Evening star., 1947-10-05
Meat at Half i. ). Cost
But Rising Bread Price
Worries Canadians


to Ottawa, Canada's sixth largest
city and its capital, that the Domin-
ion looks for the administrative
know-how to halt at its borders the
imitation sweeping the rest Of the
world.
The housewife in Ottawa, like her
sister in Montreal and Quebec and
the little towns between, is worried
She buys her Sunday roast at hall
the price charged In the United
States, but she is paying cents
more a loaf for her bread this
month. Is this the first in a series
of inf1ationary price rises?
Talk to Mrs. Isabel Ralph, with
the Canadian Information Service
here, herself a housewife.
Prices aren't bad here, certainly
nothing in comparison with condi-
tions in the States," she observed
but the rise in bread prices, and
rumors of other increases to come
has the Canadian woman jittery
She doesn't know which way things
are going"
Refusal to Buy Cuts Prices.
Mrs. Ralph said that a year age
household furnishings, such as rugs
were hitting sky-high levels, but the
refusal of the Canadian consumer
to buy at those prices has driven
the level downward, and today de.
partment stores are featuring sale
items once again.
Refrigerators, washing machines
and other durable goods, planned
and saved for through the bleak wal
years, are out of reach of most
households, as is the case in the
States just now. In most cases their
parts are imported from the States
and price rises there are reflected
in the finished goods in Canada.
Mrs. Ralph, who is in close touch
with provincial Offices of the infor-
nations service, as we'll as with other
governmental agencies in this CAPT.
tai city, is confident that the price
line will be held on necessities.
Had Lot Of Experience"
"We've had lot of experience
starting in 1899, with keeping price!
down, and things won't get out o.
hand,' she said hopefully.
One inf1ationary factor - high
wheat prices - is not affecting thu
Canadian economy to any great ex.
tent. Wheat is one of the few com.
modities still under direct price con.
troll. Speculation, which congres.
sional leaders have declared is 9
potent factor in pushing up wheat
prices in the States, is unknown ir
Canada, under the rigid control:
here.
Nor is Canada remiss in its obi.
cations to the hungry areas of the
world. In the crop year 1896 -194r
this nation exported to the wheat
starved countries abroad 104 ,000, ,O0(
bushels of wheat, almost one fourth
its total production. And in the
calendar year 1946, Canada exported
$89, ,729, 900 worth of meat. But meat
prices remain low in Canada.
Answer Simple, Officials Say.
The answer, dominion officials ex-
plain, is simple. During the wal
years, Canada followed rigid price
control. controlling not only retail
prices, but their sources, such a
wages.
Through the postwar economic
crisis which has brought imitation
to its southern neighbor, the domin-
ion government has cushioned the
Canadian economy with q policy
which it calls controlled readjust-
ment."
Not for Is months after the war
when the production of civilian
goods approached some semblance
of normal and the initial danger o1
an inflationary spiral was over, did
Canada remove control OF wages
from its war labor boards and rein.
state full collective bargaining.