Shanghai, Apr. 15.
Shanghai Municipal Council and the French Concession authorities have issued regulate us whereby all shops, stalls and other places of business selling foodstuffs and necessaries, must display price-lists in such a manner that they are-ea ly readable from outside the premises, it was announced yesterday.
All goods will also have to bear tags on which the price per 'b., dozen, piece}, or other. recognized unit, will have to be prominently inscribed numerals not smaller than 1.2 inches, Shopkeepers will have to. Keep, correct when record of all stocks purchases and sates, and these records Mit be. atlomitted to the Connells when required, Munfeipal officials in Ihe'Settlement, and police ofials in the Gancession will have free aces {o'buainess premises for the puFposer ft enforcing these new regulations Sehiehs Tt If Moped, wit contribute Towards the prevention of profteer~ nu, hoarding and speculating in daily necessaries, compte list of goods subject 10 these regulations vand the. oficial SIME, notifeation appear on page 3 taiay's "NorthChina Daily News Concession Fines While no fines 2 stipulated for contenders "in. thz "Settlement, the Prench Conewior Ordinance which Based onthe one promulgated Bie" Bauder, French Consul General, on February 19, empowers the authorities to warn offenders once, {tna infractions. may. then be punished suith fines. ranging' from. $1.10. $500 The Frenen Consul-General will also eempowrered to withdravelicences in the eae et repeated oF particularly feriows infractions, while offenders
Rewspavirs. oF proclamations, in aclive. this names published Condes with Articles XIII and XIV Shes wrench Consular Ordinance Gated' January. 29, 1040.
un the. Concession, price-liss. will have to be in the Prench or English famguagess although merchants ceal= Ingtwith Chinere and Russian custom tra "may. post. translations of the Griginal priests alongside, In_ the Salilement, priceslisis will have be in the Chinese, English or Japanese Tanghaaes. While the."'Concession police tine been charged to enforce The French Consular Ordinance, com-Pininis in the Settlement should be Rauressed! fo. the Commissioner Police, 185 Foochow Road, or In the ove of-markets, to the Health: Tn-Spector on the premises, oF In writing the Commissioner' of Public Meaith, 223 HHonkow Rood, Teaurements' of the display of price'iite and. tagging. of prices on Basic commodities hasbeen decided ripon in order that the buying public tay be able to make easy comparison prices. prevailing. in. the various Glatrele ahd buy in the. cheapest markets it ly felt that sellers may be encouraged thereby to keep their prices as low aa possible to invite the Seltlement and Concession auihorties propgae to publish weekly comparative price lists for districts this Is a further step to enable the public to buy where it Is cheapest, Rnato thus contribute towards. the amelioration of livelihood, These new measures which are effective immediately can only contri Bute in part towards the amelioration fof the high cost of living. The real okition is the removal of all restric" tions and taxes and a free flow of foods to Shanghai of commodities produced in the interior but which ye. subject. to monopolistic. restric~ tions on the part of the Japanese according to Council statement.
The majority of residents are still Inclined to believe that the prevailing unfortunate state of altairs, as fav at prices of every day commodities are concerned, are mainly due to profiteering, manipulation or specula tion on the part of dealers. cither directly or indirectly, tu all fairness, however, it should be emphasized that the fundamental causes of the high cost of living are due to factors over Which neither the merchants nor the two municipalities have any contro}.
'Nearly all. basic commodities. are obtained from that part of the coun Which suffered' severely ducing the actual hostilities and subsequent sine subject to Japanese ilicupation. At the same tine yeatly reduced value of the Chinese dollar is directly affecting the prices of goods which have to be imported, Taking these facts Into considera: joes in both foreign areas which Have been entrusted with the dificult task of advising the municipalities ne as far as ix deemer the present Dimeulties Outlined should also not be forgotten that the majority of basle commodities are perishable products, and that the so-tealled market prices only apply when goods pass directly from the producer {o the consumer, As soon as reserves oF storage have {0 be taken into fount, the prices can no longer be those' obtainable at the markets, also. include provision store prices Which are considerably higher, and in most cases justifiably so on account (of the cost of the necessary refrigeration and the losses sustained. is well known, for instance, that a piece of meat should lays before it becomes really tender or "prime." To fix maximum, oF even medium prices on meats, applicable both to markets and provision stores would therefore be almost impossible.
With regard to vegetables, the pos! tion is still more difficult in that the question of supply and demand Affects market prices daily, To fix Dries from day to day, could only be achieved if the day's supply could be ascertained before the market opened for business which is quite impossible under' prevailing conditions.
On February 29, it will be recalled, the SMC. appointed a Price Control Committee composed of Messrs. Hoehnke, J. Pistere and W, Mellor und thix Committee submitted preliminary report to the Council during March, wherein it was recommended, among other things, that wherever possible the Council should adopt measures similar to those promulgated in the French Conces-Sion. A_notifeation, was issued on March 13, according to which hoard Ing, profiteering and manipulation in basic commodities would be pro-secured according to law.
Mr. Fistere resigned from the Com~ mittee during that same month, while the remaining two members joined the Council's Supplies Committee which advises the Council on supply marlers. The membership of the Supplies Committee was increased by the recent appointment of Mr. W. Lee and Dr. K. Sugimura, and the Committee is now composed as fol lows: Sir Robert Calder-Marshall chairman; Messrs, A. Eveleigh, Hoehnke, 1. W. Hutton, W. J. Lee Dr. K. Sugimura and All food matters have been carefully surveyed and.the closest cooperation is being maintained between the Council and the French Concession, it being hoped that the present. Fegulations will considerably Improve the local food situation.
will take some time before the merchants wilt have all been able to frsie the required price fists and to tag their goods, and the public shoul therefore refrain from making complaints ax to. profiteering, hoarding and manipulating, until a reasonable period of time will have passed. Complaints received from the public will be investigated by an appropriate committe, Pilot Officer J.P.C.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.