Noble Experiment

During World War II, most U.S. meat disappeared into black markets. It was spirited there by a horde of fly-by-night operators who popped up so fast that the number of licensed slaughterers mushroomed from 4,500 to 20,000. "This time," said Price Boss Mike DiSalle last week, "we're going to stop the black markets before they start."

To stop them, DiSalle issued an order limiting slaughterers to existing operators. He divided slaughterers into three classes: 1) the 450 major slaughterers who ship in interstate commerce and have federal licenses, 2) the 2,800 slaughterers and 12,000 butchers with state or local licenses, and 3) farm slaughterers.

DiSalle ordered everybody but farm slaughterers to register with OPS, get a number to stamp on all meat sold. Each operator will be held to a slaughtering "quota" based on his 1950 sales but open to periodic adjustments to allow for changes in the overall meat supply. Farm slaughterers will have to put a ticket with their name and address on all the meat they sell, cannot sell more than 6,000 Ibs. a year apiece.

In Chicago, meat packers cried that there was no need for DiSalle's scheme because there was plenty of meat. The only real problem, they insisted, was to keep meat production on the rise. "All we can do," said Wilson & Co.'s Vice President James Cooney, "is hope to God the quota plan will work. But we know it won't."

But DiSalle had little choice, now that he had slapped on retail price ceilings while livestock prices were uncontrolled. Last week he hinted to farm-bloc Congressmen that when & if he freezes livestock prices that are above parity, he will not roll back prices.

DiSalle, who predicted that all prices will rise an average of 6% by midsummer, knew that livestock prices will go higher. Consequently, retailers who try to observe ceilings will find their supplies vanishing. Most of all, DiSalle wanted to get his supply-control mechanism operating now in case he has to decree meat rationing this summer.

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