no geographical boundaries. You'll find them on the jobs in the Bolivian jungles, logging mahogany; in the Arabian desert, powering oil drill rigs; in Pennsylvania, building highways; or in the Philippines, plowing fields. When you think of the world's work, think of the big yellow machines that do so much of it. CATERPILLAR DIESEL ENGINES • MOTOR GRADERS TRACTORS • EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT i—KOPPEL—i (PHILIPPINES) BOSTON & S3RD STREETS | N C ■ PORT AREA ’ TEL- 3‘37’53 Branches: l Bacolod * Iloilo * Cebu * Davao * Cotabato * Zamboanga J Manila and Northern Luzon Accumulated to July, 1950 Make Passenger No. % Trucks No. % Total No. % Ford.................. 255 25 07 273 27.14 528 26 10 Mercury........... 38 3.74 38 1 88 Lincoln........... 7 .69 7 .35 Prefect............. 5 .49 5 .25 Chevrolet........ 341 33 53 398 39.56 739 36.53 Buick.............. 50 4.92 50 2 47 Cadillac.......... Pontiac........... 17 1 67 17 .84 Oldsmobile . . 2 .19 2 .10 GMC.............. 19 1.89 19 .94 Chrysler......... 21 2 06 21 1 04 DeSoto........... 39 3 83 27 2 68 66 3.26 Plymouth . . 13 1.28 13 .64 Dodge............. 28 2 75 37 3.67 65 3.21 Fargo.............. 3 .30 3 .15 International. 184 18 29 184 9 09 Willys............. 90 8 85 34 3.38 124 6.13 Nash............... 38 3.73 38 1 88 Packard......... 21 2.06 21 1.04 Studebaker... 37 3.04 14 1 39 51 2 52 Reo.................. 14 1.39 14 .69 Austin............. 11 1 08 1 .10 12 .59 Hudson........... 3 .29 3 .15 Renault.......... 1 .10 1 05 White............. 2 .20 2 .10 Total. .. 184 Total... 1017 1006 2023 Provinces Accumulated to July, 1950 Make Passenger Trucks Total No. % No. % No. % Ford.................. 76 41.30 261 39.96 357 40.24 Mercury.......... 11 5 98 11 1.31 Lincoln........... 2 1.08 2 .24 Prefect............. Chevrolet.... 64 34.78 251 38.43 315 37 61 Buick.............. 1 .54 1 .12 Cadillac......... 1 .54 1 .12 4 2.17 4 .48 Oldsmobile. . . GMC............... 9 1.38 9 1.07 Chrysler.......... DeSoto........... 5 2 72 5 .60 Plymouth . . 2 1 08 2 24 Dodge............. 4 2.17 21 3.21 25 2 98 Fargo.............. 6 92 6 .72 International. 76 11.63 76 9 07 Willys........... 4 2 17 2 .31 6 .72 Nash............... 6 3 26 6 .72 Packard......... 1 .54 1 .72 Studebaker... 1 .54 4 .62 5 .60 Reo................. Austin............. Hudson........... 2 1 08 2 24 Bedford........... 23 3 52 23 2 74 653 837 Food Products By C. G. Herdman Director, Trading Division, Marsman & Co., Inc. CONDITIONS in the Philippine market during August deteriorated materially. Shortages in many lines of foodstuffs exist and such merchandise can seldom be secured except at blackmarket prices. This shortage is in a considerable degree due to the extreme delay on the part of the Import Control Office in acting on applications for import licenses. Very few appli cations for quota goods have been acted on since last May. On non-quota goods, very few licenses have as yet been issued to cover the July-August-September quarter. As a result of this delay in acting on applications, very serious shortages have developed in stocks of imported foodstuffs,— shortages far beyond those that would be due only to the restrictions on imports prescribed in the law. September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 347 Canned milk particularly is very short. A survey made toward the end of August indicates that there is only one month’s supply of this essential commo dity in storage in Manila and very small quantities have been licensed and are in process of being im ported. There is every indication that canned milk will be almost unobtainable by the middle of October unless permits are granted immediately for sub stantial quantities. The shortage of this commodity is going to bring very great hardship to the public and particularly to the children * . The matter has been brought to the attention of government authorities and it is sincerely hoped that they will take action promptly, otherwise the consequences will be very serious. Flour stocks at this writing are more than ample, approximately 1,500,000 bags of flour having arrived in the Philippines during the past six weeks or so. Import quotas for flour corresponding to the month of August have not yet been released by PRATRA. Such quotas probably will be released by the 15th of September. No statement has yet been made as to whether September quotas will be released at the same time as August, or will be delayed and released at a later date. Delay in issuing these quotas would be preferable so as to permit the present heavy stocks to enter into consumption before the importation of additional large quantities. Advices from the United States are to the effect that supplies there are extremely short of all dried fruits, in cluding raisins. The producers are now in the middle of the fruit-canning season, but even so supplies are short and difficult to secure. Arrivals in this market have been ex tremely limited. All canned fruits and most canned vege tables will be extremely scarce and difficult to purchasein the local market from now on, and, unless applications for import licenses are acted on promptly and the corre sponding import licenses are expedited, it is not at all im probable that importers will find it impossible to secure even the limited quantities they are permitted to import under the present restrictions and these quantities will have to sell at increasingly higher cost. There were fair arrivals of canned meats, particularly corned beef, during August, but local stocks are far from sufficient to satisfy the normal demand. Canned meats of all descriptions will continue in very scarce supply in the local market. Stocks are also extremely short on fresh fruits and vegetables (both local and imported), butter and cheese, and miscellaneous dairy products. Stocks of canned fish are far from sufficient. The shortage is not yet acute but will very possibly become so within a few weeks. There are practically no stocks available for purchase in California. The canning season is supposed to have started at Mon terey on August 15. Due to disputes between canneries and fishermen, fishing did not actually begin until late in the month, but the fish have been running very light and quantities caught and packed to date are negligible. ♦Editor’s italics Legislation, Executive Orders, and Court Decisions By Ewald E. Selph Ross, Selph, Carrascoso & * Janda OFFICIAL copies of the bills passed at the Special Session of the Congress of the Philippines have not been available for distribution to the public, but as nearly as we can ascertain, the highlights of the new legis lation are: Republic Act 564 (HB 839) increases the tax on insurance agents and on persons taking out insurance abroad, to 3% of the premiums. Republic Act 565 (HB 841) increases the tax on radio receiving sets. FERTILIZERS SULPHATE OF AMMONIA SUPERPHOSPHATES SULPHATE OF POTASH MENZI&CO., IIVC. Iloilo MANILA Cebu J. M. MENZI Bldg. Corner Reina Regente & Soler Streets Tel. 2-79-29 Business Goodwill Builders BATES BATES LIST FINDERS Oak, Birch or Walnut & Polished Brass......................................................... BATES PRESALIST, each BATES DATE FINDERS, each......... BATES TELEPHONE INDEX, each Permanent—Non-Breakable HOME & OFFICE AIDS See them now! Redwood or Walnut & Polished Brass......................................................... Distributors 1104 CASTILLEJOS, QU1APO, MANILA TEL. 3-22-51 348 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1950 ^ELECTRIC POWER DOES ALL THE WORIC WHEN YOU W,TH * VAI E WORKSAVER ■ ALE ELECTRIC LIFT TRUCK THE WORKSAVER lifts and travels by electric power— reduces material handling to little more than a "stroll and steer”operation. High-Lift mod els stack skids, skid bins and pallets in space-saving rows. If you want faster handling and lower costs, get all the facts about 7 Worksaver models: Low-Lift Platform . . . Low-Lift Pallet . . . Tin Plate . . . HighLift Platform ... High-Lift Tilt ing and Non-Tilting Fork . . . Tractor. Capacities up to 6,000 lbs., depending on type. Phone or write for complete informa tion today. THE EDWARD J. NELL COMPANY 1450 Arlegui Street Tel. 3-21-21 TOOLS THAT KEEP INDUSTRY f YALE X>N THE MOVE . . . MADE BY \ HUR RAUL PHILIPPINE CORPORATION ¥ Manufacturer of Desiccated Coconut * Factory: Candelaria, Quezon Manila Office: 1339 Oregon Republic Act 566 (HB 814) exempts from taxation, the principal and interest on bonds, cp: tificates of indebtedness, and other evidences of indebtedness issued by the Government representing monetary reserves released by the Central Bank. Republic Act 567 (HB 868) increases the documentary stamp taxes on: Original issue of shares of stock of associations and corporations; Sales and transfers of shares of stock or other obligations of associations and corWarehouse and hotel receipts; Passage tickets; Mortgages, pledges, and deeds of trust; Deeds and conveyances of real property. Republic Act 568 (HB 902) increases the tax on transfers of large cattle. Republic Act 569 (HB 1141) provides that if the government of a foreign country permits the revenue stamps of such country to be affixed in the Philippines to tobacco (including cigars) or snuff manu factured in the Philippines and imported into such foreign country, internal revenue stamps of the Philippines may be affixed to tobacco (including cigars) or snuff manufactured in such foreign country to be imported into the Philippines under rules to be prescribed by the Col lector of Internal Revenue with the approval of the Secretary of Finance. Republic Act 570 (HB 1363) provides for a refund of 50% of the specific tax on mineral oil and gasoline if used in aviation, for a period of 5 years from its effective date, (August, 1950). This Act provides that no such refund shall be granted to citizens and corporations of foreign countries which do not grant equivalent refunds to citizens and corporations of the Philippines. The irony of this measure is that Phil ippine airlines do not get the 100% exemption allowed by the United States to other foreign countries because the Philippines only allows a 50% exemption. This works out in practice so as to deprive United States airlines of any exemption in the Philippines. Several other bills were passed by both houses but no Republic Act number is yet available. These include: HB 322, authorizing the President to make disbursements from the Sugar Stabilization Fund for sugar experiment stations and re search toward stabilization of the sugar industry. HB 372 constituting a small farmers’ cooperative loan fund to provide credit facilities to small farmers and tenants. HB 706 amending the motor vehicle law relating to registration fees, renewals, fines, penalties, etc. HB' 840 increasing amusement taxes (admission fees to theaters, boxing exhibitions, cockfights, race tracks, cabarets, etc.) HB 842 provides for an increase of the documentary stamp tax on sweepstakes tickets. HB 866 increases the estate, inheritance, and gift taxes. HB 867 increases the taxes on business, sales taxes, etc. HB 869 increases the specific taxes on distilled spirits, wines, fer mented liquors, cigars and cigarettes, firecrackers, and playing cards. HB 883 amends the Tariff Act by increasing the duty on oil. HB 1127 provides for very substantial increases in the income tax and includes withholding of income tax on wages. It applies to income received since January 1, 1950. HB 1146 amends the provisions regulating radio stations and radio communications. HB 1323 creates the Home Financing Commission and provides for an insured mortgage system. HB 1334 fixes import license fees and ratifies those heretofore collected. HB 1340 amends the residence tax law so as to compel employers to require production of residence tax certificates before paying wages. Philippine Safety Council By Frank S. Tenny Executive Director THE outstanding advance in safety during the past month has been the official creation of the Provincial Bus Terminal Board. This body was named recent ly by Mayor Manuel de la Fuente, after passage of the enabling Ordinance by the Manila Municipal Board. Journal readers will recall an article published several months ago urging the establishment of bus terminals in the Philippines. The 7-man Board includes representatives of the Public Service Commission, the Motor Vehicles Office, the Manila Municipal Board, the Police Department Traffic Division, the City Fiscal, the City Engineer, and the Executive Director of the Safety Council. City En gineer Alejo Aquino was elected to the chairmanship. The Board has already decided upon the general location for the various terminals, the type and construeSeptembe, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 349 tion of them, and has appointed three committees, on finance, engineering, and operations-maintenance. Al though the bus terminals plan appeals to most legitimate, well regulated transportation operators, some opposition is evident among wildcat, or “colorum” companies. The Provincial Bus Terminal Board joins the list of government agencies concerned with safety that have been vigorously suggested and/or supported by the Philippine Safety Council. Others include the Fire Prevention Board and the City Traffic Committee. Executive Order No. 341 By the President of the Philippines ESTABLISHING RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE QUALIFICATION OF INDUSTRIES FOR TAX EXEMPTION UNDER REPUBLIC ACT No. 35 PURSUANT to the provisions of Section 79(b) of the Revised Administrative Code and Section 2 of Republic Act No. 35, the following rules and regulations for the qualifications of indus tries seeking exemption from the payment of all internal revenue taxes under Sec. 1 of Republic Act No. 35, are hereby promulgated for the information and guidance of all concerned: 1. WHAT MAY BE CONSIDERED "NEW” INDUSTRY— A “new” industry as used in Republic Act No. 35 shall be construed to mean the manufacture, processing or transformation of raw materials, either in form, utility or substance, by any industrial unit the produc tion or manufacture of which has not been undertaken on a commercial scale in the Philippines subsequent to July 4, 1946. For purposes of this definition: (1) An “industrial unit” is deemed to be any plant, factory, machine or machine assembly having a capacity for performing the major functions involved in the production of a manufactured product on a commercial scale. (2) By production on a “commercial scale” is meant the produc tion for sale in the market in the normal course of business, in quanti ties and at prices which justify the operation of-an industrial unit as a going concern and with a reasonable degree of permanency. 2. WHAT MAY BE CONSIDERED “NECESSARY” INDUS TRY—The word “necessary” as used in Republic Act No. 35 shall be construed to mean an industry which is conducive to sound economic development and which promotes employment and raises the standard of living of the people. In determining whether an enterprise is “neces sary” or not the Secretary of Economic Coordination shall take into account the number of such similar enterprises already in existence and their collective productive capacity relative to the size of the domestic and/or export demand for their product. 3. WHEN EXEMPTION SHALL BEGIN—The benefits of four years exemption of “new and necessary” industries from the pay ment of all internal revenue taxes shall begin from the date of the ap plication when approved by the Secretary of Finance but not later than the month during which such industry entered into the production stage. 4. WHO WILL DETERMINE—All applications for exemption from the payment of all internal revenue taxes under the provisions of Republic Act No. 35 shall be filed with the Secretary of Finance. The opinion of the Secretary of Economic Coordination shall be obtained on whether the industry complies with the requirements of Republic Act No. 35. For this purpose he shall avail himself of the facilities in the Department of Commerce and Industry, the Central Bank, the National Economic Council, and other agencies of the government in determining from time to time whether a sufficient number of indivi dual industries has been granted exemption in any one particular class MOTOR SERVICE CO., If. AUTOMOTIVE PARTS • ACCESSORIES GARAGE & SHOP EQUIPMENT BATTERIES • TIRES • TUBES 230 13th St., Port Area Tel. 3-36-21 Latest Filipmiana A FEW OF THE 1104 CASTILLEJOS, QUIAPO, MANILA ’rice of Freedom, Gen. Jose Alejo Episodes and anecdol Something for everyone’s taste Brief Historical Sketches of Philippine Catholic Chur ches— R. C. Bartas (with a foreword of Henry C. Avery, S. J.)....................... P2.00 Denr Mother Putnam — Mar cial P. Lichauco —A Dinrv of the War in the PhilipIlongot Life and Legends— Laurence L. II'ilson.......... Little Things — Godo/redo —121 short essays otes on Philippine aimers, and morals, le Viajc—Segunda n — Maria Par MenGuazon.......... nc Snga—//. it Jaime C. De ictorial history hipelago Cook Book..................... The Tenure of Office of Civil Service Officers and Em ployees—Subido................. 1950 Commercial Directory of the Philippines .. FULL PROTECTION... The Philippine Guaranty Company, Inc. FIRE, MARINE, MOTOR CAR, WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION, MISCELLANEOUS INSURANCE, FIDELITY SURETY BONDS, MORTGAGE LOANS ILA 350 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL An IMPORTANT PERSON In Your Life Here is the important young lady upon whose finger tips depend much of your daily life’s routines —your telephone operator. She helps your words of'romance, friendship, busi ness, speed on their way to any point around the world. Her qualities are part of her tradition. There still is a scarcity of telephone materials, but there never has been a scarcity of the operator’s devotion to duty. The operator, with her patience, industry and cour tesy, is an important person in your life. PHILIPPINE LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE COMPANY Marquez de Comillas, Manila OUR POLICY: The best possible service at the lowest cost consistent with financial safety and fair treatment of employees. 7. OBLIGATION TO REPORT—Any industry granted tax exemption under the provisions of Republic Act No. 35 shall report to the Secretary of Finance at the end of every fiscal year a complete list and a correct valuation of all real and personal property of its industrial plant or factory; shall file a separate income tax return; shall keep separately the accounting records relative to the industry declared tax exempt; shall keep such records and submit such sworn statements as may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of Finance; 8. REVOCATION OF TAX EXEMPTION—The Secretary of Finance may revoke any tax exemption granted under this Act, when after investigation and hearing, it is established that: (1) The grantee fails to comply with any of the obligations im posed by this Order and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto; (2) When the grantee discontinues production on a commercial scale for a period of more than THIRTY (30) days without the previous . approval of the Secretary of Finance. Common Provisions 9. FORM OF APPLICATION—All applications shall be made upon forms duly prescribed by the Department of Finance for the pur pose, and shall be accomplished in quadruplicate and sworn to before a notary public. 10. ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF EXEMPTION— Upon receipt of the application by the Secretary of Finance, the date and time of receipt thereof shall be noted and if it appears upon phys ical inspection and examination that the factory is exemptible under the law and regulations, a certificate of exemption may be issued. 11. DURATION OF CERTIFICATE—The certificate of exemption shall be in force for a period of four years from the date of the establishment of the factory. 12. FEES—The following fees shall be collected for the qualifi cation and issuance of certificate of exemption: (a) For inspection fee..................................................................... P10.00 (b) For the issuance of a certificate of exemption..................... 20.00 13. CHANGE OF ADDRESS—Any change of address of ap plicant, or applicant manager, or the change of location of the factory granted exemption shall be reported to the Secretary of Finance in writing, immediately upon change of address or location, otherwise the certificate will be revoked. 14. DATE OF EFFECTIVITY.—This Executive Order shall take effect as of the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. Done in the City of Manila, this 9th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the fifth. (Sgd.) Elpidio Quirino President of the Philippines By the President: (Sgd.) Teodoro Evangelista Executive Secretary Aug. 9, 1950. AGENTS TELEPHONES BROKERS 3-34-20 CHARTER EKS 3-34-29 American Steamship Agencies, Inc. Manila, Shanghai, Tokyo, Yokohama Cable Address: 203 Myers Bldg. “AMERSIIIP” Port Area Manila September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 351 COST OF LIVING INDEX OF WAGE EARNER’S FAMILY * IN MANILA BY MONTH, 1946 TO 1949 (1941 = 100) Bureau of the Census and Statistics Manila 1946 I All Food (59.15) Rent (8.43) Cloth(O^) Fuel, Light and Water (13.94) Miscel laneous (17.86) Se^f January........... 603.4 759 2 236.4 984.0 363.8 434.8 .1657 February........, 547.2 656.3 236.4 940.3I 369.5 460.5 .1827 March.............. 525.9 631.0 236.4 940.1 340.4 445.2 .1902 April............... . 556.2 684.1 236.4 910.3 345.5 435.9 .1798 May................ . 545.1 675.6 236.4 762.5. 342.3 409.6 .1835 June................ , 538.7 666.4 236.4 737.9 343.3 404.2 .1856 July................. 552.7 704.3 236.4 598.9 341.3 364.6 .1809 August............ 477.9 590.0 236.4 384.7 320.9 346.3 .2092 September. . . •+77.9 591.3 236.4 378.7 314.5 347.2 .2092 October.......... 487.4 587.2 236.4 382.7 405.8 342.7 .2052 November.... 484.8 607.8 236.4 406.4 346.5 305.2 .2063 December.... 461.9 570.8 236.4 371.9 344.7 302.1 .2165 1947- (100.00) (63.43) (11.96) (2.04) (7.73) (14.48) January........ . 426-. 2 368.2 453.9 381.9 326.2 282.5 .2346 February.'... . 418.5 454.9 453.9 356.2 344.8 281.4 .2389 March........... . 406.8 440.1 453.9 295.2 334.7 279.4 .2458 April............. . 387.7 413.3 543.9 269.2 328.9 271.6 .2579 May.............. . 381 0 404.4 453.9 250.9 325.4 269.4 .2625 June.............. . 386.3 414.4 453.9 236.8 316.6 268.6 .2589 July............... . 393.4 426.8 453.9 217.7 309.3 269.9 .2542 August......... . 387.4 419.8 453.9 210.2 292.0 269.1 .2581 September. . . 368.9 392.1 453.9 216.4 283.3 266.8 .2711 October........ . 358.7 376.3 453.9 212.7 280.5 267.7 .2788 November... . 358.4 376.3 453.9 215.1 280.5 265.3 .2790 December... . 371.9 395.8 453.9 219.1 298.2 262.9 .2689 1948 1949 January........ . 391.2 428.3 453.9 224.5 304.6 249.9 .2556 February.... . 368.5 392.0 453.9 223.8 301.1 254.4 .2714 March........... . 349.4 361.0 453.9 214.6 308.1 255.9 .2862 April............. . 356.1 374.1 453.9 209.4 289.7 254.8 .2808 May............ . 349.8 360.2 453.9 214.2 289.7 271.6 .2859 June.............. . 354.3 370.4 453.9 205.2 283.2 262.9 .2823 July............... . 356.4 374.2 453.9 201.3 281.6 262.4 .2806 August......... . 363.6 385.7 453.9 199.8 281.6 261.7 .2751 September. . . 370.6 397.2 453.9 199.2 279.6 260.6 .2698 October........ . 374.9 404.0 453.9 204 8 283.2 257.9 .2668 November... . 368.7 394.4 453.9 202.0 281.6 258.7 .2712 December... . 365.9 389.9 453.9 202.0 282 4 258.9 .2732 1 Average number ol persons in a family = 4.9 members. 2 Revised in accordance with the new survey on the “Levels of Living, in Manila" by Department of Labor and the Bureau of the Census and January........ . 363.8 386.8 453.9 202.0 279.0 258.9 .2750 February.... . 343.8 355.5 453.9 203 0 277.5 258.9 .2909 March........... . 346.3 358.2 453.9 202.0 276.3 258.5 .2896 April............. . 348.7 362.6 453.9 197.6 287.5 257.1 .2868 May.............. . 348.8 362.8 453.9 197.2 287.5 257.1 .2867 June.............. . 349.0 362.9 453.9 203.9 287.5 257.2 .2865 July............... . 351.7 374.0 453.9 194.2 265.8 240.5 .2844 August......... . 337.5 351.2 453.9 196.3 266.6 241.2 .2963 September. . . 333.6 345.1 453.9 190.3 264.8 243.1 .2998 October .... . 332 9 343 3 453 9 199 9 264.8 245 0 .3004 November... . 339 6 356.1 453 9 191.1 258.4 239 8 .2945 December . . . 329 6 335 9 453 9 202.9 259.5 256 2 .3035 1950 • . January ... . 332.3 336 8 453 9 238.0 253.1 269.3 3010 February . . . . 336.9 340.2 453.9 233.3 257.8 284.1 ..2969 March........... . 339.0 341.4 453.9 236.7 257.8 292.6 .2950 April............. 331.8 328.6 453.9 237.7 252.9 301.2 .3015 May............... . 320.2 308 6 453.9 244.7 249.7 309.1 .3123 June.............. . 323 1 310 9 453 9 243. 5 249 7 319 1 . 3095 July................ . 332.0 322 4 453.9 252.6 249.7 328.7 .3012 August.......... . 334 4 325 9 453 9 258.7 251.1 328.4 .2990 Statistics conducted in December, 1946. CHRYSLER CORPORATION AIRTEMP packaged Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Exclusive Distributors: W. A. CHITTICK & CO., INC. Sales and Ser rice 31 Romero Salas, Manila I quality Z ..^.n-ieVDIlfTION JgR I J < jj soft groundm00th. jg| mileage on road. | FISK Tires Compare before you * TUT LUG For logging, mining and excavation work, where on-theroad service is also required. 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Telephone 3-34-31 ¥ The “LET YOUR HAIR DOWN” = Column THE editor of the Journal some time ago wrote a letter on what is a very important subject, bearing very directly on the world economy of the future, to the editor of one of the leading monthly economic and financial publications in the United States. As we have no au thority to quote the latter, we have deleted certain parts of both letters, but we believe Journal readers will find what follows to be of interest: The following is from the letter of our own editor: "... He also gave me your address when I asked him whether you might not have some information on another matter which came up—something really of almost inconceivable importance: the probable effects which the successful utilization of atomic energy will have on world economics and politics. “I have read statements by reputable scientists to the effect that practical develop ments in this field may be expected within from ten to twenty years, and that is a very short time for the world to prepare itself for the stupendous changes that loom ahead. “It seems to me that very intensive studies must be being carried on right now, not only by scientists, engineers, and industrialists, but by the political scientists and especially economists and financiers as to the probable effects of such an extension of man’s control over his environment, both so momentous as well as relatively so abrupt. “We have during the past half century already made great advances from the old, primitive economy of scarcity to an economy of relative abundance, but present probabili ties indicate a world to come which will be almost totally revolutionized. Many things of present meaning will shortly have almost no meaning at all. “I gather from my reading that atomic power will probably first be used in the larger power-plants,—only later in smaller power units as in ships, trains, submarines, planes, cars, homes, etc. “Public-utility enterprises will soon there fore be greatly altered not only in physical character, but probably also in ownership. And such industries as the coal-mining and oil industries, now so basic, will be greatly reduced in importance, if not wholly elim"The whole basis of manufacturing, it seems, will change. Conditions of manage ment and labor will be very different. Wages and prices, or at least their levels, will be radically affected. With abundance for all, at very low production cost, present class inequalities (as between the well-to-do and the poor) will disappear. Capital and labor conflicts will lose much of their point; war, as a struggle for raw materials and markets, also. “And what of investments? What of debts, both private and government, national and international debts? The amounts presently involved are vast, but what will they signify when our whole scale of values is altered? As to money and credit, and what we now speak of as commercial banking, will there still be a role for private financiers and ban kers to play? “Will our ideas of 'free economic enter prise’, competition, trusts and cartels, etc., continue to mean anything? “Will we, as I fervently hope, be able to maintain any sort of democratic system at all? If so, how? “What will it all result in,—in government and the power of government, probably a world government? “We used to relate such questions to the remote future, but now, fantastic though it may all seem, they present themselves as of immediate and pressing importance. “One important point is that the mere anticipation of such great changes to be real ized comparatively soon, may already, con sciously or unconsciously, be affecting govern mental policies and the policies of other of our social institutions,—as, for instance, government policy with respect to so-called 'deficit financing’, going or not going to war, etc. “I do not personally fear these changes which lie ahead. I am so interested that I hope I will live to see them coming in. I be lieve that they may mean a great advance for mankind, though I realize there are also great dangers. “I have merely put down the thoughts that have passed through my mind, but serious, competent, practical, far-sighted men must be thinking of these things and studying them, and if you know of any work of this sort being done, I would be very grateful if you would be so kind as to give me a refer ence to follow up...” The answer ran, in part: BROKERAGE COMPANY DERHAM BUILDING PORT AREA E. E ELSER, INC. GENERAL AGENTS for ATLAS ASSURANCE CO., LTD.-THE EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY ASSURANCE CORP. LTD. CONTINENTAL INSURANCE CO. OF NEW YORK—ORIENT INSURANCE CO. THE INSURANCE CO. OF NORTH AMERICA 404 Ayala Bldg., Manila Phone 2-77-58 Cable Address: “ELSINC” September, 1950 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 353 EVERETT STEAMSHIP CORPORATION GENERAL AGENTS AMERICAN MAIL LINE To and From Portland Seattle Vancouver Tacoma PACIFIC TRANSPORT LINES To and From California Philippines BARBER-FERN LINE Service to U.S. Atlantic Via Straits, Suez, Mediterranean FERN LINE To and From North Atlantic Ports Gulf Ports—Philippines EVERETT ORIENT LINE Serving the Orient Philippines to China, Japan, Korea, Straits and India Ports PHILIPPINE STEAM NAVIGATION CO. Serving the Philippine Islands 223 Dasmarifias St., Manila Tel. 2-98-46 (Priv. Exch. All Lines) FRIDEN SMifH.BELL^cb’ltD. ™ * g <ANO COMMERCE BLOC..MANILA TeL 2-69-71 “...We have not undertaken any real study as to the economic and other effects of atomic energy developments. The numerous ques tions that you pose are tremendously im portant, but the whole subject is so new and is moving ahead so rapidly that we find the forecasts of the experts are being revised constantly. My own opinion has been that the commercial production of atomic power, on a basis competitive with other fuels, prob ably lies farther ahead than many of the popular articles appearing in the press would lead us to believe. “Because of your interest in the subject, you might want to look up two recent books that have attracted a good deal of attention. One is by David E. Lilienthal, former chair man of the Atomic Energy Commission, en titled, ‘This I do Believe’, a long-range and somewhat philosophical discussion, published by Harper & Bros., New York, for $2.50. The other is by the eminent scientist, Dr. Vannever Bush, entitled ‘Modern Arms and Free Men’, published by Simon & Schuster, New York, for $3.50. “There recently came to my attention a monthly ‘Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’, described as ‘A Magazine for Science, Public Affairs, and Education * . . It is published by the Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc., 956 E. 58th Street, Chicago, 37, Ill., at $5.00 a year. “You can of course obtain considerable material from the official government publica tions in Washington. The Atomic Energy Commission issues annual reports on ‘Atomic Energy Developments’, and has also pub lished special studies, such as ‘Atomic Energy and the Life Sciences’ and ‘Recent Scientific and Technical Developments of Atomic Energy in the United States’. The Department of State issued a report on ‘ International Control of Atomic Energy’...” The Journal editor says that he had already read some of the litera ture referred to and that it was espe cially the book of Dr. Vannevar Bush which led him to write his letter. He also says that he realizes he asked for too much and that if such studies as he inquired about are being carried on, as must be the case, the results are, probably wisely, not being re leased for general publication. In connection with the article by Mr. P. C. Morantte, Aviation Officer of the Civil Aeronautics Ad ministration, an exchange of cor respondence with him may be of interest. In sending us the article, Mr. Morantte wrote: “I noticed that for the past several months your Journal has not published anything on air transportation. This is a subject in which I am sure many people are interested to see included in your Journal. I have been writing on aviation matters for our local periodicals and should be glad to contribute regularly to the Journal,—articles on air transportation, if you so desire.” In writing him that we should be glad to publish the article, the editor wrote him also: “As for regular contributions from you, in the form of an Air Transportation column similar to our other regular columns (if that is what you had in mind), there is a difficulty in that you are a government official and would therefore be considered to write offi cially, when we have built up the monthly ‘Business View’ columns on the basis of private business opinion. I trust that you C. F. SHARP & COMPANY, INC. STEAMSHIP OPERATORS—AGENTS SHIP BROKERS GENERAL ORIENTAL AGENTS: WATERMAN STEAMSHIP CORPORATION Mobile, Alabama THE I VARAN LINES-FAR EAST SERVICE (Holter-Sorensen—Oslo, Norway) PACIFIC ORIENT EXPRESS LINE (DITLEV-SIMONSEN LINES) (TRANSATLANTIC STEAMSHIP CO., LTD.) 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For complete fads please write us for an appointment... Sole Representative: INOCENTES N. YGAY K-JOO Jalandoni lildg.. 070 Dasmarihas Manila 354 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1950 will understand that this is in no wise in tended to reflect unfavorably Upon yourself or government officials in general. The Journal is published to express the business, and not the official view. This, however, would not preclude occasional general arti cles from you which we should be glad to con sider for publication. With thanks for your gocd-spirited letter,” etc. J^ast month we ran a paragraph in this column about the loss of pupils in the American School, a private school in Manila to which many American and European fami lies send their children, because with the growing unemployment, many of these families are leaving the country. The trend continues sharply downward. The enrolment at the beginning of the school-year was 473; on August 1 it was 413; on Au gust 31 it was 377. The loss is now over 20%. This is indicative of the loss to the country of a very desirable class of citizens,—using the word in a broad sense; otherwise, inhabitants; still otherwise, aliens. We heard the other day from an Australian that in his country new comers are not referred to as aliens or foreigners, or even immigrants; they are called “new Australians”. And in this connection we remember that in the days of our youth, in the United States West, a common greet ing was, “How are you, stranger?” The word “stranger” was definitely a friendly word. Generally, the greet ing was followed by a question, “Where do you come from?” And that would be followed with, “Are you going to stay here?” If the answer was in the affirmative, the next remark would be, “I hope you will like it here... Meet Mr. So-and-So. He is one of your neighbors.” And so the barren West became the Golden West. “WE have recently been receiving quite a number of new subscrip tions to the Journal for two years instead of only one year,” said the editor the other day, “but look at this! Here’s a subscription for three years in advance, from a Manila Chinese firm, too! They must like the Journal...” “Maybe they think,” said we, “that the Chamber is going to raise the subscription rate!” “Well, of all the petty, low-minded blankety-blanks, you take the cake!” said the editor. “It isn’t the money I’m thinking of. They are paying us three years in advance. That’s a lifetime, these days. How can they know the Journal is going to last that long? Isn’t it not only a demonstration of appreciation and good will, but of confidence and faith in us,—and in business, in the Phil ippines, in the world?” “Tut, tut”, said we. “What cas tles you build on the sandiest founda tion! Here you get a measly fifteen pesos, and only a check at that, which may be no good for all we know, and if it is it is only in pesos, and you soar right up into the air!” “I wouldn’t be the d-d heavyheaded, flat-footed groundling you are, for anything in the world,” said the editor. “And if it comes to just being practical,” he went on, “why, I’ll take all the fifteen-peso checks any body wants to send us with the greatest of pleasure and ease. Yes, and I’d cheerfully take the money in nickels, too.” This Journal goes straight to the desks of leading business and government executives every month Access to the Markets of the World... NATIONAL CITY BANK offers quick access lo world markets through 48 overseas branches of its own — more overseas branches than those of all other American banks together. In addition it has long established correspondent relationships with important banks throughout the world. THE NATIONAL CITY BANK OF NEW YORK 9ir&t in World-Wide banking. 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