The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1920-07-09
GOTHANITES AND OTHERS
READY TO SELL
PRICES TO DROP LOWER
Candy and Soft Drink Manu-
facturers Ask For PERMITS
sion To Resell
From Fridays Daily.

~~AA Aesy IAAS'
New York.July2-With sugar prices
showing a downward tendency and
with the acute situation created by
the shortage apparently relieved
through the system of distribution
put into effect by Armin w. Riley.
special assistant to Attorney General
Palmer and chief of the flying squad
ron of the department OF justice,
candy and soft drink manufacturers
throughout the country are now
flooding the Office of Mr.. Riley in the
federal building in this city with re-
quests for licences to dispose OF part
OF their sugar holdings, saying they
have more than required Tor manu-
featuring purposes.
Even some Of the Chicago packers
find they have too much sugar on
hand, Mr.. Riley said, and are ask
ing tor authority to sell part OF their
holdings. 1t seems that the packers
use some sugar in the preparation OF
meat products.
THE request for license to sell off
sugar from so-called surplus stock
have come to my office from many
States, including Kansas, Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, Colorado and West Vir-
ginia. They are mostly from manu-
facturers OF soft drinks and candies,
and one request received today is
probably from baker who had over
stocked
Surplus Held For Big Profits.
There is no question in my mind
but that a great many of these manu-
facturers had sought to overstock
their warehouses with sugar in the
hope that they would later be able
to dispose of large portion of it to
Gamers and household consumers at
large margin of profit. They have
found that the Gamers, through the
cooperation of the Government, have
been able to obtain all the sugar they
need for canning and preserving at
reasonable prices-twenty-tw to
twenty two and one-half cents. This
sugar is shipped direct to the Gamers
from the refineries, who are giving
their CO. operation in the plan to pro-
vide sugar for all essential industries
and the householder
Mr.. Riley said the sugar prices
were headed downward now, and
"hoarders" to offer to release their
surplus holdings He added there was
no surplus sugar in the country and
that there would be barely enough
to last until the beginning OF the next
season.
The sugar brokers. Mr. Riley said.
also were besieging his office urging
that they be permitted to make re-
sales of sugar within the trade. This,
Mr. Riley said, would not be permit
ted. The resales. he pointed out,
would permit the brokers to keep the
price of sugar up. His plan is to get
the sugar to the consumer in a direct
line. Any broker who makes resales
within the trade will have his license
revoked. The brokers know this, Mr..
Riley said, hence they are urging
that the regulation be lifted. One
broker had just gone out of Mr..
Riley's office.
Government Aiding Importers. -.
"This broker" Mr.. Riley said,
came in with batch of orders for
resale from different parts of the
country and urged that he be allowed
to make the resales, putting up the
argument that he was losing the op-
portunity of making a lot of money.
That is true. but the interest Of the
public is more important than the in
absolutely necessary that no resales
within the trade be permitted"
The government, Mr.. Riley said, is
lending it's help in the importation of
sugars from the different countries in
order to help tide over until the
next crop comes in. E. G. Lourie of
the firm of Llata & Co., importers,
conferred with Mr.. Riley yesterday
with regard to the distribution Of A..
900 tons of sugar now afloat from
Argentina. This sugar probaly will
be distributed under the supervision
of the government.
Mr. Riley is continuing his efforts
to obtain coal for the federal refinery.
which last week appealed to him, as
sorting that unless it could get the
coal which was enroute from the
mines it would be forced to close
down. Mr.. Riley said he hoped to be
of material assistance in speeding the
shipment of 100 cars of coal now on
the way. The other refineries ap-
pear to be in fairly good shape as re-
CARDS coal.
Chicago and other points in the
Middle West soonswill be visited by
Mr.. Riley and agents of the Flying
Squadron. Mr. Riley learns that
many resales of sugar are being made
in the West, with the result that
prices are much higher than in the
East.