Press translations [Japan]. Economic Series 0055, 1945-12-07.

Full translation:

Pine oil which was produced for aviation during the past war, is now abundant in this prefecture, due to the termination of the war. In view of the anticipated difficulty in the importation of fuel oil, special emphasis is being put upon the production and utilization of pine oil at present. The NANKO local office has been testing its efficiency and as a result has reached the conclusion that it is not only good for fisheries, but also very efficient for agricultural purposes.

Details are as follows: Pine oil used for the tests was produced and refined at MITSUBISHI SHIMABARA Pine Oil Factory. It is a composite product of turpentine oil of a specific gravity of 32 and pine oil of a specific gravity 10. (TN: the unit used is BŌME.) When used in an agricultural motor, pine oil alone made a great deal of smoke. Moreover, the engine did not run very smoothly. Using the mixture of turpentine oil and pine oil in the proportions of 50 per cent each, great success was achieved.

In diesel engines, a mixture of 20 per cent turpentine oil with the pine oil proved to have the same efficiency as crude petroleum. It can be seen, therefore, that pine oil as a motor fuel may be quite efficient if its refining process is improved.

Extracts:

Pursuant to a Supreme Headquarters directive, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry reached a decision about the disposition of the lumber kept unused in the KEIHIN district. In preparation for its disposition, names of lumber yards, the day of the purchase, the locality of the office for the application, and names of traders qualified for the purchase will be announced on 7 December. Purchasers are limited to those who have the following qualifications:

• 1.Those who want to use the material for the reconstruction of war damaged buildings.
• 2.Those who run saw-mills now in operation.

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• 3.Owners of saw-mills which will definitely be at work within one month and which will begin consuming material within three months.

These qualifications are set mainly in an attempt to make certain that the material will be used in reconstruction work.

Full translation:

The Finance Ministry decided to establish a Financial System Investigation Committee as approved at the Cabinet Meeting on 1 December 1945. The Ministry, through this advisory organization, has expected to study the financial system and improve it. The Committee will be formed soon of members appointed from official and civilian life.

Full translation:

The following is the reply made by Mr. NODA, Chief of the Foreign Fund Bureau to Mr. TOGO, Yasuo of the Justice Party who interpellated regarding the price and production of gold at the 5 December Approval Committee of the POTSDAM Declaration:

"The actual price of gold is 3.85 yen per gram, or 5.80 yen if the government subsidy is included. This is much too cheap in proportion to the present production costs, and a raise in price is being considered. In raising the price, the different subsidies for different gold mines will be revised and the same subsidy will be given to every gold mine. Considering the fact that gold and silver are being produced at the same time in domestic mines, the raise in price of silver is also desirable. The actual price of silver being 46.80 yen per kilogram, a substantial advance is expected to make mining enterprises profitable. The production of gold is estimated at five or six tons in 1945 and about six tons in 1946."

Full translation:

Mr. NAKAMURA, Sannojo, of the Progressive Party, posed questions on the following points at the plenary Budget Session on Wednesday:

• 1.The time of an inauguration of the Committee for the Investigation of Compensation for Munitions Industries.
• 2.The contents of state property formerly held by the Army and Navy, and the amount to be realized by selling them.
• 3.The contracts, other than budgets, that concern military expenditures.
• 4.The five year financial plan.
• 5.The payment of the property tax in kind. - 2 -

•   ECONOMIC SERIES: 55 (Continued) ITEM 5 (Continued)
• 6.An independent tax on salaried people and the ground for its increase.
• 7.The collateral for controlled currency.

The Finance Minister and NAKAMURA, Chief of the Accounting Bureau of the Ministry, answered the interpellations as follows:

• 1.A Committee for the Investigation of Compensation for Munitions Industries will be established by the end of the year, but it will remain as a preparatory committee for the time being.
• 2.State property turned over by Japanese forces will be 500 million yen annually, after the 1946-1947 fiscal year.
• 3.Contracts other than the budget total 41 billion, 600 million yen Non-budget sun for military materials for the fiscal year 1945-1946 totalled two billion, four hundred million yen, wartime national debenture compensation amounted to four billion, four hundred million yen, and extraordinary military expenditures amounted to eleven billion, five hundred million yen.
• 4.The half of the national bond issue amounting to 200 billion yen will be met by the property tax and another half will be left for later study.
• 5.By the tax in kind is meant, first, payment in national bonds and, second, in marketable securities.
• 6.In consideration of the people's present ability to pay, this is not the time to increase indirect taxes; on the contrary, they should be abolished whenever possible.
• 7.As to the controlled currency, an issue of bonds on state property including land is under consideration.

Summary:

Article VII, Section 2, provides that when the land disposed of under this law was resold for non-agricultural purposes or expropriated within at a price higher than the original price, the original owner of the land can claim the margin, provided that the original owner present his claim within two years from the date of resale or expropriation.

Article IX, Section 2, provides that the farm rent must be paid in money instead of in products of the farm, as hitherto has been the case. The rent in kind shall be converted into money-rent under a certain rule as shall be ordered by Ministry Ordinance. Section 3 of the same article provides that the rent can not exceed that which had been regulated by the outgoing Farm Rent Control Law; and Section 4 to 7 concern the conditions under which readjustment of rent or land owners compensation for expenses incurred by tenants will be made. Articles X to XIV remain unrevised.

All 18 sections of Article XV concern the local (city, town, or village)

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ECONOMIC SERIES: 55 (Continued)

ITEM 6 (Continued)

and prefectural farm land committees which handle matters related to the Agricultural Land Adjustment Act. According to this provision, the local committee will be composed of one president and 15 members elected under certain rules. The prefectural committee will be composed of members selected among presidents of local committees (one person from each county and one from all city committees in the prefecture) and from five to ten learned or experienced persons appointed by the competent State Minister.

Article XVI and all articles thereafter relate to the matter of execution of this Act, such as the right of search, penalty, definition of jurisdiction, and abrogation of related old laws.

Distribution "X"

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