Imperial Valley press., 1943-01-20
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

The story of how the rationing
of canned goods came to be neces-
sary in these used-to-be free
United States makes an interesting
| Bit of BACKGROUND, now that this
rationing is about to be put into
effect.
The first move in this direction
was taken as long ago as February,
1912. when a temporary ceiling
order was slapped on wholesale
prices of canned fruits and yege-
Ia bles. This order went into effect
March l. 1912.
There WIS some boarding of
canned goods "oing on even then,
and there was some need for alIo-
cation. The Army and Navy
were asking that large supplies
of canned goods be set aside for
them, and the war production
areas with their big new popula-
tions were upsetting all the nor
NAL demands and channels of
distribution.
At that time. no one had any
accurate idea of what the canned
goods situation of the country
really was, and the curbstone opin-
ion of most people in the food in
dustry was that little or nothing
could be done about allocating out
put.
That created one of those we'll
known government needs for sta
tistics. and as a result there was
compounded one of those now fam
ous government queStionnaireS. 1t
was tough. 1t was everything any
businessman had ever heard or
seen in the line of a government
QUESTIONABLE, and more. 1t went
out to the 2300 food Gamers and
professors and the 1900 whole
st.lerS
THE RETURNS CAME
First returns came in May and
by May 81 the division of supply
and requirements in the Office OF
Price Administration had an idea
of where the inventories of canned
goods were at the beginning and
end of the month, how much goods
had been canned during the month
aid at what rate they were disap-
pearing. These reports have been
made out monthly since that time
by 80 to 81 per cent OF the $500
firms.
By summer need for ratiOning
really began to be felt, SO in
August the War Production Board
slapped down its conservation or
der M-237, restricting Gamers to
the delivery of not more than 35
per cent of the civilian allotment
of 1912 canned goods to retailers
by Dec. 1, 1912, and not more
than 20 per cent by April l, l943.
This was applying ratiOning at the
top.
In September the M-237 order
was amended and rationing was
applied to the wholesalers By re-
stricting purchase to 10 per cent
OF the fruits and 30 per cent of the
vegetables they had sold to retail
ers during the first eight months
of the year, January through Aug
ust. This was an effort to control
wholesalers stocks and to Emit
their purchases in accordance with
wartime base period sales.
RETAIL LEVEL REACHED
There were still no restrictions
en- sales, however, until November,
when the stocks began disappearing
too fast. Then the wholesalers
l. 10; trin m
g per cent of their base period
sales per month.
The first plan for ratiOning
canned goods at the retail level
was drawn up last July. 1t ~
been revised, sweated over, am
ended and generally overhauled
many times since then, and it still
isn't perfect. 1t probably never
will be. In the first few months
of canned goods ratiOning in me-
trOpolitan areas there will TN
doubtedly be good bit of CON
fusion and considerable bcllyach-
ing. But the boys who have been
working on this unwelcOme task
for the past year feel that in the
course of the first three months
this rationing is in operation, The
plan will work itself out
These ration planners make it
clear that they arc conducting no
social reforms, no long range eco-
nomic experiments. This is strictly
a wartime emergency necessitJ and
tie quicker they are rid o! the
whole business the happier they'll
be.
All these plans are being worked
out with the food industry, and
rationing of all foods is Icing tried
to existing trade distribution me-
thods. In England Customers may
trade with only one store. There
is none of that in the U s. ration
ing scheme. Customers may trade
anywhere they like so as to keep as
much freedom Of competition as
there always has been between re-
tail stores
In fact, retailers may even cut
pTiceS-though not point yalues-
en- canned goods and proccsseo
foods to move stocks of extend
ers," the items for which tLcrC