The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-11-23


ten order were handed out with a
page and a half OF explanation for
release the next day. No press con-
Ierences were called to explain the
directive, give it's background, its
method of operation or the reasons
| for its issuance. The result was that
the story got short play way back
inside in most papers, usually with
a headline such as Judge Vinson
Sets Ceiling on Live Cattle
This was exactly the opposite of
the idea OPA wanted to create.
OPA's public information Office got
busy and tried to rush through a
six-page Interpretation and explain
alton to make the directive under
standable and give it some sense,
but this effort got tangled in red
tape and was held up for two weeks.
REASONS FOR RULING
The fundamental purpose of the
VinSon directive Is to keep down
the price of meat to the consumer,
with which objective there can be
no argument.
Second, it was an effort to keep
meat off the black market and
divert ito legitimate trade.
Third, it was intended to bring
relief to the small Slaughterers of
beef, the non processing slaughter
ers as they're called, who butcher
and sell whole carcasses. These
small slaughterers normally handle
about Is per cent of the kill, but
the wholesale ceiling prices on beef
established under OPA's Maximum
Price Regulation 1904, while giving
the big packers or processing
slaughterers ample margin of profit,
had caught the little fellow in a
price squeeze which was driving
them out OF business If they wanted
to stay legitimate, or driving them
into black market operations II they
wanted to keep going.
The Vinson directive aimed to
correct this situation by giving the
processing slaughterers an ex-
ira subsidy of 80 cents per hundred
weight of live cattle slaughtered. 1t
wasn't considered necessary to
worry about the big packers, doing
IS per cent of the meat business
because, in a tight market they can
make up their profit in by-products
hides, fertilizers, and so on, even
though they lost money on meat.
Fourth, admitting the difficulties
of trying to put ceiling prices on
live cattle, over the course of a year
the OPA econom lists worked out the
scheme embodied in the Vinson
directive, which DOESN'T fix absolute
ceilings on each grade, but allows
a range of 81 per lundredweight. 1t
is a variable ceiling which allows
the packers some range in judging
how the cattle they buy on the roof
will grade out on the packing house
rail
PENALTIES FOR PACKERS
Fifth, it does this by arranging
for the payment of subsidies to
slaughterers on a monthly basis, so
that their business will average out
within the limits, on the Chicago
market base prices of from SIS to
SIG per cwt. for choice, SLABS to
S15.25 for good and so on down to
$3.50 to $3.50 for bologna bulls.
However, it provides that if the
packers average prices paid on each
grade during the months business
are above these limits, then the
packers will be penalized on their
subsidy payments from the govern
ment by the amount of overpay-
men they have made to the cattle
raiSerS.
1t is on this subsidy question that
the issue will ultimately be fought
out in Congress. There, If the cow
bloc and the farm bloc are strong
enough, they can render this Vim
son directive null and void by SIM
ply stopping all subsidy payments.
If that happens, up must go the
price you pay for meat at the
butcher shop.
But in the meantime, an effort
has been made to stop this OPA
procedure in the courts. This will
be considered in the next issue.