Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 61 Part 4.djvu/853

 4202 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OTHER THAN TREATIES [61 STAT. and the Military Delegate under the Ordinance of 14th March 1944, of the French Committee of National Liberation;" Section IV, paragraph two thereof reading in part, ". . . . troops will be encouraged to make the maximum use of military canteens;" and paragraph three which reads, "Troops will be encouraged to reduce to a minimum their drawings on pay. Every effort will be made to induce them to invest." Accordingly, Allied troops were officially encouraged to spend a minimum in France. b. Maintenance by the French Government of a 50 to 1 franc/dollar rate of exchange resulted in souvenir, gift and luxury item prices extremely unfavorable to military personnel; and U.S. troops, accordingly, could not spend freely. In addition, these luxury items were occasionally acquired in exchange for cigarettes, candy, soap, etc. c. During Phase One (D-Day to VE-Day) general French hospi- tality minimized the need for military personnel to expend their own funds. Many comforts, local additions to unit messes and entertainment were provided by the French, either gratuitously or in exchange for eagerly sought items such as cigarettes, choco- late, soap, etc. General desire of French communities to show appreciation upon their liberation, provided units immediately behind the combat lines with many gratuitous goods and services. d. Various French Ministries cooperated, from the liberation of Paris forward, with the Army Post Exchange system in order to increase production of French souvenir and gift items for sale to military personnel. The Post Exchange system imported into France to aid in this objective, millions of dollars worth of sup- plies and raw materials not available in France. Purchases by the Post Exchange system, from the proceeds of sales to the mili- tary, flowed freely into the French economy. This resulted, however, in additional U.S. drawn French francs remaining within, and non-dollar source French francs flowing into, the U.S. Army Post Exchanges. e. During Phase Two (the redeployment period) the French Gov- ernment actively negotiated with U.S. representatives in order to offset the difficult rate of exchange. Adjustment francs totalling 850 francs per man were issued monthly to those permanently stationed in France and to all U.S. military personnel arriving in France on leave, temporary duty, or upon redeployment. As pointed out to the French Government in June 1945, not being distinguishable from the pay and allowances drawn in francs, some of these adjustment francs flowed back into dollars in the form of cash collection as set forth in paragraph 1 b above. Tax exemption was given to the Post Exchange system on all of its ever increasing volume of French merchandise; and tax exemp- tion was offered the individual American soldier under certain export conditions. Finally, there was inaugurated an extensive program of free tours, educational opportunities and special group entertainments

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