The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-05-11
Attorney General Brewster Up
held in Food Rate Fight.
State Administrators Have No
Right To Fix Costs.
PROFITS WERE TOO LARGE
Charge That Topeka Dealers
Planned To Reap a Harvest.
Corn Products Must Be 20 Per
Cent Under Wheat.

Kansas retailers have received a
severe setback and S. NJ. Brewster, at
torney general. has been upheld in his
fight on methods of establishing retall
rates on various commodities in an
order by Herbert Hoover, federal food
administrator. The Hoover order is
relief to Kansas consumers, but
he4vy jolt to the price fixing methods
in Topeka and other towns.
Hoover not only has held that the
state food administrators cannot fix
prices, but that prices of corn prod
ucts must be 20 per cent below the
price of wheat products. In Topeka
and other towns. Brewster charged,
the retailers had arranged thru their
local price fixing organizations to reap
a harvest The long profits came
when prices fixed as maximum corn
product charges-and in the main re-
garded by retailers established
prices-were abnormally large as
compared with government fixed
prices on wheat and wheat products.
No Authority to Fix Prices.
In many instances the prices estab
lished as maximum prices were
claimed by Brewster to be enforced
as established prices. Information
least one instance in Topeka a retailer
' threatened with the loss of his Ii
cenSe by a member of the price fixing
board if he refused to charge the max
imum for sugar. The local merchant
had offered sugar at a price below the
maximum. Administrator Hoover
seems to have sustained the position
Of the Kansas attorney general by
holding that the maximum prices are
not the prices which should be
charged. In fact no authority is Civ
en- for price fixing except by congress.
And congress fixed prices only on
wheat
Members Were Retailers.
Brewster directed his fight on the
price fixing methods on the theory
that the retailers were not proper per-
So MS to determine the amount of
profits they should receive He re-
cited the personnel of the Topeka
board Is authority for his assertion
that retailers and wholesalers fixed
prices. j. C. Mohler, secretary of
the state board of agriculture, was the
only person connected with the board
not directly or indirectly interested in
retail or wholesale prices, he asserted.
Mohler never served actively on the
board.
In his investigation, brewster also
learned that prices on many com
modities were fixed in one locality
and not touched in another locality.
This was shown to be the case in the
fixing of prices on bacon and other
commodities. There was no estab-
lished schedule of commodities and
brewster held that the local boards
asserted authority not given under the
law or ty the federal administration.
Now it seems that his claims have
been upheld in every particular and
retail prices must not only be re-
duced. hut methods pursued must be
abandoned by local price fixing
boards.
The Brewster contention is upheld
ir the main in the new Hoover orders.
In Topeka. where Brewster claims
that corn products were sold above
the government price of wheat prod
ucts, Hoover has insisted that the
corn price shall. be at least 90 per
cent below wheat product prices
Trouble also seems to be in store for
the program which called for the
maximunn price fixing as a fence for
charging maximum prices also.
List of Members of Board
Brewster has sent to Administrator
Hoover the personnel of the Topeka
price fixing board and has listed their
business interests. This is the record
Of individual members outlined in
the Brewster statement:
w. H. Davis. chairman.
Ed. Buechner. a North side grocer.
Sam Cunningham, East side grocer
Ivan Dibble. of the Dibble Grocery
Co.
f. O. Morns, of Morns & Myers,
North side grocers.
iContfDued Page Two.l