Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0072, 1945-12-08.
Date8 December, 1945
translation numbereditorial-0267
call numberDS801 .S82
Persistent Identifier
EDITORIAL SERIES: 72
ITEM 1 Five Year Financial Plan - Mainichi Shimbun - 6 Dec 45. Translator: K. Nobunaga.
Full translation:
Finance Minister SHIBUSAWA said he would try to prevent the collapse of the social
and economic system as a result of
inflation; that the disproportion between money and materials would he adjusted by
the increase of production of civic
necessities and by the establishment of a property tax; and that a readjustment of
the price structure would be carried
out.
Everybody recognizes that this kind of order is necessary from the standpoint of
democracy. On the other hand, the Finance
Minister said that the Government would pay principal and interest on public loan
bonds through the property tax and would
carry out the proper indemnification of the military enterprises which waxed fat with
war profits.
A proverb says, "He who runs after two hares will catch neither." The proverb is
applicable in criticizing the Finance
Minister's policy. The actual problem is not his running after two hares, but which
hare he runs after. It is a natural
financial policy that increased taxes be resolutely carried out for the payment of
principal and interest on the public loan
bonds issued for the war expenditures. This is to maintain the old order in financial
circles. Since the first World War,
there has been much discussion in England on the establishment of a property tax.
The time has passed when the establishment
of a property tax was considered a revolution in the tax system. [illegible]day's problem is for what
purpose the income from the property tax will be expended. The problem is whether
the Government should discharge its promise
to the war profiteers or should fulfill its promise to guarantee a "minimum standard
of living" for the laboring classes who
have reached a crisis due to the war.
Bernard SHAW advocated the cancellation of war bonds in his work "Socialism and Capitalism"
after the first World War. He
explained that it was a contradiction that our people should bear heavy taxes to repay
national debts within our country, and
that the cancellation of the bonds was only a redistribution of the people's income
without loss to the country as a whole.
Two hundred billion yen in national bonds is property to those people who have the
bonds. Reparations of losses for military
enterprises also is a change in inventory of property from red to black. The Financial
Ministry is exerting itself to protect
such property but, the laboring classes and a great many of our people have fallen
to the lowest levels of life on account of
the inflation.
EDITORIAL SERIES: 72 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
In this sense, the five-year financial plan of the Finance Ministry is only so much
paper. The Ministry's intentions are quite
clear when we see such childish figures.
ITEM 2 "Transfiguration of Europe"- Mainichi Shimbun - 6 Dec 45. Translator: H. Furukawa.
Full translation:
In those European countries now emancipated, general elections are taking place,
and it is necessary for our nation, which now
also faces a general election, to investigate and deliberate on the trends taking
place in EUROPE, as expressed in the
elections, and the changes in the attitude of the Allies due to the outcome of the
elections. Generally speaking, results of
general elections held in the various countries are characterized by overwhelming
victories of leftists and the sudden decline
of the rightist, elements. This is, as was expected during the war, a political tendency
in the post-war world. The "Right
Wing" of pre-war times has now completely disappeared from the political stage. In
the new politics, the place of the former
"Right Wing" is taken by those parties which were called "Central Leftist" or "sub-;
eftist" in the pre-war period, while the
Socialists occupy the position of center in the legislatures.
This tendency is most clearly shown in FRANCE, where the Radical Socialist Party,
which has long been the dominant influence
in the Chamber, moved to the right with only 19 seats (in pre-war days 116 seats),
and the right and the center have almost
disappeared. On one other hand, the Socialists with Leon BLUM, who was released from
a German prison, as director, won 139
seats (155 pre-war), and with the Popular Republican Party, which has acquired 142
seats, are to play a part similar to that
of the Radical Socialists in pre-war FRANCE. The Communists, who made a remarkable
showing as early as 1936, have now acquired
151 seats and have become the largest party in the Chamber.
In BULGARIA, it was rather unexpected that the Communists, in spite of the remarkable
activity of DIMITROV, a prominent member
of the now defunct Comintern, have won only 98 seats, equal now to the Agrarian Party.
It is natural that in JUGOSLAVIA the National Front, led by TITO and characterized
by its communistic elements, gained the
victory.
In both HUNGARY and AUSTRIA unexpected results were shown. In HUNGARY, the middle-class
party, which is rather conservative,
gained an overwhelming majority against the Social Democrats and Communists. In AUSTRIA,
the moderate People's Party became
the largest with 85 members; next came the Socialists with 78 members; the Communists
netted only three members. This fact may
suggest something since AUSTRIA and HUNGARY have been under the occupation of the
SOVIET UNION.
In NORWAY, where the QUISLING Puppet Government ruled under the German occupation,
of a total of 150 seats the Labor Party
occupies 77, the Communists 10, while the right and central factions lost ground.
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EDITORIAL SERIES: 72 (Continued)
ITEM 2 (Continued)
It is reported in CZECHOSLOVAKIA that the Socialists and Communists will acquire
72 per cent of all seats. It will be
interesting to see what proportion of seats each of these parties will share.
In RUMANIA, the political situation is expected to show a similarity to that of HUNGARY
and AUSTRIA.
Through a general survey of political trends in EUROPE, the fear of the peril of
BOLSHEVISM for the masses in all countries
seems to have been rather imaginary. It is notable that the countries which came in
closer contact with SOVIET RUSSIA
expressed more plainly their anti-Communistic tendency. This fact may be interpreted
in different ways, according to different
viewpoints. However, we recall the fact that the anti-Communistic feeling was very
strong in POLAND, which was under Russian
occupation, and a similar tendency is reported in GERMANY. We suppose, as our special
report from ZURICH pointed out a few
days ago, that the masses in European countries have come to be terrified by totalitarianism
and bolshevi[illegible]but have not really hated them. Totalitarianism has a strong tendency to ignore the
individual in its
attempts to advocate totality. It is natural that a man would be attracted by democratic
government which stresses the liberty
and emancipation of the individual and respects humanity.
Living in a society which resembles the "Life of White Ants," depicted "by MAETERLINCK,
no matter how completely it may be
nationalized, a person cannot help feeling somewhat uneasy and lonely. How the attitude
of the Allies to their former enemies
will be changed by the results of the general election is shown in the change of public
opinion in AMERICA and ENGLAND. As a
defeated nation, we think that it is necessary for us to realize the important significance
of the forthcoming general
election by studying the outcome of general elections in the European countries.
Distribution "X"
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