Friday, November 30, 2018

Fighting May Be Over But Profiteering Is Still Illegal, Nov. 29, 1918

From The Enterprise, Williamston, N.C., Nov. 29, 1918

Profiteering Is Still Under Ban

Raleigh—Would-be food profiteers who have judged that the signing of the armistice will release them from the watchful eye of the food Administration have a surprise in store, State Food Administrator Henry A. Page declared today that while a number of rules and regulations of the Food Administration have been removed and others may be removed later, those relating to margins of profit and to the distribution of food and feedstuffs will not only remain in force until the Peace Treaty is signed but that they will be more rigidly enforced thereafter than they have been in the past.
Profiteering and speculation will be punished ruthlessly. Voluntary contributions to the Red Cross will no longer be accepted in lieu of more drastic actions. Merchants who are found to be willfully disregarding food rules and regulations, especially those relating to margins of profit, will be put out of business until normal times come again.

In line with the policy the Food Administration has fixed specific margins upon an increased number of food products. Their margins are absolute and any merchant who exceeds them will be subject to discipline by the Food Administrator. The products which have margins have been fixed as follows:

[One profit margin for people who pay cash and another for those who pay using credit. Note that credit is 20 to 50 percent higher than the cash price!]

Flour (wheat, barley, rye, corn) $1, $1.20
Corn meal, ¾ cents, 1 cent
Homney and grits, 1 ½ cents, 2 cents
Sugar, 1 cent, 1 ½ cents
Oatmeal, bulk, 1 ½ cents, 2 cents
Lard and lard substitutes, bulk, 5 cents, 6 cents
Breakfast bacon (4 cents per pound may be added for slicing), 6 cents, 7 cents
Heavy bacon, 5 cents, 6 cents
Ham (4 cents may be added for slicing), 6 cents, 7 cents
Cheese, 7 cents, 8 cents
Butter, 6 cents, 7 cents
Butter substitutes, 5 cents, 6 cents
Eggs, 7 cents, 8 cents
Potatoes, 1 cent, 1 ½ cents
Onions, 3 cents, 3 ½ cents


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