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43 Colum. L. Rev. 147 (1943)
War Price and Rationing Boards, The

handle is hein.journals/clr43 and id is 189 raw text is: COLUMBIA LAW REVIEW VOL. XLIII MARCH, 1943 NO. 2 THE WAR PRICE AND RATIONING BOARDS* An Experiment in Decentralization REUBEN OPPENHEIMER In a typical American town, six men, in shirtsleeves, are gathered in earnest discussion. Their meeting place was formerly the display room of the county's largest seller of automobiles, filled with glittering new models and high-pressure salesmen. The subject of the present discussion is whether or not an applicant shall be granted the coveted privilege of buying a new car. That question, in itself symbolic of the drastic change in our internal economy, is being decided by the Local War Price and Rationing Board, consisting of two business men, the secretary of a trade union, a farmer, a lawyer and a minister. The applicant has claimed that he is using his car, which he asserts is no longer serviceable, for transporting produce to market from a' farm which he owns. These facts, if true, would make him eligible for a cer- tificate; but everyone in the county knows everyone else, and the Board knows all the facts. The farm is owned by the applicant's father and is operated by his brother; moreover, his present car is still adequate. The application is refused. In the same state, on the same summer evening, a large public school is ablaze with light. In one room, a number of men and women, wedged behind the little desks, are intently studying cabalistic figures on the blackboard, which are being explained by the lecturer. This is a class of volunteer workers who will soon be put on panels in the gasoline ra- tioning program. In another room, a personal hearing is being conducted in connection with an application for recapped tires; three board mem- bers and the applicant are going into the facts informally, but with the utmost thoroughness. The chairmen of all the city's local War Price and Rationing Boards are meeting in the principal's office for the weekly discussion. Gasoline coupons are being tailored in the hall and sugar ration books are being counted in the janitor's cubicle. One hundred * The opinions expressed in this article represent the personal views of the writer and do not purport to reflect those of the Office of Price Administration.

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