Respite

In a big, dark-paneled room in Chicago's Saddle & Sirloin Club last week, Price Boss Michael V. Di Salle faced a crowd of 250 angry cattlemen and told them what's what on the subject of beef controls. Six months ago, said he, cattlemen had assured him that if beef prices were left uncontrolled, they would level off. By April, livestock prices had soared another 12%, and the total rise up to the present since January 1950 to 53% (v. only 14% for all foods). Said Di Salle: "Under these circumstances, we were forced to come through with a program."

Up jumped a dozen meatmen to protest livestock controls and price rollbacks. The American way, said one feeder angrily, was through the law of supply & demand. Snapped Di Salle: "It's called the law of supply & demand when the price is going up, but everyone hollers for supports when the price goes down."

At week's end, many feeders who could hold their cattle off the market no longer began to ship again; receipts in the nation's stockyards climbed back almost to normal. The big meat packers were beginning to slaughter again, though still less than 50% of the normal rate. The big packers still could not get top-grade beef at low enough prices; instead, they were buying grass-fed animals straight from the ranges. Even with the gradual return to normality, the trouble was far from over; feeders were still not buying animals for fattening and sale in the fall. No one could tell whether Mike Di Salle's controls would keep beef flowing to the dinner tables or bring shortages.

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