REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. DECLASSIFIED Ahority Stateletter Ihr ML. NARA Date 2498. 13 Establishment of Experimental Stations by regions, Establishment of Agricultural Demonstration service.
Organization of rural schools and agricultural schools.
Foreign commerce. base: Adjustment or the functioning of the Board of Export Control, or commercial treaties in force, and of the tarifi to the necessity of increasing and diversifying internal production.
Promulgation of bilateral or multilateral commercial treaties with the countries of Central and South America, to dispose equably of the hational production and to enlarge the margins imposed by the riarrowness of the Costa Rican market.
Establishment of a progressive income tax.
Promulgation of a special law. of minimum salaries for the large coffee plantations.
Fixing the responsibility of the large coffee plantations for not only industrial accidents but also agricultural accidents.
Formation of cooperarives of small coffee growers to process and export their coflee.
The first thing worthy of colment in this program of the Centro is its awareness of 110 Monocultural nature of Costa Rica agrioultural activity. Coffee has been, and is, the mainstay of her production and, by furnishing needed foreign exchange, operates as the maiuspring of her economy. Nevertheless, the Centro advocates abandoning the classic theory Lute and comparative advantage to the extent that it feels a diversification of agricultural activity would insure against int er nal upsets caused by fluctuations in the world market. Horeover, the group believes chat the be 38 of ownership of the coffee plantations Siould be widened, and by State aid and the establishment of cooperatives it hopes to free the small landholder from the craditional domination of the large growers and processors. In line with this policy the Centro oublicly appealed to the President, in the Diario 01 September 9, 1943, that the Government, take over the coffee plantation Hacienda Tibás, which is located near Heredia, and was to be auctioned by the estate of the late Rafael ZA PRA. The estate was then to be turned over to a cooperative of the workers en ployed there, and payment was to be made in five annual payme nts. It is said that this project is presently being studied by the Government.
Great stress is laid by the Centro on the poss. bilities to be achieved by cooperatives; as seen in their program outlined above they favor both producers cooperatives and conmersi