The union times., 1946-10-05
Price Controls Not Connected
 With Situation
Cattle Industry Withhold ing Products To Bring
 End To O.P.A.

The meat shortage has pro- duced a bumper crop of wild charges. Price control is accused of having shut down the meat in dustry. There would be plenty of meat otherwise-so 1t is said. These statements have almost nothing to do with the truth. They are designed to end price controls.
 Meat would be hard to get even without price control. Here is why:
 GREATER DEMAND
 The American people are de- manding far more meat than the livestock and meat industries can pro d uc . About 45O,OOO,OOO pounds of meat per week would be needed to end the shortage. The abnormally high production of July and August, when there were no price controls, amounted to only 28O, 100000 pounds a week. The industry comedies that production cannot possibly reach that level.
 Yet even if it could, the shortage would still amount to 170,000000 pounds a week The chances are that the shortage will be we'll over 20O,- 100000 a week no matter what any one does. Since meat is grown, not factory made, the. meat supply cannot be substantially increased this year. No matter how high prices are per- mitted to go, pork will be scarce until next Autumn, lamb until the middle of next Summer and beef until early next Spring.
 GRAIN EMPHASIZED
 Disregarding the heavy demand, meat production was deliberately discouraged this year in an effort to help feed starving people in other parts of the world. Farmers were urged to concentrate on grow ing grain rather than livestock be- cause 10 persons can be fed with the grain required to produce enough meat for one person.
 As a result, the grain crops are large enough to meet all the food re- quirementS for this country and to make 250000,000 bushels available to hungry peoples in other countries. Part of the price for this crop is less meat than would otherwise have been produced.
 A lot of livestock was marketed ahead of time during July and August when there were no price controls. This premature harvest of the meat crop would not have occurred had there been continuous price control in- stead of the strange interlude between OPA I and OPA II. The absence of price control during July and August, not its resumption in September, is to blame
 NOW OFF-SEASON
 Early Autumn is normally an off, season for the marketing of livestock. The supply of cattle usually picks up in October and of hogs in December.
 Even if the Price DecontroI Board had decided on Aug. 20 not to put meat under OPA again, none of these conditions would have been improved. There just is not enough meat to satisfy the demand.
 Putting the price controls on again did make the shortage somewhat worse but nowhere near as much as is commonly believed. Livestock and meats are being held off the market in the hope that price controls will be ended soon.
 BOYCOTTS
 In other words, the industry from the cattle man to the meat whOlesaler-is speculating on the weakness of OPA. This will con. tinue, as long as the prospects for an early end of price controls are good. It is, therefore, the uncertain future of price control, not its pres ent existence which is to blame for the current hOarding of meat and livestock.
 The black markets influence on the meat supply has been grossly exag- gerated. It does not spell the differ ence between shortage and plenty. price controls, whether for 60 days or forever, would make the black market legal but would not lessen the shortage for families with moderate or low incomes. Since the meat supply Is so much smaller than demand, prices would be bid up SO high that only little group of big income families would be able to af- ford 1t.
 There is no easy answer to the meat shortage. No matter what is done, there cannot be enough meat for everybody this year. Without any controls, all the meat would go to the highest bidders. With ration ing, strictly enforced price controls, and subsidies, there would be more democratic distribution of the avail able supply.
 Those are the only choices be-