Evening star., 1933-08-28
KING ASKS STUDY
TO FIND # BREAD
PRICE IS JUSTIFIED
Senator Suggests to City
Heads That Bride Exam
inc Situation Here.
INCREASE CALLED BLOW
TO 44,000 NEEDY
Corporation Counsel Proposes Turn
ing Over Investigation to
US, Attorneys Office.

The District Commissioners were re-
quested today by Chairman King Of the
Senate District Committee to have Cor
poration Counsel Bride inquire into the
increase of l cent a pound in the
wholesale price of bread in Washington
to find out whether it is justified.
Senator King told Commissioner
Reichelderfer, president of the board,
he had received number of letters sug
gesting that the bread increase be
looked into, and thought it would be
advisable to have the corporation coun-
sci make preliminary study OF the
question.
The Senator said the corporation
counsel could make a curSory examl-
nation of the bread situation to de-
termine whether a thorough investiga-
ton is advisable or warranted. He
said he realized that a thorough in
ouiry would necessitate an appropria-
ton, and that preliminary survey by
the corporation counSefs Office would
be sufficient to indicate whether the
facts warrant a complete inquiry.
Bride said he would be hard put to
find a man in his Office to make the
investigation and that he would Sug-
gest the investigation be made by the
United States attorneys Office since 1t
involves a question of Federal laws.
Bride said one of his assistants, FL
wood H. Seal. now gives practically all
of his time to the milk-price lnvestl-
cation which is now extending to the
Baltimore field; that another, Vernon
E. West. spends most Of his time deal
ing with applications for permits to
4hof oth
to duty as members of boards having
to do with revoking operators permits
and hackers permits and retiring po-
lcemen and firemen.
If another were to be detached for
investigating bread prices he SAID, IL
would seriously hamper the prosecution
OF the legal work of his office.
Blow TO 1000 Families.
The increase constitutes direct blow
to the health and welfare OF 1l,O00
washington families completely de-
pendent upon the Emergency Relief
Bureau, now virtually on hunger ra-
ton" it was declared today by the
Washington Consumers Council.
To thousands Of Washington families
an advance in bread prices means hard-
ship the council pointed out, but to
the II 900 families living on relief funds
averaging less than SIS per week 1T may
mean tragedy"
The council called upon all bakeries
here in considering the advance in the
price of bread to keep constantly IN
mind the additional suffering inevitably
imposed upon the thousands of de-
pendent families in the city"
For these families" it was stated
by Mrs. John Boyle, jr., chairman OF
the council "a special plea with the
bakeries is entered by the Consumers
Council. Completely dependent upon
the Emergency Relief Bureau are 1l,O00
families, averaging four to the family.
These families are living upon less than
s5 per week on the average. 1t IS
enough to provide them only with an
actual hunger ration
Matter Of Life and Death.
"A large part of the food they are
able to obtain must be in the form OF
bread. Any advance in bread prices
becomes, therefore, for these 44,OOO
people a matter almost Of life or death.
in addition to these families de-
pendent upon public relief. hundreds OF
others are dependent upon the Asso.
ciated Charities, bringing the total OF
dependents to about $4,000. This means
that to about one-tenth of the people OF
the city an increase in the price OF
bread must appear like threat to their
very existence"
In response to announced plans OF
the council to undertake an investlga-
tion of the increase, L. A. Diess. local
representative of the American Bakers
Association, today said the increase OF
cent per loaf was necessary because OF
advanced production costs"
Diess said he could not produce flg-
ures as to the elements entering into
the increased costs of the local bakeries,
but was convinced there was general
increase in production costs which ne
cessitated the increase in the market
price