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Show The housewives in Utah were handed a Christmas present in reverse re-verse this year. Without even donning don-ning a red suit and white whiskers whisk-ers the Beehive State Bakers slipped the Little Women a neatly wrapped package. It was a 12 per cent increase in the price of bread. Twenty-five cent loaves went up to 28 cents and the 26-cent loaves to 29 cents. Just like that. There was no advance notice by the bakers, no request for permission to make the hike and no public hearing where retailers or consumers could be heard. The bakers merely said that increased in-creased costs of labor and materials ma-terials "forced" them to charge more for the staff of life. Take It or leave it. Most folks will no doubt "take it," since people have over the years, become accustomed accus-tomed to eating bread. It's a funny world we live in. Some say it's really cockeyed. Several months ago Utah Power and Light Co. asked for a 10 per cent hike in their rates to consumers. con-sumers. They had facts and figures fig-ures to prove it, they said. Public hearings of several weeks duration were held before the Utah Public Services Commission. Commis-sion. Testimony pro and con, was taken from both sides. Then the Commission took the entire matter mat-ter under advisement. Last Thursday, the PSC announced an-nounced that the evidence show ed that only a 6 per cent increase in rates was justified and the company was advised accordingly- Of course the Bakers would scream that they are not a "public "pub-lic utility" but only a "private enterprise." However, everybody eats bread just as everybody uses electricity. So, if there is not a law preventing the gouging of bread buyers in Utah, it's the candid opinion of this column there should be one. Seems to us that the bread makers got their heads together and decided to all raise prices at the same time." If such was the case, they are in violation of the Sherman Anti-trust Laws. Well sir, it seems as though we consumers have been knocked down so many times that we have lost all desire to crawl up and fight back. If we remember our eighth grade history correctly, a group of Blue-bellied Yankees picked up their muskets and did something about King George the Third's 2-ccnt 2-ccnt tax on tea. Now we take a 3-cent "tax" on bread without lifting a Christmas pop gun. What are we going to do about it personally? Well, our good friend Alma Kirk is a sheep camp tender from way back. He has a recipe for sourdough bread rolls that's a knockout. We might just possibly "roll our own." So long 'til Thursday. |