TWO MILLION PEOPLE HAVE BEEN UNEMPLOYED

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXV, Issue 14300, 25 February 1947, Page 3

TWO MILLION PEOPLE HAVE BEEN UNEMPLOYED

BRITAIN SEEKS GENERATING PLANTS IN EUROPE AND U.S.A.

London., Feb. 24. Britain, is still in the throes of bitter weather and with more severe frosts predicted for to-night. The country is gradually getting back into production after two weeks in which hundreds of factories have been closed through lack of power. After the switch-on of power in factories in the central industrial area this morning, Mr Attlee told the Commons later xo-aay tnai electric power in tne nbrwi-west industrial zone would be put on again next Monday. The Prime Minister said the weather was still the dominating factor in the fight to get the coal through to the power stations. So far, he said, there had been no serious interference with the work of getting the coal from the pits to the stations. In spite of the weather, he said, the position has continued to improve and stocks of coal at the power stations were gradually being built up to the minimum level of three weeks' supply, but there was some irregularity in the increase in consumption during the last few days. In the south-eastern area, said Mr Attlee, the average level of coal stocks up to last night reached 15 days' supply, but the position of the big London power stations was still difficult and they had been able only to build up a reserve of about 13 days' supply. By next Monday's switch-on most of the factories in the north-west have been without power for two weeks. Mr Attlee also said that in the areas where electricity cuts had been in force there was just over 1,500,000 insured people unemployed in addition to the 479,000 unemployed but not claiming out-of-work benefits. One result of the fuel crisis is that the ration of sweets is to be cut by a half to two ounces a week during march. It is hoped later to increase it to three ounces. The Australian Prime Minister, Mr Chifley, said to-day that all available food, for Britain had been shipped. There had ibeen some hold up of shipments of sugar, but that had since been overcome. - v Answering questions in the Commons the Minister of Transport said that British ships last month took on board, 500,000 tons of bunker coal in the United States. The cost was 625,000 dollars or £155,000. A Supply Ministry oflicial is now in Paris inquiring about the chance of buying surplus United States material; in Germany including electrical generating plants. It is also posed to send a mission to the United States with a view to buying several engineering plants for the coal mines. * Britain has drawn another 100,000,000 dollars (£35,000,000) from the loan under the Washington Financial Agreement. The United States treasury says this brings total withdrawals in seven months to nearly 900,000,000 dollars or £335,000,000 —just under a quarter of the total loan. The United States Secretary of Agriculture, Mr Clinton Anderson, has warned American producers against over production because, he said, Britain, one of America's biggest customers last year for dried-eggsy would take far less this year. [■,..' . In London the House of Commons was told to-day that dried eggs could not be kept on the ration because the present and expected supplies are insufficient to provide for a regular ration. , ' '