The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-18

CHESTER p. BOWLES
:. State ,QPA Director
away our insurance policies and our
savings, lower Our standard Of living,
and itnpoverish millions upon mill
lions Of our workers and farmers.
Now we have had price and rent
control since last spring. Through
OPA rent control regulations, we
have already saved the one million
tenants in our state between ten and
twenty millions Of dollars. Through
OPA price control regulations we
have saved them tens Of millions
more. It has been estimated that II
prices had been allowed to rise as
they did during World War I, every
family in this state would be $6l2
poorer by the end Of this year.
Today, all products are covered by
OPA price control regulations with
the exception Of fresh vegetables,
fresh fish, and some fresh fruits.
products on which price control Is
almost impossible because Of vary
ing degrees Of spoilage.
But ladies and gentlemen, I have
not lived the way things have been
going lately. Let's be frank. The reg
ulations have Been too complicated
for the public to understand. Be-
cause they have been complicated,
they have been dift1cult to enforce.
The pressure groups, thinking
largely In terms Of their own selfish
interests, have been demanding
higher prices ON this and higher
prices on that.
Now any effort to control prices
In huge country like ours is a
vastly diftlcult operation. We have
thirty-two million families living
under widely varying conditions. To
provide us with the things we need
to live, we have more than two mil
lion stores. Some individual depart-
Inent stores sell as many as one
hundred thousand different items.
Constant Pressure
The men responsible for the de-
velopment Of our price and rent
control programs are subject to con-
slant pressure sfronl every angle.
Pleas from farmers who seek higher
prices for the produce that they sell
Pleas from labor, demanding higher
wages. Pleas from business groups
seeking larger profits or lower taxes.
It takes courage to say mo" to
pressure group after pressure group,
But believe. me, this Is q time for
courage. II the men who direct our
price control and rent control lack
the courage to say mo" then sooner
or later; ladies and gentlemen, we
will face economic disaster, q disas-
tor shared by all Of us. our farm
ers, our workers, our business men,
and our. shop keepers.
Mr.. Byrnes' speech was q cour-
ageouS speech. He made 1t clear
that he would continue to fight for
the rights and interest Of all Of our
people rather, than the special In
terests OF few. tas.,
That's the f1rst thing that we need
vigorous, hard hitting collrgae.
We also need sinnplified price con-
troll regulations, so that everyone
will know exactly what he or she Is
supposed to pay. That means dollars
and, cents prices which, will be the
same on any given product in every
store Of a given size and type.
Already we have been making con-
siderable progress along these lines
Today, for instance, no grocer In
Connecticut can legally charge you
more than fifty eight cents a pound
for butter in solid form. The TOP
price Of print butter divided into
four quarters Is fifty-nine cents q
pound. Today, no grocer In Connec-
ticut can legally charge you more
than sixty-flye cents q peck fol
Connecticut potatoes or sixty
two cents for Maine potatoes. To-
day, no grocer or fruit store owner
In Connecticut can legally charge
you more than eleven cents q pound
for bananas. Or, seven cents Q
pound for Michigan onions.
We have also developed dollarI
and cents prices on poultry. For In
stance, the highest price for a thret
porr6 Srotle-, r Connecticut, 4
forty-one cents a pound, dressed
For young turkeys larger thar
twenty pounds d. forty-eight cent
q pound.
AS I said, these are the highest
prices that any butcher or grocer
can legally charge you In Connecti'
cut. In some stores you may ind
butter. potatoes, onions. bananas
and poultry selling for less.
Everything else that you buy a
food products, drug products, men
women's and children's clothing
furniture, hardware, accessories
with the exception Of fresh vege-
tables, fresh flsh, and some fresh
fruit =. are also under OPA price
regulations.
Different Formulas
The price ceilings on these items
however, are based on several dif.
ferent formulas. For this reason
the legal prices on the same pro-
duct often varies from store q
store.
during the next rev weeks bnll
system og definite dollars and cent
prices which We are nov using o.
butter ard poultry, viii Be apple.
10 most q The other products tina
you buy. ] hope that by April -
We can provide every housewife y
Connecticut With . little bookle
which win tell her, tae highest iegn
price On more thar TIRES hnnqFeI
grocery and drug store products
Nov Iet Is discuss TIE preDIem .
meat The distribution and sale 9
meat Il 3 tremendously eolnplIceio|
operation. Methods Of cutting llea
vary from store 10 store an9 fron
packer q packer. Malhoda 0f nell
ing and slaughieTing meat are olt'
widely different n Tars0s Part
~ the connfEg.
pilins - lasi lev mepiin. ~