MARCH 19-26, 1952
RADICALISM: At yesterday’s (March 20) session of Parliament which began at 5.50 p.m., Greek Rally party deputy Constantine Karamanlis began a speech emphasizing that the way in which debate was carried out in the House showed that the (members) were not conscious of the wretched state of the people. «We, therefore, must become aware of this issue, to realize that a solution has to be found for the people’s economic and social problems,» he said, adding that he did not blame the government for this tragic situation. He said there were 2 million poor people, of whom 370,000 had a monthly income of less than 100,000 drachmas (Ed. note: The price of the British gold sovereign at the time was 224,500 drachmas). There are 325,000 orphans, 120,000 consumptives and only 5,000 hospital beds for them. There are 200,000 unemployed. The national income stands at $120 million and the budget will show a deficit of over 700 billion drachmas. FOOD SHORTAGES: There continue to be serious shortages of basic foodstuffs. Veal, beef and fresh fish are only available on the black market at 40,000-45,000 drachmas per oka (1.2 kilos) for fish and 35,000-40,000 for meat. The price of lamb has also risen and is now at 36,000-38,000 drachmas per oka.
