Sugar, Irrationed

Somebody was radically wrong about sugar. Refiners and producers urged OPA and WPB to loosen up. Why ration sugar when warehouses bulged with the stuff?

The sugar-beet crop is expected to be bumper; more sugar has been imported from Hawaii than was thought possible; huge crops are also available in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Sugar men are having trouble storing extra sugar. Surpluses are stacked up out of doors, in vacant lots, under canvas, in danger of ruin. A large Gulf Coast refinery had to refuse a sugar shipment for lack of storage space. Sales for household canning have fallen below expectations --housewives loathe the red tape involved.

But thus far OPA stood firm, although conceding that warehouses are full. OPA turned down pleas for sugar allowances beyond ration limits. Behind OPA's stubbornness was fear --fear of shipping losses and of withdrawal of ships from the sugar business for military use. After all, the U.S. imports most (70%) of its sugar, and ships are needed for a second front as well as for imports.

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