BELGIAN CRISIS

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24483, 5 February 1945, Page 6

BELGIAN CRISIS

SHORTAGE OF FOOD AND COAL ' STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER (Rec. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON,- Feb. 2. The Prime Minister of Belgium (M. Hubert Pierlot), in a statement, said the shortage of food and coal was the main cause of the Belgian political crisis, which was not connected with the Government's conduct of the war. The Brussels correspondent of the Associated Press says the situation is expected to remain unsettled until Tuesday, when the Chamber of Deputies, in which the Socialists control oneIhird of the volts, will debate the issue, M. Piorlot said that if the Government did not feel it had the backing of the Chamber after the debate it would not continue in office, but it wanted a Parliamentary decision, M. Pierlot added; "There is serious uneasiness about the lack of food, fuel, and raw materials. A solution is impossible without a higher level of importation. Belgium’s population is the densest in the world. 750 a square mile. We normally bought raw materials from every part of the world, manufacturing them, and selling them to every country. Belgium was able to feed herself with her own harvest only during half the year. It is obvious that such a country deprived of importations cannot live a long time. That has been the situation since the liberation.”