December 22, 1944

BUTTER SHORTAGE RIOT

Price to Blame, Not Farmers, Dealers

CHICAGO—In Watertown, N.Y., at the beginning of this month, two hundred women staged a two-hour riot in the grocery store of William R. Navarra and cleaned out the store of all butter and sugar, states the proprietor. The riot started when one woman refused to abide by the half-pound allotment per customer, emerging from a storeroom with two pounds of butter. Others quickly followed suit, many leaving the store without paying for their ill-gotten baking supplies. John Brandt, president of the National Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, claimed earlier this month that farmers and butter dealers are the victims of poor planning in regard to production of butter, and they are not to blame for the current shortage of butter.