Youth into Overalls

Of Rumania's 5,000,000-odd able-bodied adult males, 1,600,000 are under arms. Their mobilization postponed last autumn's plowing; their presence in the Army has caused a farm-labor shortage this spring. Bitter winter and spring floods have combined with these war-brought conditions to play havoc with Rumania's wheat crop. Instead of a normal export surplus of $20,000,000 worth, this year's surplus is expected to be little more than half that. And Germany, which last year got $8,000,000 worth of the crop, this year wants $10,000,000 worth. If Rumania will just promise this, said Germany's sly Dr. Karl Clodius last week, Germany will stop pressing that hard-pressed country for oil.

With a Rumanian trade delegation in London also being pressed for wheat by Viscount Swinton's new English Commercial Corporation, the Rumanians did not see how they could promise almost their entire export surplus to the Germans. Well, suggested Trade Negotiator Clodius, Rumania could demobilize 500,000 peasants and raise more. The Reich would even send 6,000 agricultural experts to Rumania to show the peasants how to do it.

Six thousand German experts of any kind in his country is the last thing King Carol wants. It took him just 14 hours to figure out the answer. Rumania has a National Youth Movement (ages 7 to 18) containing 4,000,000 boys & girls. These children will be released from school for staggered two-week periods, bundled into overalls, put behind the plow.

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