( SO ) 



aided and abetted by the public, tried to reverse the govern- 

 ment policy. Apparently a good many of the people came 

 to the conclusion that if a choice had to be made, they would 

 rather eat in the face of black markets than starve legally. 



In terms of farm production, there was no shortage of 

 potatoes in the spring of 1943. 



In terms of the city consumer, there was a shortage. 



The same was true of other foods. 



The government's actions were at cross purposes. Like 

 Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, the government put 

 on a ventriloquist act with OPA as the puppet. Speaking in 

 its own voice, the government asked the consumer to "share 

 the food." Speaking through its Charlie McCarthy, the gov- 

 ernment said: "Help yourselves, boys; it's cheap while it 

 lasts." It was cheap while it lasted but it did not last. 



Since man responded to his economic motives rather than 

 to the patriotic appeals of his government, he was handed a 

 ration card and was told that he could buy only so much 

 meat, butter, and cheese. Many students say that this short- 

 age was created by the consumers. It was not due to the 

 consumers; it was due to the acts of their government, which 

 unwittingly asked them to do what it did not want them 

 to do. 



Unless the rationing system is equitable, and unless the 

 unspent incomes of the low-wage groups are somehow ab- 

 sorbed, a part of the highly prized foods will by-pass the 

 regular channels and reappear in the black market. Black 

 markets, the inevitable accompaniment of low ceiling prices 

 and unspent incomes, result in waste and spoilage and con- 

 tribute somewhat to the shortage. 



There is no question that OPA ceiling prices temporarily 

 hastened the disappearance of highly prized and other foods 

 by encouraging the consumption of the stocks in the chan- 

 nels of distribution and by increasing the supplies moving 



