YUGOSLAVIA'S FOOD CRISIS
Tito Issues Decree Cutting Rations, Abandoning Russian Systems
LONDON, Oct. 17 (Reed. 6 p.m.)—The serious nature of the food crisis facing Yugoslavia has been emphasised by Marshal Tito’s latest decree, which cuts rations of bread, meat, and other items for the people in the highest rationing category by about one-quarter.
This means miners, railwayworkers, and “intellectuals engaged in important work” will now be reduced to about 1 Albs. of bread a day and about 121bs. of meat a month.
Other austerity measures include restriction on the use of petrol by State-owned cars, which represents about 75 per cent, of all the vehicles in the country. Tito has also ordered that no milk must be consumed by ordinary ration-card holders until the needs of babies, pregnant women, and sick people have been met. The decree, which is aimed at saving food and household necess : ties and ensuring fair shares for all. does away with a system borrowed from Russia of special shops and special prices for Cabinet Ministers, senior Government Communist Party officials, and other important persons. It is the direct result of the disastrous harvest and effects of the Cominform blockade, which have raised the threat of real hardship for the Yugoslav people. Western observers regard the de-
cree as one of Tito’s main domestic acts since his split with the Soviet Union, because it places the greater part of the Yugoslav Communist Party’s 500,000 members on the same footing as the rest of the country’s population of 16,000,000. and strikes at many other acknowledged abuses of Tito’s Government. It will go into effect in two weeks and provides for heavy monetary fines and prison terms for violators. “Borba,” a Yugoslav Government organ, calls it an act. of “great political significance, because it abolishes all unjustified privileges in the field of supplies.” The drought in Yugoslavia has been the subject lately of discussions between Britain and the United States, who are reviewing the prospects of economic assistance. The United States Secretary of State, Mr. Dean Acheson, said last week that the United States no doubt would have to send food to Yugoslavia. The British Ambassador in Belgrade, Sir Charles Peake, arrived in London this week to discuss the situation with the British Government.— Special N.Z.P.A. -Correspondent.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19501018.2.44
Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, 18 October 1950, Page 5
Word Count
379YUGOSLAVIA'S FOOD CRISIS Wanganui Chronicle, 18 October 1950, Page 5
Using This Item
NZME is the copyright owner for the Wanganui Chronicle. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of NZME. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.