Shortages

But beneath this calm surface very real problems are hidden. This country is facing a frightful financial crisis, and responsible observers of all parties do not conceal their alarm. The enormous gap between imports and exports, which will exhaust the American Loan by Christmas, is the main symptom. The miners' five-day week may not succeed in getting us the minimum of 200 million tons of coal needed to keep industry going. Transport bottlenecks are imminent, because of obsolete and inadequate rolling stock. Houses are not being built at the rate expected. The basic industries are not producing enough, through the coal shortage, manpower starvation and obsolescence.