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Pan American News

Message of the President of
Uruguay

AT THE opening of the Uruguayan Con-
gress on March 15, 1946, a message was
presented by the President of the Republic,
Dr. Juan José Amézaga. In this docu-
ment he informed Congress in detail con-
cerning the work of the past year and
referred to what had been done in three
years of his administration.

The President stated that Uruguay had been unable to escape entirely from the privation and suffering that all nations are undergoing as a result of the war, but he affirmed that nevertheless Uruguay has enjoyed a privileged position because of the standard of living of its population and the ample liberty that is enjoyed by all its citizens. He went on to say that the maintenance of this state of relative wellbeing creates new obligations and clearly marks the goals for political, economic, and social legislation: a democracy firmly based on political liberty; economic development protected and promoted by the State; and rules of social justice designed to counteract any inequality caused by the acts of selfish interests.

The President said that when his administration began in 1943, there were in Uruguay thousands of unemployed, because of poor planning of public works, paralysis of private construction, and general uncertainty in the business world and in the stock and commodity exchanges.

To remedy this situation and increase purchasing power, bringing back normal. conditions through an intelligent and methodical use of public credit and private capital, a financial policy govern

ing public and private construction was begun which since the end of 1943 has brought a general revival of business, a more normal distribution of work, and an improvement in the general situation of the country.

An existing condition which should be remedied is the inequality in the legal treatment given to rural workers and to city workers. The President considered that the creation of tribunals which fix wage scales for those employed in agriculture and stockraising would not result immediately in solving the problem of the rural masses, but that it was necessary to revise the old system of labor contracts between the farmers and peons, in which one side, because of its economic power, imposed all the conditions. The President therefore recommended to Congress the study and passage of laws which assure minimum rights to rural workers scattered throughout the country, for they cannot get together and thus acquire the collective strength necessary to claim what properly belongs to them.

In the last three years many laws have been introduced, amended, and passed. Among them may be mentioned laws on the following subjects relating to labor:

Creation of wage boards.

Establishment and increase of minimum wages for construction workers.

Unemployment insurance for workers in packing plants.

Family allowances and paid vacations for workers
in commerce and industry.

Unemployment insurance for workers in wool.
Employment offices for maritime workers.
Increased pay for pieceworkers.

Reduction of rents on rural land where there is
hoof and mouth disease.

Among the measures adopted on public works and other subjects were the following:

Construction and maintenance of school buildings,

10 million pesos; construction and completion of hospitals, 8 million pesos; construction of two bridges over the Río Negro.

Five-year public works plan (authorized by law December 23, 1944), for which 70 million pesos of bonds were issued.

Lowcost housing in Montevideo and Artigas. Improvement of sanitation, for which an increase of 14 million pesos in the public debt was authorized.

Establishment of a School of Liberal Arts and of
an oceanographic and fishing service.
Organization of a company, First Uruguayan
Airlines, partly owned by the government.
Creation of a School of Library Science.
Nationalization of a packing plant.
Imposition of a tax on all profits over 12 percent
a year.

Creation of a permanent antituberculosis fund.
Program for public health.

Under the five-year public works plan mentioned above, the sum of 18 million pesos was spent in 1945. These works included 5 million pesos for highways; 3.5 million for buildings; 2.25 million for railroads; a little over 1 million for hydrography, and 350,000 for sanitation. In addition plans were made in the first half of 1945 for spending more than 7 million pesos for public health. In the course of the year 340 miles of new highways and 24 bridges were opened to service, and the entire highway system of 3,100 miles, besides over 600 miles of country roads, were properly kept up.

These advances in transportation have been very useful to the country, since national production has expanded into districts which formerly consisted only of pastures. Fast and safe transportation uniting centers of production and consumption is an important factor in the national economy.

The expenditure of 18 million pesos on public works was of the utmost value in

a period coming after two consecutive years of bad crops, a very bad drought, and an epidemic of hoof and mouth disease. Many men who would have been out of work were employed at wages beginning at 2.80 pesos a day.

The country's public finances were administered in accordance with plans made three years earlier. Federal revenues in 1945 increased over the 1944 figure and, although the fiscal year ended with a deficit, as anticipated, the national budget for 1946 was balanced. The nation had a favorable trade balance in 1945 of 28.4 million dollars. As of December 31, 1945, the public debt totaled 131,612,500 pesos (the Uruguayan peso equals $0.5263 U. S. cy.). Seventy-four percent, or 91,245,900 pesos, of this sum represented public works bonds; 16,515,700 pesos were destined to supply capital for various autonomous enterprises and for the continuation of projects in the Río Negro area, such as the new power plant that began to operate in December 1945; and 16,883,700 pesos were Export-Import Bank loans which, incidentally, were reduced by a decree of January 18, 1946, to only 4,370,000 pesos. The Government's floating debt showed a reduction from 32,293,000 pesos on December 31, 1942, to 8,376,000 on the same date in 1945.

The President stressed an irritating and dangerous condition brought about by the coalition of capital to impose monopolistic prices. The government and the people have no effective weapons to restrain the abuses of the trusts and public discontent is fomented. The President therefore urged Congress to consider a bill providing penalties against such monopolistic activities, creating a National Economic Council, and establishing statutes for commerce and industry.

The President recalled that the recent strike in the packing plants produced a

strong labor movement in Montevideo. The workers availed themselves of all their rights; none of their liberties was curtailed. The police preserved order but without the arbitrary use of force. No one was arrested. The Government took under advisement the two problems that arose: the interruption of public services in the National Packing Plant which hindered the supply of meat to the people, and the question of the workers' claims. It maintained, as it had previously claimed in a similar strike in 1944, that the use of the strike is irreconcilable with public service, but it showed by its practical and effective decisions that while it upheld this fundamental doctrine of the modern state, it had no wish to attack the legitimate aims of the workers. It came to their help by sponsoring solutions that put an end to the conflict.

In foreign relations the country took a firm stand on the side of the United Nations. It carried on its affairs according to the principles of the Constitution and laws. Its foresight enabled it to cope with the many difficulties that nowadays beset the governments of the civilized world. It achieved greater welfare for the people in general without stirring up hatred or class. warfare, provided well paid work, and banished the unemployment that afflicted the country three years before.

Liberty of thought was defended by the Government with full awareness of its decisive value in a democracy. The President never availed himself, because he considered it unconstitutional and arbitrary, of the powers granted to the Ministry of the Interior by laws passed under preceding governments to censor newspapers and radios because of what they published or broadcast. In spite of statements issued in the name of foreign governments, the Administration remained inflexible in defense of the liberty without

which there can be no reign of law or true political democracy.

Message of the President of Peru

On July 28, 1946, the President of Peru, Dr. José Luis Bustamante Rivero, delivered a message to Congress covering the work accomplished during his first year in office.

DEVELOPMENT.-With reference to domestic affairs, the President said that the groundwork was laid during the year for an extensive program of developing the national economy through increasing the country's population and production.

The Office of Mines and Petroleum was active in surveying Peru's mineral wealth and supervising its exploitation. A modern coal plant is being built in Chimbote which will have a capacity of 4,000 tons a day. A new petroleum law drawn up by the Petroleum Policy Commission (especially appointed for the purpose) is now being carefully studied by Government authorities. In January 1946 a contract was signed with the International Petroleum Company, subject to the approval of Congress, for drilling projects in the Sechura desert region.

The port works at Chimbote were completed during the year. Electric light services were provided for a number of towns, and modern and powerful chlorination equipment obtained in the United States was set up in Lima.

The Office of Roads and Railways made considerable progress in the extension of the country's highway system. Over 2,300 miles were surveyed for prospective roads; 13,674 feet of bridges were built; and 569 miles of new roads were opened. Highways into the backlands (including the Huánuco-Pucallpa and the Olmos-Marañón roads) were improved so as to facilitate the shipment of products out of these

regions and bring them into closer contact with coastal centers.

The Office of Industries is working intensively on the preparation of a general plan for the industrialization of the country. Industries manufacturing goods from national raw materials for internal consumption will be encouraged first, then those manufacturing articles from national raw materials for export. Eventually the export of raw materials will be prohibited, except for those that cannot be used by local industry.

Industrial production figures for 1945 were not yet available, but the President pointed out some significant contrasts between 1939 and 1944 figures. The value of cotton cloth production rose from 22,000,000 soles (a sol equals approximately $0.154 U. S.) in 1939 to 96,000,000 soles in 1944, and the number of workers in this industry rose in the same period from 4,313 to 5,901. The value of production of the country's seven woolen goods factories rose from 11,000,000 soles in 1939 to 29,000,000 soles in 1944.

The Ministry of Aeronautics is cooperating with the Office of Industries in avoiding over-congestion of industrial areas by making aerial surveys to help decide on the location of new industries.

A special Commission presided over by the Minister of Development has been appointed to formulate a plan for protecting the new industries created during the war.

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.-In planning the budget for 1946 a special effort was made to avoid the deficits that have been occurring in recent years.

Bank capital and reserves increased by 8,000,000 soles between June 30, 1945 and June 30, 1946, and deposits during that period increased by 121,000,000 soles. Foreign trade continued to increase. In the first seven months of 1946 licenses

were granted for imports averaging 82,000,000 soles a month-an increase of 8,000,000 soles a month over the average for the first nine months of 1945. Steps taken to unify and simplify controls on foreign commerce included the establishment of a Commission for the Regulation of Foreign Trade.

In regard to the problem of the rising cost of living, the President reported that the Government had succeeded in stabilizing the prices of such indispensable articles as shoes, hats, woolen cloth, and cotton. Particular attention was given to regulating the price of tires and supervising their distribution.

AGRICULTURE.-The Government is attempting to encourage the small farmer by providing him with seeds, fertilizer, credit, technical advice, and an assured market for his products at remunerative prices. It is also active in protecting the consumer through the regulation of food prices and the maintenance of adequate supplies of necessary foods. An important measure aimed at increasing the food supply was the establishment of obligatory plantings of food products on large-scale coastal farms.

In accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Conference held at Hot Springs, a National Food and Agriculture Council was created, to help solve domestic problems in this field and cooperate with other countries in the solution of world food problems.

The year's work of the Office of Agricultural Research included production studies of the most important crops of each region, and analyses of causes for good or bad harvests.

A great number of thoroughbred breeders-cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, etc.—were made available to small-scale stockraisers through easy payment plans or through

gifts to communities and rural associations, and 35,000 Rhode Island Red hens were sold to low-income farmers.

Enough rice was produced during the year to cover internal needs and leave a surplus for export. Since domestic production of flour was insufficient to satisfy the country's normal consumption of 13,000 tons a month, wheat was continuously imported from Argentina, Canada, the United States, and Australia.

Plows and cultivators, high quality dairy cattle, beasts of burden, and trucks were provided for the agricultural experiment stations at Tingo María and Satipo.

In the family garden campaign carried on by the Inter-American Cooperative Service on Food Production, 34,000 packages of seeds were distributed and 10,500 tons of vegetables were produced. Agents of the Service traveled 18,600 miles distributing select seed and animals. They treated 12,600 animals and gave technical advice to 42,800 farmers. The President expressed the country's appreciation to the Peruvian and North American members of the staff.

NATIONAL DEFENSE.-With the termination of the war the active patrolling of airways and coastal areas was discontinued. However, the country continued its compliance with agreements on continental defense and with the suggestions of the Inter-American Defense Board.

Work was continued on the Military Instruction Center, 85 percent of which is now either completed or under construction.

The Government is planning the expansion of the Navy through the acquisition of modern combat ships, freighters, and tankers. One tanker, the Mariscal Castilla, has already been purchased from Canada. In the field of aeronautics, a Transport Squadron has been organized which will work with the Minister of Public Health

in carrying assistance to disaster-stricken areas; operate as a link with frontier outposts not reached by the river fleets of the Navy; and bring air communications to regions not reached by commercial airlines.

Two new Peruvian airlines were granted operating licenses during the year-the Compañía Aerovías Peruanas Internacionales, which will establish service between Peru and Canada and will be the first Peruvian company to offer international service, and the Compañía de Transportes Aéreos, S. A., which will operate flights into the selva region. In addition, permission was granted to a number of foreign companies to operate in Peruvian territory.

Funds were granted to the Peruvian Airports and Commercial Aviation Corporation for an intensive program of airport construction and the expansion of wireless, meteorological, and radiobeacon services.

INTERIOR. In reviewing the year's activities of the Ministry of the Interior, the President stated that the country's postal and telegraph services are being reorganized, and postal notes amounting to 10,000,000 soles have been authorized to cover the expense of repairing buildings throughout the republic for use as post offices. About 500 miles of new postal routes were added during the year, bringing the total network to 29,200 miles, and more frequent services were provided for many localities.

PUBLIC EDUCATION-The number of kindergartens increased by 50 percent during the year; they now total 63, with 126 teachers. Plans are being formulated to increase the number of public primary school teachers. There are now 15,856, which is an increase of 1,105 over the previous year, but many more are needed.

Eighty-four public secondary schools

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