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Show RATION PROGRAM OPA's community or market-basket market-basket ceiling price program, which become effective earlier this week, is an essential move in the nation's wartime fight against inflation and will eventually be ' applied to every community m the United States according to Mrs. R. L. McKean, community service member of the Salt Lake City war price and rationing board. The community price program lists in cents-per-pound the maximum max-imum prices consumers may be charged for the various brands and grades of 50 per cent of the groceries customarily purchased by the average family. The lists issued this week apply for all, of Salt Lake County, and all towns on the main highway west of Tooele, north to Hot Springs, east to Park City, and south to Provo. According to the board's statement, state-ment, the newly-published prices will not reduce the generally prevailing pre-vailing prices since they were calculated cal-culated on the Dasis of existing regulations. These allow the retailer re-tailer a certain percentage ofi markup over wholesale costs, depending de-pending on the oomnjodity and the type of store. The prices published pub-lished in the market-basket program pro-gram this week show the maximum maxi-mum prices for 3mall individual stores. Consequently, only stores which have violated their ceilings will have their prices reduced as a result of the lists, it was pointed point-ed out. Larger volume stores, which customarily sell at lower prices, must maintain their lower prices in line with the regulations which now apply to them, it was stated. A special staff of OPA investigators investi-gators is being assigned to check the larger volume stores to be sure they do not move their price upward toward the top ceilings of the smaller stores. The purpose of the market-basket market-basket program is to enable housewives to know in the simplest sim-plest terms the maximum amount which a food store may charge them kjnder any circumstances1.) the board stated. The list of com-modies com-modies and the areas covered by the program will be expanded from week to week. Consumers are urg ed to clip lists from newspapers or to write the OPA state office for copies to take with them when shopping "It should be remembered, too, that there is nothing in the OPA regulations to prevent any store from selling below ceiling prices," the board member said. "In fact, OPO surveys showed that many storekeepers are patriotically co--operating with the anti-inflation program by selling below their ceilings Therefore, consumers will find ceiling prices in many stores below the prices published in the market-basket list. The board also called attention to the recent announcement by Adminstrator Brown that OPA is planning to cut back the price of many commodies to insure lower and stable cost of living in order to make demands for higher wages wag-es unnecessary. At the same time to insure fair prices to producers, he has asked the Secretary of Commerce to arrange for subsidy payments which will offer incentives incen-tives for maximum) production and at the same time hold down the cost of living. . |