Evening star., 1951-09-24
By Sam Dowson
Associofed Press Stoff Writer

NEW YORK. Sept. 24.-Every
one-the housewife as well as the
Army, the butcher as well as the
packer-is getting steamed up
about the meat price and supply
situation.
Black markets, above ceiling
prices and inferior quality plague
the industry as we'll as the con-
Sumer. Chain store executives say
they may not be able to supply
meat to their customers much
longer. A group of New York
butchers threaten to close 3.400
shops in protest to what they call
a fast-spreading black market.
Many in the meat industry say
that controls can never work as
long as they are not placed at the
production level-and this. the
farmer says, would be unfair and
would cut off production incentive.
Court Action Forecast.
Grocerymen attending the an
nual meeting of the National AS
sociation of Food Chains in Wash
ington say many companies are
thinking of going to court to force
the Office of Price Sterilization to
change it's price control methods.
The chains call the rules outmoded
and unworkable. They say they
can't break even on meat-and
can't sell it at a loss because they
aren't allowed to make up the
loss by higher prices on other
foods.
Meanwhile the poor housewife
finds it harder to get good meat
and finds favored cuts mostly
priced out of her reach.
The packers say they buy all
the beef they can under the OPS
pricing rules. These rules permit
the cattle grower or feeder to
sell the animal at any price he
can get. The packer can pay as
high a price as he cares to on any
one animal. But his purchases fol-
any one month must average out
at a specific ceiling for the var
iouS grades of beef.
Seen as Guessing Game.
Packers complain that this puts
them in the guessing business
Even the best of them can't al
ways be sure that an animal the,
buy alive will turn out to have 6
certain quality of beef after it..
butchered. If they pay too high or
animals and find they got inferior
quality. they have used up part Of
their quota for the month anc
can't afford to take a chance or
other animals.
To get around this, there i.
some talk that Washington may
scrap the present system and &c
in for a mark-up ceiling-that is
allow the packer to buy animal.
| for what they bring in the stock.
yards and then add his usua
profit margin when he sells tt
the distributors.
! Why are livestock prices goins
up at a time the cattle population
is at or near record heights? Pack
ers say that some cattlegrower;
and feeders are holding bacl
cattle in anticipation Of break
down in price controls.
Others are holding back animal
for breeding bigger herds. Deal
ers say that a few packers ar,
buying all the cattle they can ge
at above-ceiling prices. They arr
said to carry the meat on theil
books at more poundage thar
actually came from the animal
thus making their monthly quots
look right on the books. Some ar,
accused of selling inferior qualit.
meat to distributors at prices Sc
for top quality. While there i
much talk in the industry of thi
practice, formal charges of viola
tions have been few.
Chain store operators content
they are unable to find beef at th,
legal price ceilings and that the.
will not sell beef that has beer
up-graded in quality to get aroune
price ceilings.
The grocers dislike OPS regula