The Daily Alaska empire., 1946-11-13
0pA DEMISE PUTS RESPONSIBILITY
 up 10 CONSUMER
Mrs. Hermann Warns NFFE 10 Guard Against Over
 Spending al Present

Alaskan consumers must now become the guardians of their own pockets Mrs Mildred Hermann, Director of the Alaska Office of Price Administration, told mem bers of the National Federation i of Federal Employees, Juneau branch, today at the organization s regular luncheon n-meeting.
 Buyers resistance will be their main weapon against prices rais- ing beyond all sensible scale she said. If the consumer refuses to pay an outrageous price for com . modity he is doing estimable good toward future stabilization.
 1 OPA ahas now withdrawn price i controls on almost all items, the l speaker said. With the exception of controls on sugar, syrup, mo- l lasSes, rice and rents, all commodl- i ties are now free of ''regimenta- tion". Mrs. Hermann said Prices based on an overall picture, are now approximately 50 percent /; higher on "decontrolled" items than , during the active days of OPA.
 The OPA Director said that dur l ing her four and a half years in . that position she had gleaned a l better understanding of bureaus in l general, what they did and how necessary they were to the way o1 ! life in Alaska.
 Although bureaus are more of- l ten reviled than otherwise Mrs [ Hermann said, they actually have a worthwhile spot in Alaska and undoubtedly to the same degree ir ether parts of the United States. ; A definition of an oldtimer is : supposedly "one who. still thinks ol a bureau as a piece of bedroom , furniture" she said But whether | or not bureaus continue to b. "cussed and discussed" as they are [ today Alaska would he in a pool spot without them.
 In summarizing OPA "as l
 prepares to make hurried exit, Mrs. Hermann said that when tht
 office came into being May l6, 1922 it was understood to be war az ency and that at the end of the l ,,,o,. I,or,, a,,,aruanav from a Vpa to Is months after VI day, l
 would naturally cease to exist. During the intervening year OPA has been the subject of mucf
 criticism. Alaskans by nature, di' not like regimentation, she said People spoke of supply and demand balancing itself. She pointed ou that actually this would be impos sible for some time to come sine the production today, even witl
 strike and other interference l
 higher than at any other time il ! the U. $. history and the natioi
 still cannot fill the demand.
 The demand is pent-up one born of long years of doing with
 out during the time industry wa
 converted to war productions. Ther
 is not a home in the nation Whlcl is not in need of some item no produced during the war. Flee
 trical appliances, cars, equipmen
 of all kinds, are needed. Ther will always be those willing to pa. /! any price to obtain something bad ly wanted. It is such people wh
 will keep prices pushed up for tn rest of the nation.
 This Thanksgiving l believ consumers may remember OPl
 with less harsh words when in stead oi paying the controlled pric
 for turkey they pay approximatel twice that amount. In the up
 surge of price on various com mcdities at present and ill tn future she mentioned butter an soap particularly. She also state
 that in Anchorage there appear
 to he terrific buying spree going on with ladies pocketbook
 selling for $85, fountain pen set
 for S125 400 such sets were sol , in one day). Last summer i
 Nome watermelons sold for $l . each and there were not enough t : go around.
 | She said such price raises pre-
 sented tremendous problem t
 such fixed-wage groups as Feders
 employees, and urged that a def
 mite stand on buyers resistance , made.
 "OPA is now exiting as we kne' l all the time it would. It may nc ] be as gradual or with such dig |, nity as we would prefer, but it : something that surprises none ( US connected with the office. w
 knew all along the office was ten i. porary and agreed that it shoul 5 be. Rent price controls will COT s tinue for some time, I hope.
 (Continued on Page Eightj