The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-10-30
HOOVER READY NOV. l ID STOP
 FOOD PIRATES
Finds Way to Hit Them Under Provisions of
 Licensing Act

| Washington, Oct 30-Profteering food retailers are to be. cut from their source of supply under the n- | censing regulations which go into ef- | feet on Thursday, the Food Adminis- | tration announced yesterday. The Lever food and fuel law provided no direct regulation of the retailers eX- cept those doing a business above l $100,000, but Food Administrator Hoover has found a way to get at them through the licensing system | which controls the wholesaler and
 jobber from whom the retailer gets his supplies.
 No manufa acturer or other handler | of food will be allowed to sell to any reai1er anywhere in the United States who makes unreasonable profits or l who lays in large stocks of foods for speculative purposes. This is one of
 the most drastic of the new food reg l ulations, all of which MT. Hoover will announce before Thursday.
 l Firms selling to reaiIers in viola | tion of. this rule will be liable to re- vocation of their licenses. without | which they will not be permitted to | do business.
 | The rule governing the situation fol- I lows:
 'The Hcensee shall not knowingly | sell any food commodity to any per ] son engaged in the business of selling l such commodity who shall after this
 regulation goes into effect violate the | provisions of the act of Congress ap-
 proved August 10, 1917, by making | any unreasonable rate or charge in l selling or otherwise handling or deal l ing in such commodity or by holding, 1 contracting or arranging for a quan- I tity thereof in excess of the reason | able requirements of his business for | use or sale by him for a reasonable time.
 ''The small retailers of food, of | whom there are several hundred | thousand in the country, while ex-
 empt from the licensing provisions are
 nevertheless. subject to other provis- l ions of the food control act,'' says an announcement by the Food Adn1inis- | tration. Every retailer, as well as every other handler of food, is for
 -bidden under the law to make any l unreasonable charge, to hoard, to monopolize, waste or destroy food, or to conspire with any one to restrict the l production, distribution or supply or j exact excessive prices on any neces- | provided, but the Food Administration
 hopes that the arrangement of re- l stricting supplies to vio1ators of the | law will be some effect for the retail CT will find himself unable to buy goods from any wholesaler or manu- facturer." ,,s- -->- F. Federal Food Administrators in all the States will be directed to keep a
 watch for violators and send to the
 Food Administration the names of
 retailers asking excessive prices. -The Food Administration, the an-
 nouncement adds, does not intend to disturb any legitimate operations and will initiate measures only against 1 hardened and persistent violators of the law. It takes the position that the great majority of food sellers, re- l tailers as we'll as wholesale, are pa- ! triotic and honest and are making | every effort to comply with good business principles and sell to the consumer at the lowest possible
 prices. Such dealers will be in fact
 protNcted from ilegitimate conpti-
 ton. Those few who persist in abus- ing their opportunities and continue to take advantage of the emergency caused by the war will receive atten- 1 ton.
 Special regula tions to prevent spec ulat1On Tn canned goods also VIII Uo
 put into operation on Thursday by
 the Food Administration. All can-
 ners will be 1placed under license and
 fosbIdden to make future sales of canned corn, peas, tomatoes, salmon ] and sardines before February l. Thst date later may be extended, depend- l ing on the needs of our allies and the American military forces. As in other
 industries controlled by, the Food Ad-
 ministration, canners will be required to sell their products at a reasonable margin of profit regardless of market conditions or replacement values. Federal Trade Commission investl- gators will help State Fuel Adm1n1s- trators fix fair retail price margins More than dozen started out yes- terday for various parts of the coun- try The prices are subject to- change by State Administrators when too high or too low. Complaints of viola ton of the law fixing prices will be turned over by the State Administra- tors to the Trade Commission inves- i tigators."
 President Wilson urged men of all