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TIJe
PLAlN TRUTH
December 197!
•
Juan Carlos: One More Step to
The Spanish Throne
The coming year will undoubtedly see further steps
taken by Generalissimo Francisco Franco to restore the Span–
ish throne to the Bourbon dynasty in the person of young
Prince Juan Carlos.
It
is expected that during the coming months General
Franco will shed at least one of his major responsibi lities -
assumed in 1936 - by appointing a prime minister. Up to
now Franco has performed the function of both chief of state
and prime minister. The double load is beginning to weigh
very heavily on the 78-year-old strongman.
How long Franco would then remain as chief-of-state is
the big question regarding the future of Juan Carlos. Last
July, General Franco signed a decree to the effect that, should
he (Franco) be ill or absent from the couotry, Prince Juan
Carlos would fill in as chief of state.
The day Prince Juan Carlos is eventually crowned King,
he will achieve the unique distinction of being the only re–
turned royalty of modero times. H is grandfather Alfonso
XIII was the last monarch to reign in Spain. He went into
exile with the emergence of the Second Republic in 1931.
In 1936 civil war overthrew the republic and brought
General Franco to power. In 1947, General Franco declared
Spain a kingdom but the throne remained vacant. In 1969
Fcanco appointed Juan Carlos as successor-designate to the
throne.
•
Trade Rift Widens- European
Recession Feared
History may well note that the first shot of the Trade
War of the 1970's was fired by the
Utúted States!
The lO%
surcharge on U. S. imports announced last August 15 was
reciprocated two months later with a 10% surcharge levied by
Denmark and a threat from a h igh French official that the
entire Common Market complex may institute a 15% sur–
charge on all imported
U.
S. goods.
Europeans have also passed the word that American
corporations in Europe will no longer be sacrosanct. With the
American gold window clamped shut, the foreign handling
of U. S. corporations may have to bear the brunt of monetary
retaliation. Expropriation ( takeover of American businesses)
is a possibility.
But, more than Jikely, there will be restrictions enacted
on the amount of money
U.
S. companies can bring home in
the form of dividends and royalties from their foreign subsid–
iaries. These profits totalled nearly $8 billion last year from
all foreign operations (not just in Europe) - contributing
significantly to the
U.
S. balance-of-payments. There might
also be requirements that U. S. firms divest themselves of
sorne of their foreign holdings.
One concerned Senate aide, taking note of the
$70
bil–
lion worth of U. S. overseas investments, commented: "That's
our Achi lles heel. We have something very important to
protect."
And indeed, the European businessman also has some–
thing very important to protect.
A German manufacturer, for instance, selling in the
American rnarket, now faces this multi-headed money mon–
ster: a 1O% price increase (so far) in relation to the Ameri–
can dollar due to the "float'' of the Deutschmark, another
lO% cost increase due to the U. S. surcharge on imports from
Germany, and the normal 3% infiation on top of that. In
addition, be may have to surmow1t an additional 7% cost
differential from a proposed subsidy on investment tax credit
by
U.
S. manufacturers.
Combined, these charges can make a German manufac–
tured product from 20 to 30 percent more expensive in rela–
tion to a competitive American product.
On top of this, the United states government has made it
quite clear that it wants a package deal designed to achieve a
$13-billion swing in its balance of payments. Such a swing
could drastically huct European economies.
Many concerned American economic advisors have
warned that such a swing in dollars would throw Europe into
a serious economic recession, and perhaps a full depression.
The last time such a serious econornic blow hit Europe was in
the years 1931-33.
•
Emperor Hirohito
1
s Trip–
Demonstrations and Silence
The fu-st foreign trip ever taken by a reigoing Japanese
emperor turned out to be somewhat less than expected.
Emperor Hirohito's tour of severa! European cities in
October was marred by cool and sometimes hostile receptions.
Japanese correspondents covering the 18-day tour expressed
shock at the depth of feeling against the Emperor - tbe
living symbol of Japan - 26 years after World War II.
The Japanese press attempted to play down the negative
aspects of the trip, but this wasn't easily done. Public resent–
ment and demonstrations were especially pronouoced in Hol–
land.
It was obvious that memories of the war are still strong,
especially amoog the 200,000 Dutch immigrants from the
former Dutch East Indies, many of whom suffered cruelty and
starvation at the hands of the Japanese.
Even where demonstrations were absent, public reaction
seemed stcangely reserved. The British public, for example,
was toro between the human desire both to forgive the Japa–
nese actions of the past and accept the prosperous nation for
what she is today - and the opposite desire of not forgetting
whatever lessons of history World War II and Japan's role
in
it should have taught. The fact that the Emperor spoke very
little publicly and did not refer to the past dicectly at all
added to the rather detached atmosphere of his otherwise
historie journey.
Nevertheless, a precedent for foreign travel by the Japa–
nese head of state has been established and indications are
that his next trip will be to the United States. In 1972, it is
dear that Japan will exert an increasingly stronger infiuence
on the world scene.