April 23rd, 1949

With the flick of a pen, Louis A. Johnson cancelled the USS United States and its associated carrier class.

Mr. Johnson is the recently installed Secretary of Defense, having taken his position from James Forrestal. The situation behind the whole switch was unfortunate; during the election, Forrestal had provided advice and guidance towards Truman's opponent, Thomas Dewey due to an expectation that Dewey would win the election. This had been a major betrayal of Truman, who saw it as the slight it was.

In March, Forrestal had prepared himself to resign his post of Sec. Def., only for Truman on March 28th demanding his resignation. While this was shattering to the psyche of Forrestal, it did mean that a new Sec. Def. was needed, and that became Louis A. Johnson.

Johnson has been everything that Truman wanted. A staunch supporter of armed forces unification, he has followed Truman in concert of opinion to reduce the military budget. No one expects another major war on the scale of something like World War Two again, after all, even as the Cold War with the USSR has started to rise. Further, with the monopoly on the nuclear bomb, Truman and Johnson believe there was not a need for the massive military the US currently employs.

And so, for the past month, there have been debates on how to handle those defense cuts to help pay for Truman's Fair Deal program. Following meetings with various members of the armed forces and the administration, one line item became a clear target: A new set of carriers.

The United States Class is a 65,000 tonnes mega-behemoth of a ship. A new design, it was a flushdeck carrier so massive it would be dubbed as a "Super-Carrier", able to carry full bombers, rather than simply naval aviation. It was the final evolution of the carrier concept, so important to fleet planning that after the design work was completed, Congress had authorized a total of five ships to be built, CVA-058 through 062.

In fact, just five days ago, on April 18th, the keel was laid down for CVA-058, the first ship in class.

However, Secretary Johnson sees the whole project as a giant boondoggle. To him, airpower was the only way forward through strategic bomber programs. After all, if a nuke was all that was needed to defeat an opponent, would the production of new models not be better than wasting hundreds of millions for a useless piece of equipment?

And so, on this day, the USS US has been cancelled. All ships are to be shuttered, despite what much of the admiralty and congress want. Beyond the supercarrier program, other military assets and parts of the armed forces saw budget cuts, with only the USAAF keeping a strong budget. Only time will tell what the result will be.

Zionism with socialist characteristics

April 20th, 1949 - Moscow

The dismissal of Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich was not made out of fear; but precaution. It wasn’t as if Stalin didn’t exactly trust him, more so the fact that Stalin trusts no one. To the post came Maxim Maximovich Litvinov, the former People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and wartime Ambassador to the United States, recalled from retirement by Stalin himself and entrusted with the temporary leadership of the Foreign Ministry pending his formal appointment.

While, yes, suspicions did arise initially regarding his true allegiance - the choice of his appointment was made by Stalin himself; take from that what you will. This choice was not presented to him without an alternative. Long before Maxim Maximovich, Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky had been groomed as the natural heir to Molotov. Andrei Yanuaryevich, whose reputation had been forged in the courtrooms of the Great Purge and subsequently within the corridors of Soviet diplomacy, had emerged as a formidable candidate whose political reliability was seldom questioned.

Vyshinsky possessed advantages that Litvinov could not readily claim. He had remained closely involved in the formulation and execution of Soviet foreign policy throughout the postwar years, had represented the Union before the United Nations, and had demonstrated his willingness to defend the Party line without hesitation.

Yet these very qualities made his appointment less attractive to Stalin.

Vyshinsky's elevation would have strengthened the position of those already entrenched within the Soviet diplomatic and administrative apparatus. Litvinov, by contrast, had spent years removed from the inner circles of Soviet power. His return would owe everything to Stalin personally, and his continued position would depend upon the Generalissimo's confidence.

Moreover, Litvinov's experience dealing with the Western powers offered something Vyshinsky could not so easily provide: a different approach to the increasingly rigid diplomatic confrontation between East and West. These differences, while not excluding either candidate, only proved that both men possessed qualities that are better harnessed than completely sidelined.

Overlooking the Moscow River, right there at the window stood Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin - the Father of Socialism and the undisputed leader of the socialist order in Europe and elsewhere. The Great Patriotic War had ended and now, as the Soviet Union focused its strength towards reconstruction and preserving the light to lead fellow socialist nations and assist in the construction of People’s democracies, many questions remained unresolved from before.

Maxim Maximovich - you speak of Zionism in such high regard, I’ve started wondering if you are in fact not an agent of theirs.

Iosif Vissarionovich. I am not proposing we adopt bourgeois nationalism as Party doctrine. What I am presenting is an operational reality in the Levant. The Jewish population in Palestine is organized around kibbutzim - collectives built on public ownership, communal labor, and explicit left-wing leadership. Mapai dominates the government, but it does not command the entirety of the Israeli left. Mapam and the movement of Hashomer Hatzair retain Marxist traditions and an ideological sympathy toward the Soviet Union. These are political forces with which we may establish relations, provided we do not confuse their socialism with loyalty to Moscow.

Let me be clear, Maxim Maximovich; Zionism is a bourgeois construct, backed by nationalist and chauvinist individuals that seek to exploit the impoverished for their Zionist project in the Levant. It is basic Marxism that a Jewish worker in Warsaw has more in common with a Polish worker than a banker in London or Washington. Today you may be proposing that we accept Zionism with its nationalist foundation, add a few specks of socialism here and there and call it Marxism. No, because if we do, then tomorrow the same will have to be done in Ukraine.

Generalissimo. If we leave Zionism to be directed by the Western powers while still in its constructive phase within an independent state, soon enough it will become an obstacle used to control the Suez and the flow of Middle Eastern oil. This is why we ought to act carefully and use our influence in their politics to our advantage; condition support for their obedience and we shall have our wedge in the region.

You know - Andrei Yanuaryevich was here yesterday. He presented me with his objections to your proposal. Some of his arguments do make sense; we supported the partition at the United Nations, and the recognition of Israel was not meant to be interpreted as support of Zionism, but rather a necessity at the time.

With respect, Iosif Vissarionovich, Comrade Vyshinsky confuses the ideological character of Zionism with the political opportunities presented by the Israeli socialist movement.

Stalin turned towards Maxim Maximovich, the pipe in his hand.

Does he? Or have you become infatuated by the opportunities presented that you have forgotten the distinction yourself?

However, we are not monks in a monastery Maxim Maximovich. We are dialecticians. The British may have departed Palestine, but their influence has not departed the Middle East. Their officers advise Arab governments, their treaties bind foreign armies, and their interests remain entrenched along the Suez Canal. If the establishment of Israel has weakened Britain's position, we should not be so foolish as to restore that position through our own inaction.

We support a state in Palestine that is anti-imperialist, multi-ethnic and socialist at heart - a nation where Jewish and Arab workers stand shoulder to shoulder to defend their land from bourgeois and national chauvinist elements.You are to proceed with cultivating closer ties with socialist movements within Israel, but do not confuse the interests of the Union with the ambitions of Zionism. We support socialism, not Zionism. The distinction must remain absolute.

Remember something, Maxim Maximovich. Israel is not the Middle East. We shall not exchange our opportunities among the Arab peoples for the uncertain friendship of a single government. Our policy must serve the interests of the Soviet Union throughout the region.

The Generalissimo stood up and walked to the window. He pulled out a bit of tobacco from a case in his pocket, adding it to the pipe and lighting it again.

I’ve paved the way for you Maxim Maximovich. Do not make me regret it.

After the necessary discussions had been concluded, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet formally confirmed the decision which Stalin had already made. Maxim Maximovich Litvinov, until then serving in an acting capacity, would henceforth assume the full responsibilities of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

```PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

DECREE

On the Appointment of M. M. Litvinov as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR

Moscow, Kremlin
April 23rd, 1949

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decrees:

1. To appoint Comrade Maxim Maximovich Litvinov Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
N. M. Shvernik

Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
A. F. Gorkin```

Karachi - April 1949

“The strength of a nation is not measured merely by the armies it maintains or the wealth it accumulates, but by the justice it establishes, the people it protects, and the principles for which it is prepared to stand.”

Seven months have passed since the death of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and nearly two years since the creation of Pakistan. The immediate struggle for survival continues: refugees require homes and employment, Kashmir remains unresolved, the treasury is strained, and the machinery of government must be constructed across two wings separated by Indian territory. Yet a state cannot live forever in the shadow of its birth. Pakistan must now determine what its independence is intended to achieve.

The sacrifices of Partition demand more of us than the preservation of a flag, a frontier and a civil service. They demand a state with a purpose.

The Government of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan therefore considers the time right for the Constituent Assembly to establish, in unambiguous terms, the principles upon which Pakistan's constitution and public institutions shall be founded.

The government will introduce an Objectives Resolution affirming Pakistan's Islamic identity, the democratic exercise of public authority, the obligations of government under the principles of Islam, and the protection of the rights and religious life of its citizens. This will be accompanied by proposals for a Commission on Islamic Principles and Public Life, intended to translate constitutional principles into practical policy and establish Pakistan's contribution to the wider Muslim world.

This is a foundational declaration of the direction in which the nationbuilding work must proceed.

The foundations of the state

The Resolution shall affirm that sovereignty over the universe belongs to Almighty Allah, and that the authority entrusted to the state is exercised by the people of Pakistan through their chosen representatives, as a sacred responsibility.

This principle has consequences. Government is not the private possession of a ruler, a party, a military establishment, a landed interest or a religious faction. Public office is a trust, and its exercise must be judged by its service to the people, its adherence to justice and its accountability under law.

Pakistan's Islamic identity shall therefore be expressed through constitutional government, consultation, the rule of law, honest administration and the pursuit of social justice. The government will not claim that the mere invocation of religion renders an action just. Nor will it accept that the principles of Islam can be reduced to private sentiment, detached from the responsibilities of public life.

The Qur'an and Sunnah shall be recognised as the essential religious reference points for the ordering of Muslim life. The state shall encourage the study of Islamic learning and the development of institutions capable of examining how its principles inform legislation, education, welfare and administration.

The precise application of these principles will require scholarship, deliberation and constitutional care. Pakistan's government will seek informed guidance rather than pretend that every difficult question has already been settled. Religious scholars have an important contribution to make, but the constitutional responsibilities of the elected representatives of the people must remain clear.

The purpose is neither to construct a state indifferent to its religious inheritance nor to substitute the unaccountable authority of individual clerics for constitutional government. Pakistan shall be Islamic in its foundations, democratic in the exercise of its public authority, and answerable to the demands of justice.

What Islam requires of government

An Islamic identity must mean more than ceremonial declarations. It must be visible in the conduct of public institutions and in the conditions under which ordinary people live.

The government will pursue the following principles as objectives of constitutional development and public policy:

• Justice before privilege.
  • No individual or institution shall be entitled to arbitrary power merely by virtue of wealth, office, ancestry or religious influence.
  • Public administration must be conducted according to law, and corruption and the misuse of public funds must be treated as betrayals of the trust placed in government.
• Consultation and accountability.
  • Pakistan's political fiture must be determined through constitutional deliberation and representative institutions.
  • Religious scholarship shall inform public reasoning, but political authority must not become the possession of a self-appointed religious or administrative elite.
• The welfare of the people
  • Poverty, illiteracy, preventable suffering and the abandonment of displaced families are not merely unfortunate circumstances. They are challenges to the moral purpose of the state. The government shall encourage charitable provision, education, relief and productive employment, while examining the appropriate role of public institutions in meeting these needs.
• The dignity of labour and honest enterprise
  • Farmers, industrial workers, merchants, teachers and civil servants all contribute to the country's future.
  • Economic policy must encourage productive work, fair dealing and the responsible use of wealth.
  • The development of Pakistan's economy, announced as a national priority this month, shall be pursued as an instrument of public welfare rather than the enrichment of a narrow class.
• Education and intellectual life
  • Pakistan must cultivate religious scholarship alongside scientific, technical and professional learning. A country unable to educate its own scholars, engineers, administrators and teachers cannot fulfil its responsibilities to its citizens or exercise genuine independence.

These objectives will require legislation, funding, institutional reform and time. The government does not propose to claim achievements before they have been secured. It does, however, intend that the country's Islamic principles should become a standard against which its institutions can be judged.

The place of Pakistan's religious minorities

The government recognises that the Objectives Resolution will prompt serious questions among nonmuslim members of the Constituent Assembly and among citizens concerned about the future of their communities. Such questions must be answered through constitutional commitments rather than dismissed as expressions of disloyalty.

Pakistan is founded upon the political aspirations of the Muslims of the subcontinent. That fact does not relieve its government of the responsibility to protect those who do not share the Muslim faith.

The Resolution shall affirm that religious minorities are entitled to practise their religions, maintain their places of worship, develop their cultures and participate in the civic life of the country. Their security and access to justice shall not depend upon the goodwill of individual officials or the shifting preferences of local majorities.

The government will invite proposals for further guarantees covering freedom of worship, the protection of religious institutions, the administration of personal religious affairs within the law, and effective remedies against discrimination and intimidation. These questions must receive serious constitutional examination.

Our Islamic inheritance provides ample grounds for insisting that power be exercised justly, that covenants be honoured, and that the vulnerable not be abandoned to the strong. The government will not accept that an act of oppression becomes defensible merely because its victim belongs to a religious minority.

This commitment is not a concession that weakens Pakistan's Islamic identity. It is a test of whether that identity csn govern a modern state with justice and confidence.

The relationship between religious tradition, citizenship and public authority will require careful deliberation. But the direction must be clear: religious identity shall not provide a licence for arbitrary treatment, and the protection of minorities must be a matter of public responsibility.

A Commission on Islamic Principles and Public Life

To give practical effect to these commitments, the government proposes the establishment of a Commission on Islamic Principles and Public Life.

The Commission shall bring together respected Muslim scholars, representatives of different Islamic legal and intellectual traditions, constitutional jurists, educators and individuals experienced in public administration and social welfare. It shall also consult representatives of religious minorities where its reccommendations concern their rights, institutions or participation in public life.

Its initial programme shall comprise five areas of work.

1. It shall examine how the principles of the Objectives Resolution can inform constitutional development and ordinary legislation, while preserving representative government, judicial independence and the rule of law.
2. It shall prepare recommendations concerning Islamic education, scholarship, religious institutions and the training of scholars. Pakistan must develop the capacity to sustain serious Islamic learning rather than depend indefinitely upon institutions elsewhere.
3. It murstconsider practical proposals for charitable relief, poverty alleviation, refugee rehabilitation, education and the welfare of workers and agricultural communities. The moral claims of Islam must be reflected in the treatment of those whose needs are greatest.
4. It will examine safeguards for religious minorities, including the protection of worship, religious institutions and cultural life. The Commission should identify where constittutional principles require clearer legislation and more effective remedies.
5. Cconsider Pakistan's responsibilities towards Muslim communities abroad, including opportunities for scholarly exchange, humanitarian assistance, cultural cooperation and diplomatic engagement in defence of religious freedom.

The Commission shall be advisory. It will publish recommendations and reasoned reports for consideration by the Cabinet and the Constituent Assembly. It will not possess an independenent power to enact legislation or overrule the representatives of the people. Where scholars disagree, their differing arguments should be recorded and examined rather than concealed behind a manufactured appearance of unanimity.

The government expects the Commission to work seriously and promptly. Its purpose is not to produce another document for ceremonial display, but to provide the intellectual and practical foundations for a constitution worthy of Pakistan's founding purpose.

Pakistan and the wider Muslim world

Pakistan's responsibilities do not end at its frontiers.

Across Asia, Muslim communities possess rich traditions of religious learning, trade, scholarship and cultural life. From Afghanistan and Iran to Turkey, from the historic Muslim communities of Xinjiang to the cities and scholarly centres of Central Asia, the Islamic world extends across societies with different political arrangements, languages and histories.

Pakistan does not claim sovereignty over these communities, nor does it presume to speak on behalf of every Muslim government or tradition. Its claim is instead one of responsibility and aspiration: that a Muslim-majority state established in the modern age should become a serious centre of Islamic learning, international cooperation and peaceful solidarity.

The government will therefore invite interested Muslim-majority governments and scholarly institutions to participate in preparations for a Karachi Conference on Islamic Principles and Muslim Solidarity.

The proposed conference will consider cooperation in religious scholarship, the preservation and translation of Islamic texts, educational exchanges, charitable and humanitarian initiatives, commercial relationships and the peaceful defence of religious freedom. It will seek practical arrangements through which institutions can cooperate without requiring uniformity of theology or political allegiance.

Particular attention should be given to tge Islamic heritage of Asia. The intellectual achievements of Central Asian scholars and the historic Muslim communities of China's western regions form part of the wider inheritance of Islamic civilisation. Pakistan will encourage historical research, cultural exchange and scholarly cooperation concerning these traditions, while pursuing relations with neighbouring governments through diplomacy and mutual respect.

The government has no intention of turning religious solidarity into a programme of hostility towards other states. Pakistan's Muslim identity should enable it to build relationships acrros cultural and political boundaries, not make permanent confrontation inevitable. Our concern for the religious life of Muslims abroad must be expressed through peaceful advocacy, education, humanitarian action and respect for the rights of peoples to determine their own political future.

We shall seek friendship with governments prepared to cooperate, and we shall raise concerns about religious persecution where credible circumstances require it. We will not however cconfuse the protection of religious freedom with a claim to intervene in the domestic affairs of every country in which Muslims live.

Pakistan intends to be a leading voice in Asian Muslim affairs. Such leadership must be earned through the quality of its scholarship, the integrity of its institutions, the generosity of its assistance and the consistency of its principles.

Kashmir and the meaning of self-determination

These principles have immediate relevance to the unresolved question of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan maintains that the people of Kashmir must be permitted to determine their political future freely and without coercion. The religious compoisition of the population is an important part of the historical and political context, but the claim for self-determination cannot rest upon religious identity alone.

A credible settlement must protect the rights of all communities within the territory, including Muslims, Biddhists, hindus, Sikhs and others. The security of religious practice, the freedom to express politiical preferences, and protection against intimidation must be integral to any fair plebiscite.

Pakistan will therefore continue to insist that the promised process must be genuine, that the people concerned must be able to express their wishes without fear, and that the rights of minorities must be safeguarded whatever the outcome.

The same principle applies beyond Kashmir. Pakistan's commitment to Muslim solidarity does not mean that every Muslim-majority territory must become part of Pakistan, or that nonislamic populations should be denied a voice in their political future. The right to self-determination must be argued through consent, justice and the protection of communities, not through a presumption that religious identity automatically determines sovereignty.

This position strengthens rather than diminishes Pakistan's case. A state confident in its Islamic principles should be prepared to defend justice consistently, even when doing so requires restraint.

A confident Islamic future

The government recognises that the adoption of an Objectives Resolution will not settle every dispute about the nature of Pakistan. Some will argue that the proposed commitments do not go far enough in specifying the legal consequences of Islam for the state. Others will fear that religious language will eventually be used to restrict political disagreement or weaken minority rights.

These concerns cannot be answered by assertion alone. They must be addressed through the constitutional process, through public deliberation and through the conduct of the government itself.

The Resolution is intended to establish a direction, not to end discussion. The Commission will provide a means of examining the implications of that direction, while the proposed Karachi Conference will give Pakistan an opportunity to develop its international ambitions through cooperation rather than proclamation alone.

Pakistan's Islamic character is not an incidental ornament upon an otherwise ordinary state. It is central to the political purpose for which the country was established. But that purpose will be vindicated through institutions that administer justice, protect the vulnerable, encourage learning and enable the people to participate in determining their future.

The government will accordingly submit the Objectives Resolution to the Constituent Assembly, begin preparations for the Commission on Islamic Principles and Public Life, and invite expressions of interest from scholars and institutions for the proposed international conference.

We shall judge our progress not by tge force of our declarations, but by whether our people can live more securely, learn more freely, work more productively and seek justice with greater confidence.

Pakistan intends to be an Islamic state in principle, a constitutional state in practice, and a leading centre of Muslim scholarship and solidarity in Asia. The responsibility now is to make those ambitions real.

Kingdom of Egypt - March 1949

The Ministry has therefore ordered the establishment of seven permanent Military Districts, each possessing its own headquarters and responsibility for the administration, mobilization, and support of Army establishments within its territory.

District Commanders will report to Army General Headquarters under the Ministry of War and Marine. Each headquarters will maintain staff sections for personnel and mobilization, intelligence, operations and training, logistics, signals, and engineering. The headquarters will be formed primarily from existing administrative establishments, with staffing proportionate to their responsibilities, to avoid withdrawing excessive numbers of experienced officers from combat units.

These staffs will assume responsibility for local garrisons, depots, workshops, military hospitals, vehicle pools, training grounds, and fixed defenses. Existing establishments will be brought under the district system, with their personnel and equipment entered into common registers. Within the Canal District, this authority will extend only to Egyptian forces and establishments, obviously to preserve our existing agreements with the British.

The divisions and other major combat formations will remain under the operational command of Army General Headquarters. A district will be responsible for supplying and maintaining formations stationed within its boundaries, but its commander will have no independent authority to deploy them. General Headquarters will retain authority to transfer supplies, equipment, and transport between districts according to Army requirements.

Initial Implementation

Who could’ve guessed: the Sinai District will receive immediate priority. Its staff will survey roads, wells, fuel and ammunition storage, repair facilities, airfields, and communications between the Canal and Gaza. Particular attention will be given to whether facilities recorded as available can actually support troops in the field.

The Delta District will begin revising reserve registers and mobilization arrangements. Alexandria will establish a central register for imported military equipment, recording its condition upon arrival and its subsequent allocation.

Staff College and technical-school intake will also be expanded to provide officers for the new headquarters. Preference will be given to those with recent experience in Palestine and qualifications in logistics, signals, engineering, and operations.

Of course, the creation of new headquarters has attracted considerably more enthusiasm amongst certain senior officers than service upon the Review Board. It is curious that these senior officers seem to have been privately aware of these impending positions before the public announcement.

Following Royal intervention, district commands will remain royal appointments. Several politically connected generals are expected to receive prominent posts, and personal connections will undoubtedly continue to influence appointments beneath them. Much of the reform’s implementation will therefore depend upon the competence of the district staffs and the willingness of their commanders to accept closer Ministry supervision.

Ordinance Review and Catalogue

As part of the division, King Farouk has instructed the complete catalogue of military equipment in an effort to “assess what foreign military procurements we require.”

The Palestinian War Review Board, although not entirely satisfied by the public reason in which King Farouk ordered the inspection, took advantage of the situation to further implement suggestions as part of its classified findings.

Each district must submit a preliminary inventory of its manpower, serviceable equipment, transport, and supplies within ninety days, followed by quarterly returns. Equipment awaiting repair must be recorded separately, whilst discrepancies between local returns and Ministry records must be explained. Ministry inspection teams will visit selected establishments to compare these returns against the personnel and equipment actually present.

By the end of 1949, each district will also submit a repair and shortage report, identifying the funds, spare parts, and personnel required to restore equipment to service. The Ministry will use these reports to allocate maintenance funds and direct transfers between districts, with priority given to existing equipment that can be returned to use.

Some commanders will undoubtedly submit more reliable returns than others. Nevertheless, the Ministry, the Review Board, and the King will now have a permanent headquarters responsible for each return, and a named commander from whom an explanation can be demanded.

JANUARY 3RD, 1949

FORMATION OF THE 81ST CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The sweeping success of the Democratic Party in 1948 has led to a governmental trifecta for the party; Congress, the Presidency, and a supportive Judiciary. Sitting at 54 Senators and 264 Representatives, the Party would appear untouchable in comparison to their Republican colleagues. This is, plainly, untrue. While the Dixiecrat schism of ‘48 had already been undone, the fact is, the underlying issues had not been mended yet. Southern Democrats are already talking with their conservative partners in the Republican Party about coordination against further acts of Communist legislation being passed by progressive wing. Whether this conservative coalition will stem the President’s victory in congress or not will be seen soon enough.

NEW HOUSE RULES

One of the first moves of the 81st Congress’ House was to adopt a new set of changes to the House Rules. Succeeding by 275 votes in favor to 143 against, the changes would ensure that the chair of a legislative committee may, reporting a bill favorably and filed a resolution for consideration, present it directly on the floor of Congress, regardless of the decision of the Rules committee. This action would be made available 21 days after the bill is filed, or if the Rules committee reports it unfavorably, whichever comes first. This would allow Congress to vote on the favorability of the bill at large, rather than forcing the discharge of the Rules Committee in the face of a popular bill. This move is likely one that will weaken the leading party, as they make up the majority of the committee, but the change was made specifically to counter the rising conservative cross-party coalition forming. Notably, 31 Democratic Representatives, all from Southern states, would vote against the change.

FEBRUARY 14TH

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FOOT AND MOUTH ERADICATION HEARING

Mr. Eugene Worley. “Since this is the first meeting of this subcommittee in the 81st Congress, I think it is perhaps appropriate to open our discussion with a brief review of the events leading up...”

Foot-and-Mouth Disease’s global spread during the second world war had not left the Americas untouched. An outbreak in Santa Cruz threatened the entire continent’s livestock industry, something that neither ourselves nor the Mexican Department of Agriculture were interested in seeing. Action was taken near-immediately by the 80th Congress in 1947, with collaborative efforts headed by the Subcommittee on Foot-and-Mouth Disease’s Eugene Worley and, following the failure of eradicating the disease via slaughter, General Harry. H. Johnson. Vaccination efforts in Mexican livestock have isolated the disease greatly, halting its spread outside of Mexico. Despite this, the livestock quarantine has been maintained, as the spread within Mexico has not stopped entirely.

General Harry Johnson. “... up until this incident we have been successful in the last 7 months in obtaining the complete collaboration of the Mexicans, not only in the eradication of the disease, but in our relations with them as two free peoples. That is very encouraging to me, to find a large number of Americans of all classes that are living with the Mexican with not one single case of disaffection until this incident we have spoken of…”

At the time of the hearing, nearly 12 million animals had been vaccinated, with efforts to increase the current rate of 1.6 million to 3. The main issues facing the project are the production of vaccines, the amount of available manpower, and the cooperation of Mexican farmers in affected areas. This lack of cooperation has, in particular, proven a growing thorn in our side. As more farmers refuse to allow access to their cattle, more herds require slaughter, reminding these farmers of the failed ‘47 slaughter campaign and reducing further the number of cooperative farms. The sale of additional tainted meat in Mexico City has also been detected. Ranchers in Northern Mexico have tended to be far more cooperative, however, with central and southern ranchers and farmers providing the source of the issue. The hearing was adjourned with congratulations to the efforts of the subcommittee, and promises of increased funding. By April, Mexican officials in the Department of Agriculture would receive word of increased efforts by their American colleagues in ending the disease, requesting further assistance in manpower.

FEBRUARY 25TH

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TAFT INTRODUCES THE HOUSING ACT

Sponsored by Republican Senator Robert A. Taft, Democratic Senators Allen Ellender and Robert Wagner, the bill is reported to the floor. Discussions are already rising as it marks the first major move by the President and his allies to push through an agenda with the new congress. The 80th Congress’ Senate had already allocated funding for measures clearing slums and establishing new public housing, though the bill had failed in the House every time before now. This third run is, hopefully, the one to make it, should the Southern Democrats fall in line. 

Though I die and die again a hundred times,

That my bones turn to dust, whether my soul remains or not,

Ever loyal to my Lord, how can this loyal red heart ever fade away?

• "Dansimga" - Jeong Mong-ju, 1392.

Seoul, 1949

On a damp spring morning, a small brass plate was fixed to the door of a requisitioned office building near the Ministry of Justice. It reads National Guidance League (국민보도연맹). It is expected to be the quietest and most effective of the Republic's new institutions. The National Guidance League does not arise out of nowhere. It is an idea that is bureaucratic in nature, a box-ticking exercise some may call it, whilst others would decry it as a violation of "human rights". Whatever one may wish to call it, it has origins which are administrative in nature. The National Security Act in August of '48 outlawed the Workers' Party, which has resulted in the gears of justice being flooded with former party members, union organisers and suspected party activists.

It would be wrong to say that each of those individuals is a danger to the Republic. Some joined to be fed. Some joined because they are indeed communists. Some joined because their family or friends asked them to. Individually, they are not a threat. However, collectively they are a form of civic cholera, which spreads and infects the health of the nation as a whole. Just as you don't negotiate with cholera, you cannot negotiate with communists.

A prosecutor faced with a communist may prosecute or they may choose to do nothing. For some situations, neither answer is satisfactory.

The League is the alternative. Anyone who has belonged to a leftist organisation can come forward, renounce it in writing to the Ministry, pledge loyalty to the Republic, and register with the League. In return for these actions, he is treated as a citizen who has seen his mistake and not as a criminal defendant against whom the Republic's legal machinery is poised to work against. The President is said to have called it "a door left open for those who have lost their way."

Functioning of the League

Once an individual has entered the League, he is enrolled under his local branch and receives a membership card, which he must have on him, and present to any member of the security services upon interaction with them. Ultimately the branch system is administered by the Bureau of National Security, with provincial boundaries deciding where each branch is located. Each branch organises mandatory meetings and lectures on topics as wide and varied as the values of the Republic, the dangers of the communist ideology, and the goals of the National Programme. There may also be social events like cultural trips and sports days.

For their participation in the programme, League members are protected from prosecution for past affiliation, and where necessary, have access to specialist rationed supplies and "unique" work opportunities where labour is required that may inflict certain unique challenges that do not exist elsewhere.

Newspapers sympathetic to the Government have called it "an act of national generosity." Others are more cautious. A few Assembly members, including some who opposed the National Security Act, have asked who will see the registry and what may be done with the names on it. The official line is that the lists are simply for "monitoring adherence" to the "terms of the programme".

A damp morning. South Gyeongsang Province

In a village in the south, a short distance from Busan, the Ministry official arrived on a bicycle with a stack of forms and a letter from the provincial office. Word had gone round the day before, as it does in villages such as this one. People love a chat after all.

A schoolteacher who had once attended a study circle that was later closed came in first, carefully dressed. Almost too carefully. A farmer who had signed a petition for a tenants' committee in 1947 followed him. Two brothers came together, one of whom had never joined anything in his life but did not want to leave his name off the list. A woman asked whether the card would cover her husband, who had been taken for questioning the previous winter and had not returned. The official from the Ministry said he did not know.

By evening the clerk had filled eleven pages. The letter from the provincial office included a target figure for registrations for the area, and he was already ahead of it.

MARCH 1949

Emperor Haile Selassie has traveled to India and signed the Ethiopian - Indian Friendship Treaty of 1949 alongside Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. This marks a significant milestone in Ethiopian foreign policy as it seeks to broaden and deepen it's relations.

The terms of the treaty include :

1. The elevation of diplomatic representation from the current legation level to full ambassadorial levels with embassies in our respective countries.

2. Commercial relationships through trade.

3. Mutual development of industries and infrastructure.

4. Supporting each of our nation's foreign policies on the world stage

5. Intelligence cooperation including aiding in the founding of a professional Ethiopian intelligence service.

The Export Matchmaking Service has seen an increase in workload as of late with the increase in trade with other nations.

For the purpose of industrialization, the importing of machines and other capital goods is essential to the improvement of labor productivity. However, private enterprise may not have the financial means to execute these purchases, nor do they benefit from the scale of purchasing more mature firms possess. For this reason, the IFCI (Industrial Finance Corporation of India) shall be expanded to include a new subsidiary, the Industrial Leasing Company of India (ILCI). The purpose of this institution is to use state funds to coordinate the bulk purchase of machinery and equipment from abroad, and see to its distribution to the private sector in the form of favorable leases and sales.

Unlike individual purchases, the government can benefit from the price advantage of buying in bulk. Additionally, the new entity will be capable of pursuing deals on equipment that has been retired from use abroad, but would still be transformative domestically, by making connections with large firms and governments to purchase retired equipment at a discount, that may not otherwise be marketed internationally for sale. The company will operate a maintenance arm in conjunction with these efforts to ensure pieces are in working order when sent out, and to assist in the operation of contracted equipment. Equipment that is not currently in use can be offered out on shorter discounted contracts, or used for government initiatives.

Additionally, the ILCI will be used to create demand support for domestic heavy industry, by purchasing surplus stock of strategically important capital goods, such as trains, machinery, and others, in order to keep these critical operations underway at peak efficiency. The ILCI will receive an annual budget to make these purchases, both in foreign exchange and in rupees, and will make determination of the best use for it.

The ILCI will be a critical part of Indias efforts at industrialization in this new era of independence; and has the full confidence of the government to execute its mission.

Athens, January 15, 1949

The Royal Palace

The sun hung low in the horizon above Athens. Late rain had left the palace courtyard dark and shining in the dying evening light. In the shadow of the Acropolis, the Greeks again fought for their freedom. They had prevailed against history’s mightiest empires,

Themistoklis Sophoulis entered the drawing room of the palace slowly, leaning firmly upon his cane. He was a small figure, with a narrow face, a high forehead, bushy white mustache and eyes that showed that age had not robbed him of his mind. As the old politician stood before the king, seated at his desk, he felt the weight of each of his eighty-eight years.

The king rose slowly. “Prime Minister.”

“Your Highness.”

The king gestured to a chair in front of the desk as the men shook hands. Sophoulis thought for a moment of remaining standing, to express the gravity of the situation to the king, but his knees begged him to accept the king’s generosity.

“You requested a private audience, Prime Minister.” The king was guarded. He knew negotiations to hold up the fragile government had been fraught, to say the least.

Sophoulis drew a folded sheet from his jacket pocket and placed it on the desk between them.

"I have brought you my resignation."

The king did not reach for the letter.

"Your resignation," he repeated.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"At this moment?"

"Your Majesty, I could hardly have chosen a better one if I wished to make a bad situation worse. The negotiations," the elder statesman paused, but then decided candor would be best, “have broken down.”

The king looked at him. Sophoulis's expression was dry, almost apologetic, but there was no hint that he intended to withdraw the letter.

"Do you mean to leave the government," Paul asked, "or do you mean to tell me that the government cannot continue as it is?"

Sophoulis tilted his head.

"Those are two different questions. I have answered the first. The second is the question Your Majesty must put to the gentlemen who have made the first unavoidable. Papandreou will not join the government while I remain your prime minister."

Paul leaned back.

"The army is fighting in the mountains. Men are dying every day to free Greece from the Communists. The Americans are asking what we intend to do with the assistance they send us. The British ask the same. And here in Athens, our politicians behave as though the principal enemy were the man sitting on the opposite side of the council table."

"That, Your Majesty, is an ancient Greek custom," Sophoulis said with the faintest hint of a grin.

“I need a prime minister who can be trusted to bridge these gaps, to see this war ended before we bicker away any advantage we have. I will be blunt, Prime Minister,” the king tapped the envelope with his fingers, “I am asking whether you can still govern.”

"I am an old man, Sire. I have spent much of my life watching governments rise, fall, and return under slightly different names. I cannot govern with men who regard every concession as a personal defeat and every colleague as a prospective rival in a time of national crisis."

Paul looked toward the windows. The rain had begun again, tapping lightly against the glass.

"Your enemies in Parliament will say that you have failed."

"My enemies in Parliament would say that if I had conquered Constantinople, Sire. What we need is unity, or at least the appearance of unity. We need it as much for our own soldiers as to deny our enemy the satisfaction of seeing a king quarrel with his prime minister or his cabinet squabble amongst itself.”

For several moments neither man spoke.

Paul was younger by a generation, but the burden on his shoulders felt just as heavy as the elder statesman’s years. He had become king less than two years earlier, after the death of his brother George II, and had spent most of the first month of his reign bedridden with typhoid fever. He had never been groomed for rule, the education of a future king had been given to his older brothers but not to him. It was moments like these that he felt out of his depth.

"What do you have me do?" he asked.

Sophoulis gazed at him steadily.

"That, Your Majesty, is a question for the Crown."

"I can not dismiss Parliament."

"I have not asked you to."

"I will not appoint a government merely to satisfy one party at the expense of the others."

"Nor should you."

"Then what is left?"

"A government that is broad enough to bear the burden of the war, and disciplined enough to conduct it. Men who understand that the country cannot afford another succession of ministerial crises in this hour."

Paul leaned forward.

"Can such a government be formed?"

"Yes."

"With you at its head?"

Sophoulis glanced at the resignation letter exasperatedly.

"I accept that your government cannot continue in its present form," the king said firmly. "But I am not yet convinced that Greece can do without you."

Three days later, Sophoulis would be reinstated as Prime Minister. Within a week, a new government would be formed. Parliament would reconvene on February 1st.

Key among the appointments was General Alexandros Papagos being made Commander-in-Chief of the Greek armed forces. His appointment came with the abolition of the National Defense Council. For better or for worse, General Papagos would be the only hand on the till of the war effort.

After the CPPCC empowered the Central People's Government, Chairman Mao wrote and released the following polemic "On the Revolutionary Duty of the Chinese Serviceman", ordering the armed forces of the Republic of China to join together under the banner of the People's Liberation Army.

The article was published in its full extent in People's Daily and reprinted and distributed in a clandestine manner by cadres across China -- even in the occupied zones -- throughout the month of February. Readings of the orders were broadcast hourly for multiple weeks across southern China.

On the Revolutionary Duty of the Chinese Serviceman

On the 12th of this month, February, the Chinese people achieved something extraordinary in the history of mankind: the total transition of state authority through democratic means from a fascist bourgeois-dictatorship to a democratic people’s dictatorship. No longer are orders passed down from Nanking to the Blue Shirt Society or the Chun-t’ong to kill inconvenient people and wipe them from the very memory of their families and villages. No longer do men who pride themselves on their comparison to Hitler or his stooges rule over the people of China.

Nor, indeed, are the People under an obligation to continue to serve them. 

We are, of course, aware of the tribulations of the Chinese soldier impressed in the service of the Chiang Kai-shek rebels. He is tied to his comrade at night so they may not join their brothers in defeating the fascist regime that has, for all intents and purposes, enslaved them. He is paid in worthless paper currency bearing the face of the man who has through force of arms compelled him into this miserable situation. He is fed a handful of rice per day and expected to accept that as payment for his service to the rebel regime. He grows skinny as brutal officers, who attained their position through corruption rather than any real merit, force him to spend 16 hours per day digging trenches in the rice paddies and marshland adjacent to the Yangtze Kiang.

Many hundreds of thousands of soldiers have liberated themselves from the ranks of the “National Revolutionary Army”, whose name is farcical in three parts: it does not represent the nation, it has long since ceased to be revolutionary in any sense, and it is little more than a mob of slaves forced at the point of a bayonet to stand before the People’s Liberation Army’s tanks and get ground under their treads. 

It is with these inhuman conditions in mind that the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission, empowered by the People of China and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference to command the Republic of China’s armies, issues the following orders to men in the service of the Republic of China:

1. Those currently impressed into service in the “Nationalist Army” or into the service of any other warlord are to take their arms north to unite with the People’s Liberation Army, the sole Army of the Republic of China;
2. Those currently impressed into service in the “Nationalist Army”, upon arrival, will be granted the decision to serve in the People’s Liberation Army at their current grade equivalent in the structure of the Army or to muster out and return to their home;
3. Those officers in command of soldiers in the “Nationalist Army” or that of any other warlord are to present themselves to the People’s Liberation Army, with their units;
4. Those officers in command of soldiers in the “Nationalist Army” or that of any other warlord who present themselves to the People’s Liberation Army as ordered will be given the opportunity to serve in the Army at their current grade equivalent in the structure of the Army or muster out and return to their home.

There is, naturally, the question of the aerial forces employed by the Nationalists. There are, as of now, hundreds of planes with hundreds of pilots, deceived by the fascist bandits into dropping bombs on the heroic soldiers endeavoring to liberate their country. Long have the righteous eyes of the soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army been cast skyward in daylight hours, their ears straining for the sound of airplane engines. 

Even so, there is no time for revenge or retribution. The People of China are united, once more, behind the Central People’s Government. A new era in our Republic is beginning, a People’s Democratic Dictatorship that has never been tried in our country. The slate will be wiped clean for those who treat with the People’s Government in good faith. Subsequently the following orders are issued, under the authority of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission, to the aviators and crewmen of the warlord air forces engaging in the service of Chiang Kai-shek and his allies:

1. Aviators are ordered to deliver their aircraft to air strips under the control of the authorities of the Republic of China, at points north of the Yangtze River;
2. Pilots who do so will be given the opportunity to serve in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, with a clear record, at a grade equivalent to their rank in the warlord armies.

The final service to address are the sailors of the “Republic of China Navy.” The naval service of the Republic dates back to the revolutionary era, when the Qing Imperial Navy defected to the Tongmenghui revolutionaries in 1911. Then again, in 1926, the Beiyang Fleet defected into the service of the Kuomintang – perhaps a wise decision in 1926, though its efficacy in 1949 seems far less apparent. If any organ of the armed services of China is, to its foundation, revolutionary, it is the Navy. I hereby call upon the officers of the Navy to consider the revolutionary heroism of Huang Chung-ying, or the courage of Admiral Cheng Pi-kwang, who joined the Great Revolutionary Forerunner Dr. Sun Yat-sen to form the precursor government to this very Republic in Canton in 1917. Throughout our nation’s history, the Navy has remained a potent revolutionary tool that has served to build and defend the Republic of China. I call upon it to do so again.

The Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People’s Government therefore issues the following orders:

1. Commanders of vessels in service of the erstwhile Nationalist government are to sail for ports under the control of the rightful government of the Republic of China;
2. Crews of these ships whose officers refuse to obey the first order are granted immunity to any form of military justice if they are to mutiny and deliver their vessels to the aforementioned ports;
3. Those commanders and crews who follow these orders, upon arrival at government-controlled ports, will be given the opportunity to continue service in the new People’s Liberation Army Navy, at a grade equivalent to their rank in the “Republic of China Navy”, or muster out and return home.

Recall the example of General Fu Tso-i, who surrendered Beijing to the rightful government two months ago and now sits in a position of prominence in the Revolutionary Military Commission. Recall the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have abandoned the forlorn cause of the fascist rebels. Rather than watching their shoes rot away in the sodden fields of Anwhei and Kiangsu, if they have them, the soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army are well fed, uniformed, and prepared to destroy the Chiang Kai-shek rebellion for once and all. 

The decision rests in each man: to serve the people, or to await the coming storm and die while their officers and the “officials” of the Kuomintang flee to Hawaii or Japan. 

Lashed by the brute season's whip,

Driven at last to the North.

On the heights where the spent sky ends,

Frost blades beneath, I stand.

Where should my knees bend down?

No place to take even a single step.

Now then, eyes shut, there's but one thought

Winter must be a rainbow, forged in iron. "The Summit" "Chŏlchŏng" - Yi Yukska, 1940.

Seoul, April 1949

There are two schools of thought. One would prioritise current needs over all, the future be damned. Others would rather catch the cow before it bolts from the barn. Dr. Rhee is a wise and cautious man, a man who will not let the cow escape. However, just like the butcher must avoid scaring the herd before the inevitable occurs, Dr. Rhee cannot act carelessly in preparing for the worst case scenario.

The truth is thus; the Army has grown faster than its supplies, and the shortages of 1948 are still within recent memory. The Americans are planning to leave, and the consequences of this are grim. There is no doubt that some within the National Assembly feel betrayed. Such a feeling is only natural. However, such feelings are better saved for another time. Now is the time to start a reserve for when the inevitable comes, rather than if it comes.

A reserve such as this is a multi-tool of sorts. Not a singular tool of conflict, but one that can be repurposed for any situation, be that a flood, famine, or a bad harvest. The Office of Planning has concluded that in the long term, the Republic cannot survive any sustained emergency without international support as of present. This conclusion is of course undeniable. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of this reserve is not to create a sustainable lifeline for the Republic, but rather to create enough breathing room to allow for international support to flow in and create that element of sustainability.

A new non-statutory National Reserve Board under the Office of Planning will run it. Its members come from the Ministries of National Defence, Finance, Commerce and Industry, and Agriculture and Forestry. They will however, not be published anywhere, or their involvement will remain secret.

This large cross-departmental co-operation will lead to fundamental arguments over the specific needs of the reserve. Therefore, the Office of Planning has decreed the following priorities:

The Security Services are the Reserve's first priority. The Board has been told to build up (in the background):

• Ammunition, in the types the Army actually uses. Not just whatever they can secure. Targets will be set in days of supply, in consultation with the American advisory group, and raised in stages as aid and purchases allow. (the Americans will of course be briefed about the reserve).
• Spare parts and maintenance stocks for weapons and vehicles, so that equipment already issued stays usable.
• Fuel and lubricants, held in small quantities in many places.
• Medical supplies, including dressings, surgical kits and basic and essential drugs, for the Army, Navy and for hospitals.
• Clothing, boots, blankets and field rations, which are obviously necessary to keep the Army fed and warm.
• Signals equipment, wire and batteries.

The Army has also been told to account for what it already holds. A first inventory is to be completed within ninety days, so that the Reserve begins by balancing out stocks that are plentiful in one depot and absent in the next. This would ease the pressure on securing the relevant stocks in the short term. It is hoped that the reserve system will be able to supply the Army for at least six months on its own, however, this is a goal.

As for the civilian reserve, the Board has been directed to build up (in the background, of course, to avoid raising the prices of crucial goods):

• Rice and barley, held in provincial granaries and replenished from the grain repayments due under the land reform programme.
• Salt, cooking oil and soybean stocks, the basics of the Korean dining table.
• Heating fuel, mainly anthracite and coal briquettes drawn from the southern mines, with priority given to the cities and to families who have no other source of warmth. Wood if that fails.

Certain perishable goods will be released once adequate stocks have been built up. The first release is planned for the coming winter, with coal briquettes for poor urban districts at a controlled price.

There is, of course, the issue of reserve placement and security.

The depots will be placed in the south, in and around Pusan, Taegu, Masan and Chinhae, with smaller stores at provincial capitals. No more than one-fifth of any category may be held north of the Han River. Stocks are to be spread across many small sites in preference to a few large ones, so that a fire, a flood or... other disaster cannot take out the reserve in one fell swoop.

But of course, such small sites may lead to looting or thievery; therefore, all depots will require a two-key access system, with a Board inspector and a unit officer both required to be present at any opening, with quarterly inventories checked without any sort of warning or notice by the Board of Audit. To further strengthen this, the American advisory group will be allowed to inspect military supplies. Any looting is to be punishable as treason.

[April 1949, New Delhi]

"Pursuant to the declaration to this governments strategy regarding the economy last year, this assembly aims to codify into law the structure of relations between business, labor, and government, in order to establish a just truce within the economy. It is the responsibility of the state to neither neglect the interests of the laboring peoples of the country, nor the individual rights of the worker and business owner. In parallel, the state has the obligation to see to the public interest, in preventing labor disputes from disrupting the whole of society..."

The act provides for the creation of both National, and State Labor boards. These bodies are to be occupied by jurists, agents of the state, representatives of the business interests of each major sector within the country, as well as the representatives of the largest labor organizations. These boards are to oversee the conditions of laborers, the financial status of businesses, and arbitrate disputes between labor and capital.

The bill recognizes several fundamental rights of the laborer:

1) To withhold ones labor, to negotiate compensation and working conditions with ones employer

2) To collectively bargain, both with ones immediate coworkers, and with others in the economy

3) To representation, in all negotiations with ones employer regarding compensation, discipline, and working conditions

4) To employment, irrespective of private contracts regarding debt, or membership in any public or private institution

The bill also clarifies that no employer shall be required to issue payment for unfulfilled labor, and to hire worker regardless of their private, personal affiliations.

Several carve-out have also been made regarding public employees. With the bill stating that "Employees of the state waive these relevant rights when taking on employment in service of society; and are thus not permitted to force such organizations that usurp lawful democratic authority."

The Bill also establishes the right of the state to arbitrate disputes. In accordance with the 1948 industries act, the state asserts that worker pay is under the purview of the economic planning authority of the government. All labor representation organizations are required to receive licensure from state, and where applicable National labor boards. Licensed organizations are required to report any strike or contract signed to relevant boards. Licensed organizations and businesses are required to accept the rulings of said labor boards in regards to pay, with Labor boards being permitted to institute fines, seize assets, and authorize the termination of employees.

The act proved to be divisive within Parliament. The socialist party, under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan, said the ability of businesses to circumvent labor organizations in hiring represented "..an insult to the dignity of the worker, and the assertion of the ultimate hegemony of capital." Members of the INC liberal tent also criticized the bill, declaring it "the first stepping stone to a soviet economy, and radical totalitarianism." Despite these criticisms, the bill managed to pass fairly comfortably, thanks to defections from the socialist party, and the INCs own commanding presence in legislature.

Experts predict that the regulatory changes will likely see the consolidation of the countries labor organizations into large, cross-sector representation firms, as membership now depends on such organizations actively competing with each other for new members, and associated dues. Representation on state labor boards will likely come to reflect the successes of the largest of said organizations to create pluralized constituencies of members across the economy. Some have pointed out that the bill also quietly creates an avenue out of bonded labor; but that it provides no enforcement apparatus for such arrangements, outside the state labor boards.

April 1st, 1949

Even before Israel was a country, it was run by David Ben-Gurion. Now, for the first time, it has fallen under the control of another man, Doctor Moshe Sneh, a man who has lived in Palestine for less than a decade and has spent that time earning the respect and ire of the locals in equal measure. Now he is faced with the task of wrangling the anti-Mapai opposition in the young county into something resembling a real government.

Mapam was, for the moment, united behind him. They agreed that this, the creation of a Left-Wing government committed to the ideals of Socialism and Neutralism, was a million times more important than petty squabbling over the exact area kibbutzes could take from Arab refugees.

Nathan Yellin-Mor’s party, Fighter’s List, was a natural coalition partner. They believed many of the same things as Mapam, and while Yellin-Mor viewed Sneh as a personal enemy (They had actively fought on opposite sides during the Second World War), he always followed the Soviet line now. And the Soviet line on Mapam was exceptionally clear.

The Communist Party, usually called Maki, was a tougher sell. They were always a little distrustful of Mapam, less for any political reasons than practical ones. Maki were a political party first and foremost. They were founded to be a political party. Mapam’s scattershot coalition of disparate forces seemed unprofessional and unfocused. Sneh, as a committed Communist, was the most acceptable member of the party to them by far, but they still took some convincing, mostly on the Arab question, to join the government. Aharon Cohen, Mapam’s most devoted Arabist (Indeed, he may have been the only member of senior Mapam leadership to actually speak Arabic), convinced them that Maki’s Arab wing would have a significant role in the development of new Palestinian Kibbutzes in Galilee.

However, this did not guarantee a majority in parliament. Tabenkin believed that a compromise could be reached with the religious zionists, but the more rational voices in the party shut him down almost immediately. Not only would that be crossing the Rubicon in Israeli politics, it was also very stupid.

Sneh leaned on his former friends in the Progressive Party. They may be liberals, but they knew him. Over the evening of March 31st, he laid down a list of concessions, some minor (setting up a ministry of Women), some major (Rosen to serve as the Minister of Justice), and some that seemed like concessions but in reality were what Sneh already intended to do (establishing a constitution by 1950) All this together meant that, for the time being, the Israeli Communist government would be narrowly reliant on liberal progressive support.

On the morning of April 1st, Doctor Moshe Sneh announced the formation of the first Mapam government in Israeli history, and his cabinet:

Prime Minister: Dr. Moshe Sneh (Mapam)

Deputy Prime Minister: Meir Ya’ari (Mapam)

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Nahum Nir (Mapam)

Minister of Education and Culture: Ya’akov Zerubavel (Mapam)

Minister of Defense: Yitzhak Sadeh (Mapam)

Minister of Agriculture: Aharon Zisling (Mapam)

Minister of Rationing and Supply: Shmuel Mikunis (Maki)

Minister of Finance: Modechai Bentov (Mapam)

Minister of Trade and Industry: Yisrael Bar-Yehuda (Mapam)

Minister of Health: Yitzhak Guenbaum (Mapam)

Minister of Immigration: Meir Vilner (Maki)

Minister of the Interior: Yisrael Galili (Mapam)

Minister of Communications: Zvi Lurie (Mapam)

Minister of Justice: Pinchas Rosen (Progressive)

Minister of Labor and Social Security: Yitzhak Tabenkin (Mapam)

Minister of Police: Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit (SOC)

Minister of Religions and War Victims: David Livschitz (Mapam)

Minister of Transportation: Eliezer Preminger (Maki)

Minister of Welfare: Eliezer Peri (Mapam)

Minister of Womens’ Affairs: Rachel Cohen-Kagan (WIZO)

Minister of Minorities: Aharon Cohen (Mapam)

Ottawa, 16 March 1949

The Honourable C. D. Howe, Minister of Trade and Commerce, today announced reciprocal trade arrangements with Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, expanding opportunities for Canadian exports and Caribbean raw sugar.

For the calendar years 1949–1951, qualifying raw cane sugar imports will be eligible for partial customs-duty remission within the following annual allowances:

• Cuba: 75,000 United States short tons.
• Haiti: 25,000 United States short tons.
• Dominican Republic: 50,000 United States short tons.

The arrangements establish a combined annual allowance of 150,000 United States short tons, or up to 450,000 short tons over three years.

The remission will bring qualifying sugar’s duty-paid landed cost into line with that of comparable Commonwealth sugar, without exceeding the customs duty paid. Eligibility extends retrospectively to qualifying imports entered from 1 January 1949, with repayments subject to the necessary Canadian legal and administrative authority.

Haiti’s and the Dominican Republic’s allowances will remain separately reserved during the first nine months of each year. Beginning on 1 October, surrendered or uncommitted quantities may be reassigned between them upon application and approval by Canadian customs authorities. Existing reservations will remain protected, the combined annual ceiling of 75,000 short tons will not increase, and unused quantities will not carry forward into subsequent years.

In return, Cuba will extend United States-equivalent tariff and covered tax treatment to agreed Canadian lumber, paper, agricultural machinery, industrial equipment, flour, potatoes, apples, milk products, cereals and salmon. Among the agreed reductions, the duty on Canadian wheat flour will fall from 0.83 to 0.63 Cuban pesos per 100 kilograms, while that on general industrial machinery will decline from 10% to 7.98% of customs value. Canadian salted cod will enter at 3.30 Cuban pesos per 100 kilograms, exempt from the emergency surtax and protected against offsetting increases in other import charges.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic will each reduce customs duties on Canadian wheat, wheat flour and preserved fish by 25%; lumber, wood products and agricultural machinery by 20%; and industrial machinery and manufactured equipment by 15%.

Canada will also reduce the ordinary rum duty from C$6.00 to C$4.50 per Canadian customs proof gallon, consistently with its most-favoured-nation obligations. The separate C$7.00 addition remains unchanged.

Sugar purchases will remain private commercial transactions. The arrangements provide no government purchasing guarantee and do not cover refined sugar. The agreed concessions will be administered upon completion of the necessary domestic legal measures and customs arrangements.

The agreements are intended to strengthen Canadian exports of agricultural produce, forest products and manufactured equipment, while diversifying the sources of raw sugar available to Canadian refiners and expanding commercial relations with the Caribbean republics.

[The Times of India, New Delhi, April 1949]

As work on the new constitution continues behind the scenes, the provisional constituent assembly undertakes further work on the foundational regulatory framework for the economy. The newest piece of legislation is aimed at creating the structure for the private banking and lending system of the country.

Under the Banking Act, the recently nationalized RBI is to be granted the authority to grant and revoke licensure to any institution operating in the sector. The bill provides rights from shareholders, and delineates their responsibilities, create a supervisory body for boards of Directors, lays down instructions for audits, controls the processes of Moratoriums, mergers, and liquidations, set directives for institutions to operate in the interest of the public good, and establishes fines for the violation of the above.

The act broadly defines the definition of a banking company, asserting that it is "...any company that accepts deposits for the purpose of funding its business..." The text of the bill is extensive, representing a major legislative feat for the INC dominated constituent assembly. The broadness of the potential application of the text will give a sturdy bit on the financial system to the executive of the Indian State; though it is unclear the direction the state is yet to take in regards to the management of said system.

The Cuban Senate ratified the creation of the Group for the Repression of Subversive Activities (GRAS) by a narrow vote largely following the lines of the Authentic-Republican coalition with a few members of the Authentic party opting to abstain. The new agency will be of a military police like structure answering directly to the president, tasked with stopping the growing political violence in the country with two main areas of focus. The organization will receive some training from American military and intelligence agents with promises of further cooperation, though any broader plan to find the organization has not been confirmed.

The first is labor unions. Union officials, both communist and government affiliated, have been subject to intimidation, beatings, kidnappings and even assassinations at a growing rate since 1946. Different groups ranging from local organized crime outfits, revolutionary elements, the American Mafia, government officials, and (allegedly) foreign corporations have all used violence in attempts to gain these powerful positions from which they can either influence union policy to be more favorable to their interests, reward their supporters, or collect bribes. The second is to target organizations who seek to subvert the state. While the legislation creating GRAS largely dances around who exactly the government intends to target, it is largely understood that they intend to investigate student organizations, political gangs, and communist revolutionaries.

While the aims of the Group for the Repression of Subversive Activities seem noble on paper, many Cubans worry that the organization may instead be wielded as a blunt instrument against their perceived political opponents. Members of the Cuban Socialist Party in particular have raised outcry over the legislation, vowing to construct legal challenges against the fledgling organization. While nothing about a police force organized under the President seems to violate the Cuban constitution on paper, many assert that it is only a matter of time before it is used to imprison political opponents of president Carlos Manuel Prío Socarrás.

The contract to make their uniforms has been arranged with local manufacturers; despite being nominally a policing force, their uniform will look largely similar to the planned redesigns for various branches of the military with an open faced jacket. Their pants will be khaki colored, with their jackets a navy blue, with red shirts. They also will be issued aviator style sunglasses, sourced exclusively from a company operating out of Tampa. The fact that this company is owned by a good friend of the sitting President is surely a coincidence.

[April 1949, Kashmir]

Lines of Tanks, trucks, horses, marching men, and artillery pieces choke the Pir Panjal and Banihal. As the winter snow has begun to finally convincingly melt, the Indian Army has begun its withdraw of heavy weapons, pursuant to deescalation plan signed with Pakistan but a few months prior. They are under orders to stage at a green field site in Gurdaspur, and await a train back to their home depots.

Despite the misgivings of command, Parliament, and the men of the army, peace has begun to arrive

It has become clear that in this new age clandestine activities and intelligence gathering operations have become a major instrument of power. Scattered one off efforts under the Imperial micromanagement will simply not do. Thus the Imperial Ethiopian Intelligence Department (IEID) was born.

The IEID was born with the cooperation of the British trained Indian Intelligence Bureau and Czech intelligence agencies, having been in discussions for a while. The Czechs wanted to establish a radio inteercept listening post in Ethiopia but that was denied due to the known prescence of American intelligence assets in the region as a result of previous Ethiopian intelligence operations, and not wanting to fall too far into the eastern camp.The main subject of interest for the department is doubtlessly Eritrea, given it's policy importance to Ethiopia.

The department shall be chaired by trusted persons endorsed personally by the Imperial crown. The Emperor has made a point that even bad news contradicting his positions and preferences are to be reported accurately, and wrote into into the department regulations that they will not be penalized for delivering bad news provided all other due dilligences and duties are correctly observed. Additionally, regulations on decision making has been issued that decisions in contrary to available intelligence must have justifiable reasons. These regulations are intended to maintain a culture of honest and competent reporting.

The department itself does not have any national policy determining powers, it's duties are confined to reporting or specifically directed operations. Existing operations shall be folded under the department, while various continuous efforts shall be established. Despite foreign technical assistance, the department remains solely under Imperial Ethiopian control. Foreign operations are prohibited unless expressly agreed upon by Imperial grant.

Santiago, April 1949

Chile has negotiated new opportunities to purchase industrial machinery and train technical personnel. Yet importing equipment will accomplish little if the people operating it face preventable injuries, inadequate instruction, and poorly maintained workplaces.

President Gabriel González Videla has therefore directed the Ministry of Labor to organize a six-month industrial-safety pilot in Santiago and Valparaíso. The initiative will strengthen enforcement of existing industrial hygiene and safety regulations rather than create another national agency.

A Limited Beginning

During the first month, the Ministry will identify available inspectors, prepare an operating budget, and select up to twenty workplaces across the two cities for initial inspections and follow-up visits.

Priority will go to metalworking shops, machinery-repair establishments, and factories using dangerous mechanical equipment, including enterprises participating in government-supported development programs. Selection will reflect hazards, complaints, and available inspection capacity rather than political connections.

The pilot will not exempt other workplaces from existing law. Routine inspections and urgent complaints outside the selected establishments must continue.

Inspections That Produce Improvements

Inspectors will examine machinery guards, exposed belts and shafts, electrical hazards, ventilation, passageways, fire precautions, and access to first-aid supplies.

Each inspection will produce a written record identifying deficiencies, their legal basis, the corrective work required, and a follow-up date. Employers will receive clear instructions instead of an undefined demand to “modernize” their premises.

Simple corrections should be completed promptly. More substantial alterations will receive deadlines proportionate to their complexity, without allowing an immediate danger to remain unaddressed. Serious hazards and continued noncompliance will be referred through existing enforcement procedures.

Employers will remain responsible for legally required safety improvements. The state will not automatically purchase new equipment for every firm inspected.

Workers will be invited to describe unsafe conditions directly to inspectors, individually or through their representatives. Their observations will be considered alongside physical inspections and available workplace records. Access to the complaint process will not depend on union membership.

Training Alongside Machinery

CORFO will incorporate operating instruction, maintenance guidance, and necessary protective equipment into new government-supported machinery arrangements wherever technically and contractually appropriate.

Instruction must be understandable to the Chilean workforce. Suppliers and participating employers will be asked to provide Spanish-language guidance or arrange translation before unfamiliar machinery enters regular operation.

Experienced mechanics and technical instructors will assist with practical demonstrations of safe operation and maintenance. Training will complement machine guards and other physical protections, not substitute for them.

The international exchanges already arranged will support this effort as participants return. Their future knowledge will not be treated as expertise Chile already possesses.

Paying for Enforcement

Initial administrative expenses will be met only from legally available labor-inspection appropriations, verified before expenditure. Existing staff assignments must account for their regular responsibilities.

If staffing or funds cannot support the planned coverage, the Ministry will reduce the initial schedule or submit a specific supplementary request through the proper budgetary process. No additional borrowing or automatic permanent hiring is authorized by this announcement.

Development credit intended for productive equipment will not be treated as unrestricted money for government payrolls.

Measuring the Results

The Ministry will establish an initial record of workplace conditions and available accident information. After six months, it will report the number of establishments inspected, corrections completed, unresolved hazards, training provided, staffing demands, and administrative costs.

Reported accidents will be assessed cautiously. Better reporting may initially reveal incidents that previously went unrecorded; a change in recorded numbers alone will not establish success or failure.

Expansion will depend upon the review rather than a promise of immediate nationwide transformation.

Chile’s industrial development must produce more than additional machinery and larger balance sheets. It must also produce workplaces in which Chileans can earn a living without being treated as expendable.

The worker behind the machine must matter as much as the machine itself.

Karachi, Dominion of Pakistan - April 1949

Overview

The first months of independence have been spent answering emergencies. Refugees must be fed and housed; the armed forces must be maintained; the frontiers must be secured; and a government must be made to function across two wings separated by a thousand miles of Indian territory. These are the immediate burdens of sovereiginty. They cannot, however, become its permanent purpose.

Pakistan cannot live indefinitely upon the sacrifices of its people, tge remnants of inherited institutions, and the goodwill of foreign governments. It must produce, trade, build and educate. Independence must become something tangible: a farm with reliable irrigation, a railway that arrives, a factory that employs, a port that trades, and a child who receives an education sufficient to take part in the country's future.

Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan has therefore directed the government towards a programme of national reconstruction, bringing the Finance, Commerce, Communications, Agriculture and Industries departments into a common effort to establish the foundations of sustainable economic growth.

The ambition is considerable but thwe resources arent. The programme must consequently be practical, prioritised and open to international cooperation, without surrendering the independence it is intended to secure.

Foundations: food, water and power

Pakistan's first economic priority is to increase what it can produce for itself.

The agricultural wealth of the Indus Basin offers an extraordinary foundation for national prosperity, but the promise of that land depends upon water management, canal maintenance, drainage, agricultural credit, improved seed, fertiliser and reliable access to markets. The government will begin a technical assessment of irrigation infrastructure and agricultural productivity, identifying improvements that can be undertaken immediately and larger schemes requiring engineering studies and external finance.

The objective is not simply to produce more cotton for export. Pakistan must also feed its population, reduce avoidable dependence upon imported foodstuffs, and ensure that agricultural prosperity reaches the cultivator as well as the merchant.

Electricity is the necessary companion to this undertaking. Rural electrification will take time, but the expansion of generation and distribution around major towns, industrial centres, railway facilities and agricultural processing sites must begin now. No credible industrial programme can proceed without dependable power.

The government will invite proposals from British and American engineering firms, alongside other interested partners, for electrical equipment, irrigation works, pumps and technical training. Initial projects will be selected according to their cost, practical feasibility and contribution to productive capacity, rather than their prestige.

From raw commodities to a producing economy

The objective is not simply to produce more cotton for export. Pakistan must also feed its population, reduce avoidable dependence upon imported foodstuffs, and ensure that agricultural prosperity reaches the cultivator as well as the merchant.

Electricity is the necessary companion to this undertaking. Rural electrification will take time, but the expansion of generation and distrbution around major towns, industrial centres, railway facilities and agricultural processing sites must begin now. No credible industrial programme can proceed without dependable power.

The government will invite proposals from British and American engineering firms, alongside other interested partners, for electrical equipment, irrigation works, pumps and technical training. Initial projects will be selected according to their cost, practical feasibility and contribution to productive capacity, rather than their prestige.

Foreign capital and expertise will be welcomed. British manufacturers possess experience, commercial connections and knowledge of the machinery Pakistan needs. American firms may find opportunities in electrical equipment, agricultural technology and industrial development. Private investment, joint ventures and carefully negotiated equipment credits should all be considered.

But this must be a partnership, not a permanent arrangement in which Pakistan exports raw materials and imports everything of greater value. Agreements should provide for Pakistani apprentices, technical training and the gradual development of domestic management and maintenance capabilities.

The government will also explore the establishment of a development-finance mechanism to support productive private enterprise, particularly where modest loans could enable workshops, mills and agricultural businesses to expand. Its structure and funding will require further examination; it must not become another name for spending money the Treasury does not possess.

The Wings (Again)

No national programme can succeed if it treats East and West Pakistan as separate economic worlds, or assumes that investment in one automatically benefits the other.

East Bengal possesses a substantial population, a major jute economy, extensive waterways and the commercial potential of Chittagong. Yet its needs for industrial investment, transport, electricity and technical education cannot be indefinitely postponed while western institutions receive the greater share of administrative attention.

West Pakistan, meanwhile, mjst address agricultural productivity, railway capacity, industrial development, the needs of its growing cities and the immense task of connecting its diverse regions. Karachi's port and commercial networks are vital national assets, but the prosperity of the country cannot be measured by the fortunes of Karachi alone.

The government will therefore require the reconstruction survey to identiify projects in both wings, with their expected employment, costs, transport requirements and economic returns made explicit. Particular attention will be paid to improving the movement of goods between producing districts, ports and domestic markets.

The aim is a complementary economy: Bengal's jute and West Pakistan's cotton supporting processing and manufacturing; improved transport linking producers to consumers; and national investment creating opportunities in both wings.

There will be difficult questions about where factories are established, where revenue is spent and which regions receive the earliest benefits. Tgese questions cannot be avoided by patriotic declarations. They must be answered through a programme whose decisions can be explained and scrutinised.

Refugees: from emergency relief to productive citizenship

The refugee crisis remains both a humanitarian obligation and an economic challenge.

Emergency food, shelter and medical assistance must continue, but permanent displacement cannot be the foundation of a functioning society. The government will develop proposals for refugee rehabilitation through housing, vocational training, employment, small-business assistance and public works.

Where practical, reconstruction projects should empkoy people who have been displaced, enabling relief expenditure to provide both immediate support and lasting assets. Housing must be accompanied by sanitation and access to water; employment schemes must be connected to useful work rather than temporary political display.

The United States has offered $10.6m in foreign-aid grants as a starting point for refugee assistance. Pakistan will provide a clear expenditure plan, with identifiable projects, transparent accounts and regular reporting, so that the American government can demonstrate to Congress that its assistance is producing measurable results.

This relief must not be confused with a comprehensive industrial development fund. Both are necesssary, but they have different purposes and must be accounted for separately.

The infrastructure of independence

Economic ambition is meaningless without the means to carry it out. Four areas require immediate attention.

Railways and communications. Tge government will assess rolling-stock shortages, track and workshop maintenance, freight capacity and connections between agricultural districts, industrial centres and ports. Roads should complement the railway network, particularly where they connect rural producers to markets or link communities poorly served by existing transport.

Ports and shipping. Karachi is indispensable to Pakistan's international commerce, while Chittagong is central to East Bengal's export economy. Both require careful assessment of handling capacity, storage, cargo movement and supporting rail and road links. The government will seek British technical assistance for a port-development study, while exploring the commercial opportunities available to shipping and engineering firms.

Electricity and industrial utilities. Investment must support actual productive demand. Industrial estates, railway workshops, processing plants and urban distribution systems should be considered alongside longer-term generation projects.

Technical education. Pakistan requires engineers, surveyors, accountants, mechanics, electricians and skilled industrial workers as urgently as it requires machinery. The government will examine scholarships overseas, technical colleges, apprenticeships and partnerships between employers and training institutions. Imported expertise should help build Pakistani expertise, not substitute for it indefinitely.

These proposals will be submitted for costing and prioritisation. Projects will be judged by their contribution to production, employment, trade and future revenue, with due consideration for the time required before benefits materialise.

An invitation to our international partners

Pakistan will pursue these objectives through a foreign economic policy founded on cooperation, commercial opportunity and national independence.

To the United Kingdom, the government proposes a practical programme of technical collaboration: railway and port engineering, electrical equipment, industrial machinery, technical education and the development of domestic maintenance and manufacturing capacity. Britain's existing commercial relationships and engineering experience offer a useful starting point. We invite the British government to wrk withbus especially on the ports of Karachi and Chittagong, and idsentify specific projects, available expertise, financing arrangements and realistic timetables.

To the United States, Pakistan welcomes continued humanitarian assistance and seeks to develop the relationship towards productive investment, agricultural improvement, electrical development and industrial training. We do not ask Washington to finance an unlimited programme without scrutiny, we ask that clearly defined projects be considered on their merits, and that American businesses be given opportunities to participate in Pakistan's economic development.

To Turkey, Iran and the wider Muslim world, Pakistan extends an invitation to explore trade, technical exchanges, transport connections and opportunities for private enterprise. Political sympathy is welcome, but commercial relationships must be built through practical arrangements that benefit all parties.

Pakistan will also remain open to trade and diplomatic engagement beyond these relationships. Our geogrgaphy should be an economic asset, not a permanent barrier.

The argument in the cabinet

The programme has not emerged without disagreement.

The Finance Ministry has insisted that the government cannot promise every railway, factory, power station and irrigation scheme at once. Foreign exchange is scarce, trained personnel are limited, and even a generously financed project may fail if the necessary machinery, transport or expertise cannot be obtained. The Treasury wjll not accept a collection of impressive announcements in place of a workable investment programme.

Others have argued that excessive caution would itself be costly. A country that delays investment until every uncertainty disappears will remain dependent upon precisely those imports and foreign relationships it hopes eventually to reduce. The question is whether we can afford the consequences of failing to develop.

There are also disagrements over the location and distribution of investment. Bengal's representatives will rightly expect its contribution to national exports to be reflected in industrial opportunities and public expenditure. Western officials will point to the urgent needs of agriculture, transport, defence and the administrative centre. Neither argument can simply be dismissed-the task of government is to turn these competing claims into a common programme rather than allowing them to harden into rival economic loyalties.

Liaquat Ali Khan has made clear that the programme must remain within the limits of what the state can deliverr. Yet the Prime Minister also understands that fiscal restraint without economic ambition offers no lasting answer to Pakistan's predicament. The government must learn to spend carefully without thinking small.

The work ahead

The immediate task is to turn these priorities into a sequence of costed, deliverable projects. The departments concerned will be expected to identify what can begin with existing resources, what requires foreign assistance, and what must wait for further study. Proposals should specify their location, anticipated benefits, staffing needs, imported equipment and maintenance requirements.

The government invites foreign goverbments, engineering firms, manufacturers, banks and private investors to submit practical proposals. It also invites Pakistani businesses, agricultural organisations and provincial representatives to identify the obstacles preventing productive work in their own communities.

There will be no claim that a single programme can resolve Pakistan's difficulties in a matter of months. Nor will the government pretend that every proposal will survive the scrutiny of cost and feasibility. What matters is that reconstruction begins to proceed according to a national purpose, rather than through disconnected emergencies and improvised decisions.

The task of April 1949 is thmgerefore clear: to begin building an economy capable of sustaining the independence won in 1947.

[New Delhi, April 1949, Foreign Ministry office]

"Secretary Acheson used those exact words?"

"Should the Plebiscite fall through, the tensions could pose a risk to US investment... yes more or less those exact words Sir."

"Well, damn. Pardon my explicity. So now we have no choice, do we?"

"No, I am afraid we dont. Not unless we can find a couple hundred million USD worth of ForEx somewhere else?"

The room goes silent.

"So much for sovereignty... I would like recommendations for the commission appointment on my desk by tomorrow evening"

"Yes, Prime Minister"

Ottawa, March 1949

Several authorities inherited from the war and its immediate aftermath were approaching expiry, requiring Parliament to decide which exceptional powers should be continued and for how long. Foreign-exchange restrictions, transitional controls and agricultural marketing arrangements occupied much of the House of Commons during March, while legislation concerning public corporations, national parks and other matters advanced alongside them.

Beyond these domestic questions, the proposed North Atlantic Treaty was placed before Parliament. Its consideration would produce an unusual degree of agreement among the principal parties, notwithstanding their differences over the Government's domestic policies.

14–18 March — The Legislative Programme

On 14 March, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Gardiner, introduced a bill respecting the marketing of agricultural products in interprovincial and export trade.

The proposed legislation was distinct from the Government's request to continue the existing Agricultural Products Act for another year. It received its first reading and remained before the House for subsequent consideration.

The same sitting brought first readings for Senate measures concerning the National Parks Act and the Dominion Atlantic Railway Company. Both entered the Commons legislative programme without completing their parliamentary passage.

On 17 March, the Prime Minister secured arrangements for morning sittings beginning at eleven o'clock while the House disposed of measures concerning foreign exchange, transitional controls, agricultural products and the Canadian Commercial Corporation. Provision was also made for Saturday sittings should they prove necessary.

The Government sought to complete these measures before the existing authorities expired, while Opposition members questioned both their necessity and the powers they would continue to confer upon ministers.

On 18 March, Mr. St. Laurent laid before the House the proposed North Atlantic Treaty, in English and French, in anticipation of the conference at Washington early in April.

17–23 March — Foreign Exchange and Transitional Powers

The proposed continuation of the Foreign Exchange Control Act brought the Government's monetary policy under sustained examination.

Mr. Abbott recalled the sharp depletion of Canada's gold and United States dollar reserves in 1947. Their subsequent recovery was welcome, but the Government did not consider that the underlying difficulties of international payments had disappeared. European recovery remained incomplete, and the shortage of convertible currencies continued to affect markets for Canadian production.

Mr. Macdonnell, speaking for the Progressive Conservatives, challenged the Government's course. He urged that the Canadian dollar be permitted to seek a more realistic economic level within the limits of the Bretton Woods arrangements. Rather than continue the existing legislation into 1951, he sought a shorter extension and representations to the International Monetary Fund directed toward adjustment of currencies and the eventual removal of exchange restrictions.

His proposed amendments encountered procedural objections. The first was ruled inappropriate to the preliminary motion; a further version offered at second reading was likewise ruled out of order.

Macdonnell nevertheless maintained that Canada's dependence upon exports made the restoration of workable international exchange particularly urgent. Continued restrictions, he argued, could not provide a permanent answer to the difficulties of international trade.

The CCF approached the question differently. Mr. Coldwell supported continued control, arguing that the condition of world trade offered little prospect of an immediate return to full currency convertibility. His support did not signify general satisfaction with the Government's economic policy, but reflected his judgment that the restrictions remained necessary.

The Continuation of Transitional Measures Act produced a separate dispute concerning the powers exercised by ministers and officials.

Mr. Garson defended the retention of those controls which the Government considered necessary during the transition from wartime conditions. Rent regulation, shortages and the administration of essential supplies figured prominently in the discussion.

Mr. Fleming opposed the method by which these powers were being continued. Parliament, he maintained, ought to consider specific measures for specific purposes rather than renew a collection of extraordinary authorities together. Necessary protection for tenants could be provided through ordinary legislation without continuing the broader emergency framework.

On 22 March, the Speaker ruled out of order Fleming's amendment seeking reference of the bill to the Banking and Commerce Committee with instructions concerning separate measures. Mr. Drew appealed the ruling, but the Speaker was sustained.

The House then completed second reading and consideration in Committee of the Whole. The bill was reported without amendment and passed its third reading that evening. The CCF supported continuation while maintaining its criticisms of the Government's administration of prices and living costs.

On 23 March, the House completed third reading of the foreign-exchange bill. The Progressive Conservatives maintained their opposition, while Government and CCF members supported its passage.

The measure continued the existing Foreign Exchange Control Act until sixty days after the commencement of the first parliamentary session beginning in 1951. It did not itself alter the exchange value of the Canadian dollar.

23–25 March — Agriculture, Commerce and Other Legislation

Alongside the emergency continuations, the House advanced several measures concerning the ordinary administration of government.

Mr. Howe explained that the Canadian Commercial Corporation required a continuing basis for its operations, authority to obtain working funds and arrangements for recovering expenses incurred when its services were employed by government departments and agencies.

Members questioned the Minister about the Corporation's accounts, purchasing activities and the funds required for its operations.

The resulting amendment authorized loans from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, with no more than $10 million outstanding at any time. It permitted the retention of business receipts, subject to repayment of those loans, and provided for the recovery of transaction costs and proportionate operating expenses. The Commons completed its remaining stages on 24 March.

The National Parks amendment concerned several smaller matters.

At Banff National Park, the proposed boundary adjustment related to the Spray Lakes storage and power undertaking. Mr. MacKinnon described arrangements with Alberta intended to preserve river flows necessary for scenic purposes, firefighting, essential services and the protection of fish.

At Elk Island National Park, a narrow strip was to be withdrawn for the widening of a provincial highway. The measure also changed the name of New Brunswick National Park to Fundy National Park, following a recommendation from the provincial Government and a competition among schoolchildren.

The bill completed its Commons stages without amendment on 23 March.

Mr. Bertrand's rural-mail legislation addressed the rising cost of maintaining mail services under existing contracts. Supplemental payments had been granted to contractors whose original agreements no longer adequately covered their expenses. The Postmaster General sought authority to incorporate these supplements into the prices of renewed contracts rather than continue them as temporary additions.

The House passed the measure on 24 March.

Agricultural legislation produced a more searching controversy.

Mr. Gardiner sought another year's operation of the Agricultural Products Act amid uncertainty over overseas markets, Britain's shortage of dollars and the future disposal of Canadian farm production.

The Progressive Conservatives questioned the Government's marketing record and the constitutional justification for continuing exceptional authority.

Mr. Hackett maintained that the desirability of assisting producers or supplying food abroad did not, by itself, establish the existence of a national emergency. Mr. Diefenbaker pressed the Minister concerning the prospects for Canadian agricultural exports, while Mr. Fleming returned to the responsibilities of Parliament and the provinces.

Mr. Wright, for the CCF, supported continuation but considered the protection offered to producers insufficient. Farm expenses had risen, while falling product prices threatened to leave producers exposed. Existing arrangements, he argued, did not provide adequate certainty concerning the prices upon which farmers could depend.

On 25 March, Mr. Gardiner tabled agreements signed the previous day for British purchases of Canadian eggs, cheese and bacon.

The House then completed the continuation bill's second reading, committee consideration and third reading. The operation of the Agricultural Products Act would be extended to 31 March 1950. The separate agricultural-products marketing bill remained unfinished.

25 March — Royal Assent and Other Measures

The first Royal Assent ceremony of the month took place on 25 March.

Chief Justice Thibaudeau Rinfret, acting as Deputy Governor General, gave Royal Assent to the continuation of foreign-exchange control, the extension of transitional measures, the Canadian Commercial Corporation amendment and the National Parks amendment.

The Commons also disposed of four smaller Senate-originating bills.

Mr. Chevrier secured the appointment of George A. Touche and Company as independent auditors of Canadian National Railways for 1949. Mr. Church questioned whether the Auditor General might undertake the work instead. The Minister defended the need for continuous specialist auditing of the railway's extensive operations and subsidiaries, including those in the United States.

An amendment to the Cheese and Cheese Factory Improvement Act authorized premiums for high-quality cheese: one cent per pound for cheese scoring ninety-three points, and two cents for cheese scoring ninety-four or more. Payments would pass through factories for distribution among producers under regulations.

The Game Export amendment clarified the officers responsible for enforcement, removing obsolete references to a separate class of specially appointed federal officers. Mr. MacKinnon explained that enforcement already rested upon provincial game officers, police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and customs officers.

Finally, the House repealed the Cullers Act. Mr. McIlraith explained that the statute still required certain timber exports to be measured and culled by a Dominion culler, although the last such officer had retired in 1921. The repeal removed an obligation which exporters could no longer fulfil.

With the urgent legislative programme sufficiently advanced, the contemplated Saturday sitting was dispensed with. Mr. Coldwell pressed for the restoration of opportunities for private members following Monday's consideration of the Atlantic Treaty.

28 March — Canada and the North Atlantic Treaty

The House returned on Monday to a question upon which the principal parties found themselves in substantial agreement.

Mr. St. Laurent moved a resolution reaffirming Canada's support for the United Nations and recognizing the importance of collective defence within the Charter. It approved Canadian representation at Washington to assist in completing an acceptable treaty based upon the draft already tabled.

The resolution further provided that the completed agreement should return to both Houses of Parliament for approval before ratification.

The Prime Minister placed the proposal within the difficulties which had prevented the United Nations from providing the security hoped for at San Francisco.

The free nations, he argued, could not disregard the danger of aggression while waiting for universal agreement. By making their determination to resist an attack clear in advance, they sought to prevent the circumstances in which another war might begin.

Mr. Drew gave the proposed course emphatic support.

The treaty, he maintained, must demonstrate that aggression would encounter a united and determined response. Canada's representatives should proceed to Washington with unmistakable evidence of parliamentary backing.

His condemnation of Soviet expansion was accompanied by a distinction between the conduct of the Soviet regime and the Russian people themselves.

Mr. Coldwell likewise supported Canadian participation, but gave particular attention to the conditions upon which lasting security depended.

Regional defence was, in his view, a second-best answer to the failure to establish effective universal security. Necessary rearmament must not frustrate European recovery or consume the resources required to improve the lives of ordinary people.

For the CCF, Article 2, concerning peaceful relations and economic cooperation, was therefore of substantial importance. Military preparations could guard the peace, but the removal of poverty and insecurity was indispensable to sustaining it.

Coldwell also reaffirmed the responsibility of national parliaments in determining the action their countries would take.

Mr. Low welcomed the Government's decision to consult Parliament before signature.

Social Credit supported a defensive association against aggression, while insisting that military arrangements alone could not provide the strength required. Economic conditions, public confidence and the cultural and moral purposes of the participating nations also mattered.

Low sought clearer assurances concerning the economic obligations contemplated by the draft, particularly whether Article 8 might indirectly recommit Canada to existing monetary arrangements. Support for the proposed pact, he maintained, did not relieve Parliament of the duty to understand its commitments.

Other members examined the consequences from differing standpoints.

Mr. Bradette emphasized the significance of agreement among the four principal party leaders. Mr. Dorion raised questions concerning parliamentary control over the country's participation in war, illustrating that support for collective security did not remove every constitutional concern.

Mr. Pearson addressed these questions in an examination of the treaty's provisions.

Article 2 concerned the strengthening of free institutions and the promotion of stability and economic cooperation.

Article 5 imposed a serious obligation to assist a member subjected to armed attack, but left each participating country to determine the action it considered necessary. Canada would not automatically be at war merely because an ally had been attacked.

The External Affairs Minister also rejected the suggestion that Article 8 incorporated other agreements into the Atlantic Treaty or gave them additional sanction.

Pearson reiterated that the Government would not deposit Canada's ratification until Parliament had enjoyed a further opportunity to consider and approve the completed agreement.

The Commons agreed to continue beyond its ordinary hour of adjournment.

The resolution was carried with broad support across the Liberal, Progressive Conservative, CCF and Social Credit benches.

Canada's delegation could therefore proceed to Washington with parliamentary approval to participate in the final negotiations. The completed treaty itself remained subject to further parliamentary consideration.

29–31 March — Remaining Legislation and the Senate's Atlantic Resolution

The remaining days of March saw several administrative measures complete their parliamentary passage.

At the Royal Assent ceremony on 30 March, the Deputy Governor General assented to the continuation of the Agricultural Products Act, the rural-mail contract amendment, the appointment of Canadian National Railways auditors, the cheese-premium legislation, the Game Export amendment and the repeal of the Cullers Act.

Private-bill proceedings also continued. Measures concerning the Globe Printing Company, Chartered Trust and Executor Company, Canadian Home Assurance Company and Ottawa transit were referred to committees. None had completed parliamentary passage by the end of March.

Other public legislation remained unfinished.

Debate upon the Exchequer Court amendment had begun but was adjourned. The proposed national trade-mark legislation and the new agricultural-products marketing bill awaited further consideration. A Senate measure concerning pure-bred livestock record associations reached the Commons at the month's close.

On 31 March, the Senate adopted the corresponding resolution concerning the proposed North Atlantic Treaty, joining the Commons in approving Canadian participation in the Washington negotiations while reserving consideration of the completed agreement.

Parliament thus closed March having continued the principal expiring authorities, completed a series of administrative and commercial measures, and given its approval to Canadian participation in the final negotiations for the Atlantic Treaty.

The unfinished domestic legislation remained upon the parliamentary order paper. At Washington, the representatives of Canada and the other participating nations would now turn to the final settlement of the treaty's terms.

Kingdom of Egypt - April 1949

The return of the Egyptian troops from Faluja was greeted in the streets of Cairo with the expected pomp and circumstance of a homecoming of soldiers who had been rescued from the jaws of death. Crowds gathered along the route of the returning soldiers, newspapers carried photographs of exhausted officers and enlisted men, and the monarchy was quick to present the endurance of these men as the proof of the Egyptian Army’s superiority and courage.

Of course, amongst the War Ministry, the mood was considerably less celebratory.

Although much of the upper leadership, those loyal to the King, turned a blind eye to the details of the Egyptian Army’s failures, deep down within the soul of the army, it knew. The war had exposed weaknesses which could no longer be attributed to mere battlefield fortune.

To say that the Egyptian Army was a cohesive Army would be a disservice to the rest of the world. It operated far more like a disconnected group of militias. Units had entered Palestine without adequate communications equipment. Artillery frequently operated without reliable coordination with infantry formations. Motor transport was inadequate for sustained operations in the Sinai and southern Palestine. Ammunition quality was inconsistent. Maintenance, specifically the lack there of, left a significant portion of Egypt’s armored and motorized regiments critically vulnerable.

No single institution possessed a complete or comprehensive understanding of the equipment and strength the army possessed either, making any significant coordination impossible.

Whilst the government celebrated Falujah, the Army could not afford to forget Palestine.

PALESTINE WAR REVIEW BOARD

Upon recommendation from the veterans that the military had exalted, the Ministry of War and Marine ordered the establishment of the Palestine War Review Board, as well as a Palestine Lessons Section within the General Staff. Initially, Senior Leadership refused to take positions upon the board, seeing such a position as “beneath them”. Thus, the Board was staffed entirely of junior officers, headed by Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Raouf.

The Board was instructed to collect operational reports from every major Egyptian formation involved in the campaign and identify deficiencies in six principal areas:

• Command organization

• Logistics and motor transport

• Artillery and fire coordination

• Tactical communication and communication equipment availability

• Equipment maintenance lead time and recovery

• Ammunition supply and quality

Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Raouf made it clear that officers who commanded companies, battalions, and formations in Palestine were to be directly interviewed rather than through divisional headquarters.

Particular attention was seemingly given to the experiences of the officers from the Faluja garrison, who Abdel-Raouf said (in confidence) “their prolonged isolation exposed much of the Army’s weaknesses in supply and coordination, thus simultaneously producing some of the campaign’s most resourceful.”

The Board’s findings currently remain classified.

The president of the Austrian Republic, Karl Renner, has been holding together this fragile state for nearly 4 years.

Karl stands before a small crowd that has gathered in front of the Chancellery all to listen to the President speak. Karl adjust his glasses then his notes before he begins speaking in a low tone into the microphone.

"Austria is a great nation, filled with history." He says before he clears his throat "One I hope will be brought to prosperity soon. That very task is my duty as president of our great republic and I have thought long and hard just how I could achieve this." Taking a second before he speaks Karl takes a deep breath "Austria lies in a perilous situation sitting between the victors of the Second World War. The Allies, who liberated Europe to the west. While Russia conquered the vile Nazis to the east. As president I need to navigate both superpowers, which is a task I would wish upon any of the Austrian. With that being said, I speak now not only to my people but to the people of the West, bring you companies to Austria. Provide jobs to our people torn apart by war."

"American, British, and French companies." His voice a little shakier "You are all formally invited to do business in our great nation in hopes to bring our people closer. I hope you all will consider and I look forward to any correspondences." The president says before he turns to enter the Chancellery while the crowd gives an awkward and respectable applause.

Malaya has been in a weird spot since the end of the Second World War. Malayan communists, who acted as resistance fighters to the Japanese occupation have continued their resistance in the jungles. Continuing their destabilization of the protectorate. Meanwhile, the plan to reform the Federated Malay States into the Malayan Union, a single unified colonial government with full citizenship for everyone living within its borders proved catastrophically unpopular among not only the Malays, but also the Chinese and Indian minorities. This half-baked and rushed proposal only exacerbated the racial tensions that had increased during the Japanese occupation, and eventually the British scrapped the union in favour of the Federation of Malaya, which favoured the Malays in citizenship and other policies.

Prominent businessman Tan Cheng Lock personally believed that the Malayan Chinese needed to organize for better rights and privileges in the new federation. A longtime public figure, Tan was inspired by Gandhi and the Indian nationalist movement to create a Malayan Chinese organization while exiled in India. The result was the "Overseas Chinese Association" which he founded with his son in 1943. However, it faced opposition from the Chinese government and soon became moribund when people were reluctant to support it. Despite this failure, Tan continued to lobby for the rights of the Chinese minority in postwar Malaya. He protested against the establishment of the pro-Malay Federation of Malaya and organized a strike against it, but the plan went through anyway.

Because of his activism, it's no wonder that when the MCA was formed in 1949, he would be asked to be its first president. At first Tan opposed the association and refused the request. But, fearing his opposition would delay the creation of the MCA, he reluctantly agreed. Tan was considered the one man that could unite the Chinese people in Malaya, and his personality and experience could bring together the various factions within the association.