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Narch 2~th, 19~4.
<br />
<br />were pl~sen~$
<br />
<br />At a regular meeting of the 0ity Council, held March 28th, 1944, thereI
<br />
<br /> J~hnP. Leigh, Leslie T. Fox, George L. Grimes, Russell M. Hal~,
<br /> Jeme~s-~.N. Hows~rd, W. R. Hutchins,~ Frank-D. Lawrence, 0.. E. Warren,
<br /> Pearle J..Wilson an~ Arthur S..Owens, City ~ianager.
<br />
<br /> Minutes of regular meeting held March 14~h were read and approved.
<br />
<br /> On motion of ~V~r. Hall, the privilege of the floor was granted a eom -
<br />mittee on the High Cost of Living, who pFeeented the following:
<br />
<br /> "Ac~in~ as Snokesman for the Legislative Committee of the.Portsmou~
<br />Cost of Li~ing Commerces, we ~re here ~nigh~ to bring to t~e a~ention of this honorable
<br />body a condition that all yeu gentlemen are aware of, the high cost of living in our city and
<br />this entire area. We present to you the f6Ilowir~ resolutl6n~
<br /> WHEREAS, the Portsmouth Co~t of Living ~om~itttes are
<br /> at this time trying to bring a~ou~ as our~ firs~ s~ep mn con-
<br /> tr~lling and combatting this condition, theeffective appli-
<br /> cation of all OPA rules, regulations ahd price ceilings. The
<br /> entire OPA policy is ba~ed on Federal Law and all violators
<br /> are subject to prosecutlon inFederal court. ~hile this pro -
<br /> cedure is effective and very painful to the ones ~o prosecuted
<br /> and convicted, due to technicalities, delays and other condi -
<br /> tic ns found in our ~ederal Courts, which are government agencies
<br /> and terribly strained as all government agencies are in aperiod
<br /> cf w~r, we find that many if not most of these violators are es-
<br /> caping punishment, and
<br />
<br /> W~EREAS, .this fac~ if you will give it your kind and set -
<br /> ious thought, is a large root of this extreme high cost of liviRg
<br /> c~ndt~ion that now prevails. We have spent much time and effort
<br /> in holdirgmeetings, talking and investigating this condition. It
<br /> is a matter of record, as many articles of news in our daily press
<br /> have pointed out, the large turnover in the Navy Yard personnel,
<br /> the difficulty of our government in securing greatly needed war
<br /> workers,~the, man¥. ~sirabl?.citizens omr city i~ losing and the
<br /> dissatismactmon ma~ prevamls among your oldes~ citizens as well
<br /> as the new.
<br /> You have many people here among~ your oldest and most sub-
<br /> stant~al~ctt~zens, al~ho~g~ not your richest, most of the~e people
<br /> have ~o ~xis~ on &~w fixed incomes s~c~ as pensions, savmngs accounts,
<br /> ~insuranoe policies, disability funds and so on. You have mshy others
<br /> who have to exist on low salaries w~ch have been increased little
<br /> if any since we entered the war. You have m~uy families here of men
<br /> in our armed forces, a large part of which are families of men who
<br /> arrive here daily to ~e near ~heir !eyed ones in the service are
<br /> worthy of your every consideration. All thes~ families of men in
<br /> the armed forces have to live on low incomes.
<br /> We who h~.ve spent many months in this cost o.f living work do
<br /> not know just how some of these families manage, therefore we have
<br /> tried to be generous &n our support of our community funds, and
<br /> tHEREAS, This legislative committee calling on this honor-
<br /> able body tonight, represents the wage earning peeple of labor in
<br /> this area. We now have committees who ~represent oeople living on
<br /> most every street and in every war in our City. We are constantly
<br /> ~ increasing our numbers in this work and our only aim and p~rpose
<br /> is ~o help con~rel and reduce the cost of living, wherever and
<br /> whenever possible. If the cost of !ivin~ continues to rise and
<br /> reaches the point where control is i~possible, wild inflation is
<br /> the only answer, and the lsaders of our great nation agree, ~his
<br /> will ruin us all,
<br /> We have recently appealed to the Portsmouth Chamber of Gem -
<br /> merce and the RetailMerchants Assn., for deep hones~ understanding
<br /> and co-operation. Their quick response is very inspiring and grati-
<br /> fying. You gentlemen know, as our city fathers who govern us all,
<br /> that our members ef Chamber of 0ommeroe, out'members of Retail
<br /> Merchants Association, our ~ax paying, voting and wage earning
<br /> citizens, are mostly honest people. If we were not, you would
<br /> have to build a new jail as large as our municipal stadium and ap -
<br /> peal to ~he peace officers of the entire state to some here
<br /> help you fil±i~ up~ We all know that t~e c~iseli~g crocks who go
<br /> to any extreme tc vmola~$ all laws are_sew. ~n numoer and the more
<br /> stringen~ the law the smaller this number oecomes.
<br /> ' Many people find faul~ with our national ~overnment for cre-
<br /> asing numerous ~ureaus to enforce regulations ofvarious sorts, ~
<br /> may ~e sugges~ tha~ if local governments would assume more respon-
<br /> sibility in enfcrcmng suchneeded regulations, many national bu-
<br /> reaus wo~ld not be necessary~ M&ny cities including the large
<br /> city of Oleveland, Ohio, recently went through a test in high
<br /> court and was found tc be proper and thus sustained,
<br /> WHEREAS, in pr~ection to~y~u yourselves as ou~ city fathers,
<br /> in pro~ection to our honest 0hamber of Commerce memb.ers and the
<br /> members of omr merchants~' associations, in p rotection~tc the wage
<br /> earning citizens who we represent here tonight, in protection to
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