SYDNEY’S BLACK MARKET

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 November 1944, Page 3

SYDNEY’S BLACK MARKET

MOTOR TYRES £lOO A SET

SYDNEY, October 20. Sydney’s black market has reacted ■■'sympathetically’’ to the withdrawal oi'United States servicemen. It is now possible for Australians to buy liquor on the black market at a price slightly less than that previously charged ztmericans. American cigarettes, how--ver. are scarer and prices have soared. Even United Stales servicemen on leave in Australia are buymg their own hrmids on the black markei'.. . The greatest demand persists tor motor tyres, a good set of which realises up to ,£lOO. A set in ordinary condition is worth £50... Petrol tickets are scarce, and so active have been police and Liquid Fuel Board officers that a buyer has to be known to the selling agent to obtain them. The ruling price is 8/- for a gallon coupon. . United States provosts are cooperating with civilian police to suppress unlicensed hire of cars at axoi bitant rates. The operators hire out the cars in the street to American servicemen, demanding a £2O deposit. The United States Provost Marshal, Captain Chambers, said that when cars are returned the operators inspect them, claim they have been clamaged, and keep most or all of the £2O deposit. Captain Chambers added that competition among racketeers was so keen that they were now informing on each other: “Every day we get authentic information about' stocks ol' stolen American goods,” he said. Mysteriously, small quantities of rice, a food not seen in Sydney for two years, are being hawked around the suburbs. It is being sold at 1/6 a pound, compared with before the war. Tea (fixed price 2/3) is being illegally sold at 3/4 a pound.