Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 February 1946 — Page 22

7 Plenty of Buyers.

DAY

“If you search and find words in‘adequate, let

» ere x

{Butter Sells at $6.60 With

By Seripps-Howard Newspapers

| TOKYO, Feb. 12—~The black] | market or, as the Japanese deli-}.

cately phrase it, the “dark” market,

{hag become a dominant factor in

Japan's economic and social life. ° It's so open that in Japanese eyes

| it has ceased to be a scandal. Pub-

lic opinion has legititaised if: hoes sity has sanctioned gov ernment has tacitly condoned it. Throughout the war the Japanese government not only recognized illicit trade in necessities but shared in its profits and actually encouraged its spread. Some war finan-

‘| ciers, in fact, are said to have re-

garded the black market aj an effi cient means of draining off the unusual profits made by labor. It was considered a tax.

Dictates Wage Demands Since the end of the war, the market has continued to flourish and neither the Japanese government nor occupation authorities have been able to do much about it, The black market is what is dic-~

fating high wage demands,

And black market prices have an enormous effect on the legitimate market because, in order to attract produce into the open market, the Japanese government has regularly raised the “official” prices it permits wholesalers and distributors to pay. So the difference between prices on the open mafket and black market grows steadily narrower and outrageous inflation creeps on. Today, for example, butter is selling on the open market, in the streets of Tokyo, for 100 yen a pound--or $6.60 at the current rate of exchange. Prices Soar That is approximately the price on the illegitimate market. Three apples cost 66 cents. Nine “mikans” ~little, sweet tangerines—also are 66 cents. One small crab costs from 70 to

ese at festival times nearly $10 for a basket of 21

A small “daikon” (radish) costs

about 30 cents. Meat on the regu-

eT

lar market sells at more than $1 a pound—or at the same price as salt, Yet salt has come down, slightly. It used to cost from $20 to $26 a pound during the war. And you can get one egg from a cheerful vendor in Shimbashi market for 33 cents. } Plenty to Spend The difficulties of keeping warm are emphasized by the price of charcoal, which has risen to about $5 for a small sack. . That is on the “dark market” for there is very little of. that essential fuel on the regular trade list, Yet, even at these prices, there is still an apparently large purchasing power, Around the stalls and little fish and meat and vegetable shops there are always crowds of Japanese, most of them with fistfuls of hundred-yen notes. I am told that most of this money represents savings from high war wages; that the Japanese is so unsettled in his mind about the financial future and so obsessed with the fear of future inflation and perhaps depreciation of his currency that he is getting rid of it as fast as he can. i And certainly he is laying away as much food as he can against th rest of a lean winter. ’

13,000 Servicemen Due to 3s Dock in U. S. at Six Ports

By UNITED PRESS Nineteen ships were. scheduled to arrive at U, 8. ports today with more than 13,100 servicemen.

DUE AT NEW YORK: Texarkana Victory, from Antwerp—873 undesignated | Aiken Victory, from Bremerhaven-—1391 troops, incl ig headquarters and headquarters battery, tteries B,C and service battery, 975th field awtillery battalion, companies A, B, I company and medical tank destroyers battalion and companies A and C of 286th engineer of C battalion. New Bern Victory, from Antwerp-—895 undesignated troops. Sedalia Victory, from Le Havre—463 wndestynsied troops, 14 army nurses and

Lincoln Steffens, from MarsetHe—57

dross including companies I, K and L of th infantry regiment and four naval nurses, DUE AT NORFOLK, VA.: Chagras—8ix undesignated troops. DUE AT SAN FRANCISCO: Sea Flasher, from Manila—2133 undesignated service personnel, Oranston Victory, undesignated army personnel. Pennant, from Manila—1463 undesig~ nated army peragunel. Ubald Eagle, I Harbor--28 undesignated naval personnel. Tulaross, from Pearl Harbor—16 unated service personnel. Ponchatoula, from Pearl Harbor— Seven undesignated service personnel. DUE AT LOS ANGELES: Barrow, from Manila 1319 undesignated service personnel. Sargent Bay, from Honolulu—$01 undesignated service personnel.

DUE AT SAN DIEGO: Prince QGeorge—528 undesignated naval Submarine Brill—47 undesignated naval personnel, ; Escort Carrier Hogatt Bay-—830 undesnated naval personnel. DUE AT SEATTLE: Grafton, from Guam—35 undesignated See RD, oir,

TRAIN HITS AUTO, HURLS IT AT WOMAN

MISHAWAKA, Ind, Feb. 12 (U, P.) —Mrs; Minnie Eutzler of Mishawaka lay in St. Joseph county hospital today, victim of a freak accident which broke both arms and both legs and injured her internally. When her auto stalled in the path of a passenger train yesterday, Mrs. Eutzier climbed from the vehicle and stood nearby. The

{Maple Leaf Limited of the Grand

Trunk western route, headed for Canada, smashed the automobile and knocked it against Mrs. Eutzler. She was thrown into sa picket fence 45 feet away. Engineer Fred Flesher of Battle Creek, Mich., said he was unable to slow the train before hitting the car.

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