The Wrangell sentinel., 1942-09-18
OPADireCtOr
 Denies Ceiling
 MetbOdUnfair

Flatly refuting the complaint Of the Merchants Association of Ket- ehikan to the effect that the Max mum Price Regulation 194 which establishes the method for comput- ing ceiling prices for all goods ship ped into Alaska is unfair and dis terminates against Alaskans. Mrs. Mildred R. Hermann. Alaska Diree- tor of the Office of Price AdmiH- istration, issued the following statement this week:
 The complaint simply will not hold water! Far from being dis eriminatory against Alaska. the reg ulation confers benefits upon Alas ka that are not matched in any state in the Unisn. Alaska mer- chants alone are allowed their re- placement costs in figuring their ceiling prices. The regulation, which was drafted for the specific purpose Of meeting the unique and varied conditions under which mer- ehandising in the Territory is car ried on, Is modelled on similar reg ulations applicable to the northern part of Canada which were adopt ed by the Canadian Price Control Agency to meet conditions which are very similar to those existing in Alaska. Al the same time, il has been flexible enough to insure a lair margin of profit to the retail merchant ill those parts of Alaska uUbfp4 Ifa fo tho el1,Fb
 Tt is true that more detailed report is required in Alaska than is required in the States. but that is due to tn efact that regulations adopted for Alaska's special bene- fit permits the merchant to figure his replacement cost and the cost of transportation to his place of business as his direct cost. In order to have a check-up on the report submitted by him, il was necessary that details be given in the report which were not required in the re- port in the other parts of the coun- try where no replacement cost is al- lowed, prices being frozen as of a particular month. The Alaska reg ulation almost completely elimin- ates the squeeze felt everywhere else
 ! A second grievance voiced by the Ketchikan group was that they were too busy to submit their cost ot-iVlng reports at present. They. therefore, asked for an extension of time. In answering this request Mrs. Hermann points out that the 1 time has already been extended a tull month. The original time set Tor posting ceilings and submitting cost-of-liYng reports Alaska was August l. Mrs. Hermann wrote the Office of Price Administration in Washington asking that this time be extended and it was extended a i full month.
 1 Resentment at the requirements 1 of the regulations seem not to have been general. Only a few of the various commercial groups contact ed throughout the Territory by the hetchikan group supported their request with telegrams and reports received from rationing boards in most Of the major towns of the Ter rltory indicate that compliance with the regulations has been general. hetchikan itself reports compIi- ance of 92 percent, Petersburg and Wrangell almost 100 percent Gas re- ported last week Wrangell was the first town in Alaska to have a 100 percent rating) Practically all Ju- neau reports were received prior, to september l, few exceptions hay ing come in since that time. Similar reports have come from Sitka, Ko- diak, and Cordova with other towns as yet unreported We are extreme ly sorry that 0PA cannot guarantee