Evening star., 1948-01-26
BizonoI Council Food Edicts

The German Bizonal Economic Council,
recently given enlarged powers by the
United States and British military gov
ernments, has just made use Of It's new
authority by issuing two drastic edicts to
cope with the highly critical food situation
in the American and British zones.
The first of these laws applies to food
growing and distribution. Henceforth,
agriculture in Bizonia viii be strictly
regimented. All but the smallest farms
are placed under quota system Of pro-
duction and delivery. Farmers are as
signed certain products they must raise,
some of which must be delivered 100 per
cent Other products can be raised option
ally, with varying quota delivery obliga-
tions Only amounts in excess of quota
requirements can be sold on the free
market for what they will bring. In
addition, certain rewards are promised
for good performance, while violations
are subject to punishments including
heavy fines, long terms of imprisonment,
and even seizure OF farms in extreme
cases.
The second law deals with boarding and
applies not merely to producers but also
to middlemen and consumers. Every
family, business or corporation must make
a detailed return of all food in its posses
sion, and concealment or Justification of
returns are subject to heavy penalties,
especially for repeated offenses.
These measures are, of course, review
able by military government, but there
can be no doubt of their approval since
they were suggested to the council by the
occupational authorities. Insofar as legal
compulsion can do it, therefore, Bizonia is
prepared to grapple strenuously with the
evil which has diverted much of its home
grown food into the black market or
has kept 1t on the farms for speculative
purposes.
Yet 1t remains to be seen how effective
even these Draconian measures will be in
practice. The boarding or black-market-
ing of food In Bizonia is essentially a
symptom of bad economic conditions
which must be remedied or at least
ameliorated before the effects can be
eliminated. The root causes are food
scarcity and debased currency. Even
at maximum production, Bizonia cannot
produce enough food to nourish its swollen
population. But this potential maximum
is prevented by two other evils-a scarcity
of consumer goods and currency whose
purchasing power is almost nil. Farmers
have no incentive to produce beyond their
needs if they are required to turn over
their produce in exchange for marks
which cannot buy the things they urgently
need And consumers are irresistibly
tempted to hoard what they can get,
either legally or through the black market
when the future Is so depressingly un-
certain.
Under these circumstances, the new
edicts are bound to encounter the hostility
of almost every one except the most un-
fortunate elements of the population
The farmers, in particular, will be dead
against them, and the ingenuity of the
peasant in evading regulations is proven
bial, not only in Gemrany but everywhere
in Europe. Therefore, helpful though
they may be as emergency measures, they
should and must be supplemented by
currency reform and heightened produc-
ton of consumer goods If their effects are
not to be limited and uncertain.