Evening star., 1942-09-24
0pA Places CeiIinqs
Over Part Of PRINTING
Publishing Industry
One-Fourth Involved
In Order; Book Firms,
Newspapers Exempt

By the Associated Press.
The Once Of Price Administration
last night imposed specific price
control over about one fourth Of the
entire two-and one half billion dol
lar printing and publishing indus
try, but exempted the neighborhood
printshop and the publishers of
books, newspapers and periodicals.
A ceiling at March levels was
placed on about ITS standard or
semi-standard printed products as
we'll as on the printing services used
In producing them, and an expanded
list of services exempt from price
control was promulgated.
The action was necessary, OPA
explained, to provide the industry
second in number of Arms and ninth
in value OF output in the country
with a single clear-cut price order
specifying which services were un-
der the ceiling and which were
exempt because their value depends
on editorial, idea or information
content.
Items Placed Under Control.
On the controlled list in the new
order are such items as greeting
cards, loose-leaf binders and filters,
printed social stationery, tablets,
diaries, notices. commercial letter
heads and calendars, labels for
cans, bottles and boxes, legal forms,
check books, souvenir post cards
and stenographers' notebooks.
The expanded list Of exempted
items was contained In amend
ments to the general maximum
price order, under which the in
dustry formerly operated. Besides
books, magazines, periodicals and
newspapers the exemptions were
enumerated as follows:
Pamphlets, leaflets, sheet music,
music rolls. stamp albums, maps,
charts, catalogues, directories, pro-
grams, house organs, menus, adver-
tising matter printed on paper lex
cept such articles as containers,
labels and book matches, the form
of which serves purpose other than
that of !advertising), time tables,
tariffs and price lists"
Printing Services Exempt.
Also removed from price. regula-
ton were services, such as type
setting, platemaking. binding, print
ing and the like rendered in connec-
ton with the production OF the
exempt articles.
About go per cent of the industry
thus was excluded from price con-
troll. In addition, the new order
exempts sales by any printer whose
total gross sales in 1941 of printing
and printed paper products were
$40, 600 or less.
Price Administrator Henderson
said the exemption OF smaller print
ers would not weaken overall price
control "since these sections Of the
industry have felt particularly
strongly the depressed and highly
competitive conditions that have re-
suited from the decline in the adver-
tising and other commercial printing
needs OF Industries whose norma
activities have been curtailed BY
war
.There were approximately 27,00(
printing concerns with q volume
| under $4,000 in 1941," Mr.. Hender-
son said. land they accounted fol
less than I per cent OF the Industry
| business"
Provisions Repealed.
| For wholesalers, retailers, jobbers
supply houses and stationery store
reselling controlled commodities, tn'
regulation repeals the pricing ant
record-keeping provisions OF tn
general maximum price regulation
50 that dealers may continue thes
former practices uninterrupted. tn
blanketing Of all sections OF the IN
dustry in q single order simplif1e
pricing problems Of printers who ais
sell at retail, it was explained, an
/ OF stationers who also do jo
printing.
A pricing formula was provide
for printers who must determine
ceiling on a new type of job who's
ceiling could not be fixed at tn
highest March price for the sam
or similar products. This formula
as follows: % Cost of materials fig
ured at actual costs or at ceilin
price, whichever is lower; plus q
production charges based on rate
used in March; plus CD profit mar
gin as used in March.
For all others-those resellin
products listed under the regula
tion-ceilings are established b
reference to the same or simila
commodity which the seller or hi
nearest competitor sold last Marcf
A few articles on which there ma
be no printings such as paper pao
and typewriter paper are under con
, troll because they are products or by
:, products of the industry or lnvolv
some operation common to the n
dustry, such as binding.