Evening star., 1953-03-06
PriceRise Discounted
On DecontroI Of Cars,
Bread and dAppIiances

Bread and Appliances
Washington observers today
saw little chance of immediate
price increases as a result Of the
Governments lifting controls on
major house hold appliances.
bread and bakery products. auto
mobiles and laundry services.
Furthermore. members of the
American Retail Federation.
which closed a two-day confer.
ence here last night. said sales
c0nlpetition-already warm and
likely to grow warmer this spring
would restrain price increases.
A spokesman for the bakery
industry here declared he be-
lieves prices will remain where
they are for the present.
William G. Hill, Damaging di-
rector of the Electric Institute
of Washington. declared he be-
lieves the order will have no
effect on household appliance
prices.
PlaSticS Affected,
Affected by the order were all
major house appliances, includ.
ing home refrigerators, dish
washers, ranges. clothes washers,
driers and ironerS, home and
farm freezers. All custom -molded
and fabricated plastic products
also were involved.
1t is too early yet to foresee
what will happen to automobile
prices as the result of he OPS
action observers here declared.
But they said they believe there
will be no increase in prices.
They pointed out that new cars
have been selling below ceiling
prices for some time.
Includes Trucks, Parts.
The OPS order affects all new
passenger automobiles and post
war used cars, parts and access
sories. Also included are all
commercial vehicles. such as
trucks. buses, trailers and parts.
The National Automobile Deal
ers' Association, 1926 Seven
teenth street NV, in a state
ment, said the OPS order was
welcomed by new car dealers who
have contended that direct price
controls on new and used auto
mobiles have served no necessary
or useful stabilization function.
Cuts Paper Work.
Robert S. ArmacoSt of Kansas
City, Mo-, association president,
said: ":The order suspending price
controls on new and used auto
mobiles is long overdue, but will
nevertheless be welcomed by the
dealers of the country because it
eliminates a vast amount of un-
necessary paper work and ad-
ministrative expense on their
part"
Wilmer H, BaIderson, exec
utive secretary of the District
Laundry-Dry Cleaning Associa-
ton said he sees no price ad-
vances for laundry services. ex-
cept for some minor adjustments
Controls were also removed
from glycerine, cocoa and cocoa
products, copper chemicals and
X-ray and electrical therapeutic
apparatus.
Items Still Controlled.
Items representing only about
Sl2 per cent of the Consumer
Price Index still remain under
Office of Price Stabilization CELL
ings. They include coffee. beer,
East Coast fuel oil. garbage dis
posers and hot-water heaters.
They also may be decontroled
within week or two.
Price Chief Joseph H. Freehill
said he looked for higher prices
for bread, household appliances.
laundry and dry cleaning and
automobile parts.
But Jerome NJ Ney, president
of the Boston Store Dry Goods
Co. and a deputy price chief in
World War II. said:
There is absolutely no reason
to expect higher prices for con-
sumers" on refrigerators. wash
ers, freezers or other electrical
appliances decontroled yester-
day.
The retail situation now is
extremely competitive, he said.
"The buyer is getting the benefit
of liberal trade allowances and
discounts"
Dissent on Clothing.
M. I. BehrenS. president of
Ludwig. Baumann and Spears.
New York. suggested home ap-
pliance prices may recede rather
than rise-it's a puzzle to me
why they weren't %econtroled
some time ago."
Other businessmen said that
steady prices were in prospect
for dry goods and apparel and
that price cuts may be coming
in the textile lines.
There was a dissent in the
clothing field. E. j. Hesketh,
newly elected president of the
National Association of Retail
Clothiers, said mems suits may
be higher priced next fall If
current negotiations bring sub
stantial wage increases in the
mems clothing industry.
M.u,lanA Wninhe Dsrnln