Economic and financial section > Problem of nutrition

employed persons may be estimated at 35,000,000 lats (the average
wage of industrial workers of either sex is approximately 1,000 lats
per annum). With the members of their families, the newly employed
persons total about 60,000, whose consuming power has considerably
increased. This accounts for the increase in consumption of foodstuffs
in the towns of Latvia.
Improvement in the Living Conditions of Agricultural Workers.
Thanks to Government action to increase agricultural production
and protect agriculture, the situation of Latvian farmers has consideiably
improved in the last few years. The cultivation of cereals and of sugar-
beet and flax having greatly increased, new opportunities of
employment are being provided, leading to a rise in the wages of
agricultural workers. At the same time, the farmers, whose income has
increased thanks to the stabilisation of prices and the extension of
marketing facilities, are well able to pay higher wages. Thus, the
situation of the agricultural workers has greatly improved, and the same
applies to their nutrition.
Improvement of Nutrition in Latgale.
The region of Latgale, which has about 500,000 inhabitants, possesses
certain special economic features, since its historical past has not been
the same as that of the other districts of Latvia. At the time of the
formation of the Latvian State, the land was divided into numerous
scattered lots, which enormously complicated its cultivation. Until
recently, the number of illiterate persons was considerable (a large
percentage of the population is of Russian and Polish nationality).
The rural population of Latgale is approximately twice as dense and
the birth rate there is much greater than in the other regions of Latvia.
Agricultural technique is much less developed there than elsewhere.
Accordingly, agricultural production in Latgale was at a very low level,
and the consumption of foodstuffs per head was materially less than in
the other districts. This applies particularly to meat and dairy products.
Nevertheless, the last five or six years have brought improvements to
this part of Latvian territory also. The agrarian reform divided the vil¬
lage lands into individual holdings and established numerous new farms
on ground previously belonging to large estates. In this way, the agrarian
structure has become much more rational and the Latgalian farmer has
had full scope to develop production and thus increase his income.
The State has spent large sums on raising the level of education, and
already the number of illiterate persons has materially decreased.
Large sums have also been spent in the form of loans to farmers.
Thanks to all these measures, agricultural production has materially
increased in Latgale. The total rye crop, as compared with that of the