The Washington times., 1918-07-22
CITY OWNS J
MARKETS,BUT
CANNOT HALT
PROFITEER|NG
By BILL PRICE.


The municipality Of Washington
owns Eve markets and yet is unable to
turn a hand toward lowering prices
or stopping profteering.
The District is just a landlord, col
lstcing rents for market stalls, but
without any law to get at the fellow
who may be a tenant and daily pulls
the legs of his fellow-men to the full
lengths the limbs will stretch.
This is apropos the consideration
being given by the Federal Employees
Union to methods for holding down
high prices and stepping on the necks
Of profteers, who, like the daisies Of
the fields, abound everywhere. The
union has talked freely of municipal
markets and may advocate these es-
tablishments.
ID. c. Owns Markets.
Comparatively few people Of the
District know that. the District gov
ernment is a pretty large owner of
municipal markets, but does nothing
but punctuaIly collect the rent from
tenants
There is no law to limit heavy
profits; to smash profteers, TO do any
thing more than is warranted by the
ordinary relations between landlords
and tenants.
The District owns the Eastern,
Western, and Georgetown markets,
well known in those sections of the
city; the farmers market at Louis
lana Ave. and Tenth St and the new
hsh market at the foot of Eleventh
street. near the terminus of all car
Lines running to the whsrves, total
oe i've
Take Over Center MarketR
Congressman Ben Johnson Of Ken
tueky got through the House a bill
for the Government, through the Sec
retary Of the Interior, to take over
the big Center Market. II the bill
should ever become law, which is said
TO be doubtful owing to the attitude
Of the Senate. this market would also
pass TO the District
In the Eastern Market, at Seventh
and iC streets southeast, there are
ninety-nine stalls now rented at good
prices, and the rent passing to the
District, which attends to the up
keep OF the building and to the
Sanitary measures taken there. All
sorts of produce and staple articles
are sold. The Western Market, at
Twenty-first and X streets, is rent
ing ninety-one stalls, while the small
Georgetown Market, at Potomac and
5 II streets, has only half a dozen rent
ed. About sixteen splendid new
stores in the fish market are rented.
Under the big steel sheds consti-
ruting the farmers line there are
sno stores or stalls, the space being
) divided into many sections and rent
sd to farmers as they roll in early
each morning at 20 cents per wagon
load Of garden truck, fruits or other
HArm produce
Municipal Market.
Senator King. OF Utah, more than a
year ago proposed in the Senate joint
resolution to investigate the question of
4 municipal market or markets for
Washington and the District Commis-
sioners approved the idea No resolu-
ton was ever passed
Everything depends, Of course, upon
what a municipal market really means.
As at present conducted by the District
koVernment it means nothing to people
crying out against high prices, for the
simple reason that the city government
has no authority to do anything. II any
tenant in any Of these markets should
be found TO be profteering he could be
put out Of his stall, but some other
renter who IS possibly more proficient
in the art might take his place. The
tenants are also subject to Clarence
wilson's food laws and regulations.
Those who look upon a municipal
market as a place where the District
government would buy and sell the
the necessaries of life at restricted
profts will probably have difficulty in
bringing about such an institution uu-
less the robbery OF the public be-
comes so fragrant and chronic that
Congress will authorize the District
to go into the business of buying and
selling
Opposed to Plan.
District officials have long been
thinking over this subject, but they
are opposed to the idea Buy
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