In the midst of this military and diplomatic struggle for independence, our Government and people never ceased to do their utmost in all other directions for the rebuilding of the nation. The task of the reconstruction inspired by the motto “All for Independence” was steadily pursued even under fighting conditions.
During the last year, we steadily realized and strengthened democratic republican government in our country. The “Committee for the People’s Liberation” gave place to the more democratic “Provisional People’s Government” which in time was replaced by the still more democratic “Provisional Union Government” to take shape finally as the “Coalition Government for Resistance” which includes representatives of every class and every party and thus achieved complete national solidarity.
One week after Independence Day, the Government decree of September 8th fixed the day of General Elections to the National Assembly as January 6th 1946. The elections were carried out under very hard circumstances and marked an important milestone in the history of the liberation of our people. For the first time, in our national history, on January 6th, our people enjoyed full civic rights of a free democratic nation. Women and soldiers were also allowed to vote. Within a very short time, our people had taken a big democratic step forward. In deference to the wishes of the people, the Government convoked the National Assembly two months after Election Day, and it was successfully held in spite of the difficult communications and other trying conditions arising from war-time.
The Regional Democratic Administrations were regulated by Government decree No 63. As a result of which, within the short space of a year almost every Executive Committee and Popular Council, from the villages right up to the provinces in Bacbo and Trungbo, were duly elected on the basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot. The executive machinery of the entire Administration was thus unified and coordinated. And by another decree, good results were obtained in the sphere of rural reconstruction by linking together villages neighbouring each other into cooperative units, this reducing the number of villages to one-fourth their original number in level lands and to one-half in the mountains.
The Democratic Government has established internal peace and security. It has quickly reorganized the police forces. Acts of piracy and gambling seem to have disappeared with the collapse of the old French regime.
And while progress has been made in the general administration, the Department of Justice has been reformed along the 3 following lines:
1. its character has been modernized;
2. the principle of the separation of the judiciary and the executive has been applied;
3. public participation has been widened.
The people now enjoy full democratic rights and freedom, excepting certain curtailments necessary in war-time.
The Government order on March 29th, 1946 assures freedom of the individual for every citizen. One of the fruits of the new democratic system is a rapid development of journalism. In Bacbo and Trungbo the number of newspapers has increased to 120, compared to their former maximum number of 20 even under the French Front Populaire Administration. This increase has facilitated public organization. Actually, more than 10 million of the population are now affiliated into some democratic organization or other. The Government order dated September 10th, 1945 recognizes the sacredness of temples, pagodas and churches.
In building up our Democracy, we are now awaiting the New Constitution Bill which the Commission appointed for the purpose has nearly completed. This Bill will be discussed and promulgated as the New Constitution Act at the next meeting of the National Assembly.
In the military field, we have passed from the stage of employing guerilla troops at the beginning to that of establishing a regular and unified army. The training of staff and other officers is being carried on diligently. Similar progress has been made in regard to production of armaments. It was no easy task to feed, equip and supply an army much more numerous than the French one. The problem has been largely solved by the wholehearted support of the nation, and the splendid spirit of sacrifice and endurance evinced by our troops.
On the economic side, after the first days of the Revolution, the situation was quite alarming. Industry and trade had come to a complete standstill. Even handicrafts had to close down. Agriculture had slumped. The area under rice cultivation had been greatly narrowed down. Mainly through Japanese economic pressure aided by French instigation, millions of hectares of former paddy-fields had been cultivated with hemp and castor oil plants. The level of water, during the flood in August 1945 in Bacbo rose to the unprecedented height of 12,60m: 700,000 hectares of paddy-fields were thus submerged and 300,000 tons of rice destroyed; inundation in Thanh-hoa and Nghe-an* too damaged 100,000 tons of rice. The shortage in these areas could not be relieved by exporting rice from Nambo because of disruption of transport and communications due to the war. The situation was extremely serious: from the middle of next February to the end of May, it was anticipated that there would be a total lack of food. In addition, besides the quantity of food necessary for the population, we had to feed about 50,000 Japanese and 200,000 Chinese soldiers and our own troops as well.
However, beyond all expectations, the food shortage crisis was successfully tided over by the nation who responded to a man to the call of the Government. The slogan “INCREASE PRODUCTION” was taken up everywhere, and not only the civil population but the army as well bent all their energies to the task of increased food production. The area of paddy-fields increased by 1,5 times; the potato-fields by 3 times, their output by 5 times, the maize-fields by 5 times, their output by 4 times. The Revolution had triumphed over starvation, and in truth that triumph was one of the greatest achievements of our new Democracy.
At the same time, production and trade cooperatives were set up in many places, especially in the towns of Trungbo. The Bank of Commerce and Industry was established to help industries and crafts.
Our financial state was still more critical. When our Democratic Government was set up, the former Treasury of IndoChina was found short of 185 million piastres and the National Debts had increased to 564 million piastres. In the Central Treasury there was only a total of 1,230,000 piastres in currency including 586,000 piastres of unusable notes. The annual period for collecting the taxes had already passed. Customs duties formerly totalling 3/4ths of the annual revenue of the whole of IndoChina had been considerably decreased due mainly to trade stoppage. Under the new regime the poll tax was abolished, and as a consequence we lost as much as 3/4ths of the former direct general revenues. A further decrease in revenue by 60 million piastres was entailed by the total prohibition of opium and spirits. The total paper currency circulation had increased from 25 million last year to 2,500 million by 1945. The value of the IndoChina piastre had internally dropped from 500 to 10 in terms of the standard “copper sapeque.” The situation was further worsened by the introduction into the country of Chinese currency notes as by the unjustifiable non-acknowledgement by the Bank of IndoChina of the 500 piastre notes issued formerly by itself. This repudiation was clearly engineered with a view to undermining our financial economy.
Such were the financial difficulties which our Government had to face and overcome as a vital part of our fight for Independence. The financial crisis was tided over by recourse to the following measures:
1. Reduction of Government expenses by appealing to the spirit of personal sacrifice on the part of all Government functionaries and troops;
2. Distribution of taxation on a more equitable basis;
3. Institution of the system of “Exceptional Voluntary Contribution to National Defence” as well as of publicly organized subscriptions;
4. The issue of new currency notes.
By these different measures both the ordinary Government expenses as well as those necessitated by the national defence had been met.
In the matter of General Communications and Public Works, within the last year, the railways have been made to function again. Fifteen main railway bridges among the 17 which had been bombed or submerged, and 24 sections along the two thousand kilometers “National Road” have been repaired. A further 60 bridges and 450 kilometers of road have been repaired, 2,554 kilometers of telegraphic lines have been set up again. But our greatest work was the closing up of 150 breaches in our dams over a total spread of 700 kms. This achievement alone necessitated the transport of about 2 million cubic meters of sand, the consumption of more than 1,500,000 working days and an expenditure of more than 12,5 million piastres.
In the field of Government Medical Assistance, despite the lack of medicines, the injection of anticholeric vaccine to 400,000 people in Bacbo and the successful struggle against plague in Trungbo and against malaria in Bacbo are worthy achievements. At Hanoi inside the Yersin Hospital the “NGAN HANG MAU” (Bank of Blood) has been founded where the public donate blood for wounded soldiers.
The Veterinary Service has produced more than 10,000 litres of anti-cattlepest vaccine, compared to its production of 1,000 in 1944.
In the field of education, the VietNam language is replacing the French as the fundamental one, and the University is being reorganized, but the greatest work is no doubt the institution of public classes for the common people by the BDHV organization (Binh Dan Hoc Vu or Popular Education Service). Within one year the BDHV has organized 60,000 such classes where VietNam writing is taught free of charge by 80,000 honorary teachers of both sexes to 2,5 million people among whom females predominate.
Socially in spite of the tremendous hardships and troubles arising from the economic situation, workers’ rights have been safeguarded, protection of females and children assured, and assistance to the poor in general largely extended. But most significant is the prohibition of opium and spirituous liquors. From now on, our race is preserved from the calamitous effects of these two poisons.
In the space of one year, during wartime, under all kinds of unprecedented difficulties, in spite of the heavy handicaps left us by the old regime, we have attained satisfactory results, especially in our struggle against starvation, inundation, and illiteracy. These remarkable achievements, through the democratic system, testify to the inexhaustible resources of moral and material strength latent in our people.
* both are provinces of Trungbo (Editor’s note)
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