The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1917-11-01
LICENCING BIG RETAILERS
MAY CUT FOOD PRICES

- WI TOOD Il
Dispatches from Washington state
that Uncle Sans grip on the food sit
uation tightens perceptibly with the
placing under license, November /,
of all large foodstuff dealers, from
producer to consumer.
This license, bringing under govern
ment regulation meat packers, stor-
age houses, millers, Gamers, grain
dealers, brokers, commission men
and food wholesalers, also covers re-
tailers doing business of 100000
per year or more
This brings under federal control
the larger individual grocers and all
the chain store firms, and means
there will be at least one govern
ment-controlled grocery in every
city of size.
For immediate price control the food
administration has singled out twen-
ty groups of staple commodities on
which regulations will be imposed.
The price of these commodities will
be followed from producer thru the
wholesaler and large retailer and the
margin of profit in each case strict
ly limited. Dealers found asking
exhorbitant prices will be deprived of
their license, without WHICH they can
not continue in business.
The profits to be allowed the var
ious middlemen on the staples select
ed have not yet been determined.
Food administration experts busy on
the schedule for weeks, probably will
work it out within 10 days. In the
absence of exact established margins
the food administration will act upon
all cases in the light of whether the
profits exacted are reasonable.
1t is the hope, eventually, to fix an
official price range for all commodi-
ties, announcing the prices weekly or
oftener, as changes in supply and de-
mand Justify. These prices would
be carried in all newspapers, the way
Chicago and New York produce pric-
es heretofore fixed by the dealers
themselves have been announced.
This fixing of specific prices, how
ever, has been complicated by the
necessity of meeting regional condi-
tions of supply and transportation,
and by the many grades that would
have to be covered in some commodi-
ties. 1t is expected ultimately a gov
ernment price list will show the
housewife exactly what her retailer
is paying. She will then know if he
attempts to charge an excess profit.
The foodstuffs taken Immediately
under federal control by the licenses
of November /, are:
Wheat, wheat flour, rye and rye
flour.
Fresh, canned or cured beef, pork
or mutton.
Milk, butter, cheese, lard, lard sub
stitutes oleomargerine, oleo, oleo oil,
and cooking fats.
Sugar syrups and molasses.
Barley and barley flour.
Oats, oatmeal and rolled oats.
Corn, corn grits, corn meal, hon.
my, corn flour, corn starch, corn oil,
corn syrup and glucose.
Rice and rice flour.
Dried beans.
Pea seed or dried peas.
Cottonseed cottonseed oil, cotton
seed cake or cottonseed meal.
Peanut oil or peanut meal
Soy-bean oil and meal, palm oil
and copra oil.
Condensed, evaporated or powder
ed milk.
Poultry and eggs.
Fresh and frozen fish
Fresh FRUITS and vegetables.
Canned peas, beans, tomatoes,
corn, salmon and sardines.
Dried prunes apples, peaches, or
raisins.
With the larger foodstuff dealers
under license, the government will
be able to do much more than regu-
late prices. 1t will be able to force
onto the market any boards of food
stuffs held in warehouses or cold
storage plants, to distribute surplus
supplies to points where supplies are
short and otherwise to stabilize the
market conditions.
With supply equalized to meet de-
mand, under government supervision
the natural tendency will be for low
er prices. With the government
ready to penalize greedy dealers will
further tend downward.
Up to date the chief work of the
food administration has been in pre-
paration. 1t has about completed its
work thru voluntary cooperation
successful at least in preventing a
further price rise. 1t is now ready |
to step in with orders, instead of re-
quests.
From November l the food admiu-
istration will direct what these food |
will do, not simply re-
quest them to be good.
And any middleman who thinks
the order will not be enforced should
make a test case.
For his own information it might !
be said the test case brought by one
English potato dealer cost him fine
Of -12,000.00.