Matzoh Moguls Are Summoned in Short Weight Inquiry Here

Seven ounces of matzohs are hardly enough for one good Passover meal, but those seven ounces are proving more than sufficient to give New York’s leading matzoh moguls violent indigestion.

The trouble over those seven ounces started in the last days of March when the Weights and Measures division of the Department of Public Markets discovered that the public was being bilked out of that much matzohs every time it purchased a package of the unleavened bread. Instead of getting the five pounds they were paying for, buyers were actually getting only four pounds and nine ounces. Moreover, as a special Passover treat, those same four pounds and nine ounces, in at least one prominent instance, were cut down to four pounds and six ounces, it was revealed yesterday by Deputy Commissioner Alexander Hamilton, who has been conducting an investigation into charges that matzoh manufacturers and jobbers were indulging in the old-fashioned game of short-weighting.

SCORES OF SUMMONSES

In the last few weeks scores of summonses have been issued against manufacturers, jobbers and retailers, returnable in Magistrates Court. Those against the retailers are being dismissed by the magistrates, on the grounds that there is no evidence of fraud on their part. The moguls, however, who make and sell tons of matzohs annually, are having tougher sledding.

To date, Commissioner Hamilton told the Jewish Daily Bulletin, summonses against three prominent matzoh manufacturers and ten wholesalers have been issued. Of the ten jobbers summoned, one has already been held for Special Sessions. He is Dave Brown, 1127 Boerum street, Brooklyn. Another wholesaler, whose case is yet to be heard in Magistrate’s Court, is the Federation of Yeshivas. Names of the others who have been summoned were not available, as reports had not yet been turned in to Commissioner Hamilton by he inspectors assigned to the cases.

LONDON HEARING APRIL 23

The case against Meyer London, Inc., will be heard in Third District Magistrate’s Court on April 23. How seriously London takes the charges is indicated by the fact that State Senator Mandelbaum has been retained as counsel. Senator Mandelbaum obtained a postponement when the case came up for the first time last week.

According to Commissioner Hamilton, London is charged with selling packages of matzohs as five pounds when they contained only four pounds and nine ounces. These packages, he said, were marked five pounds. A further charge against the firm is that, for the Passover season, the company prepared attractive boxes on which no weight was marked. Those were allegedly sold for five pounds, but on checking by the department’s inspectors were found to contain only four pounds and six ounces of matzohs. The difference, according to the inspectors, was made up by unusually fancy wrapping. Which, they pointed out, the public wasn’t expected to eat–but were expected to pay for.

MANY POSTPONEMENTS

Commissioner Hamilton said that the investigation is being protracted by frequent postponements of the Magistrates’ hearings. It may be many months, he stated, before there are any convictions.

In these cases, the Magistrate sits only as an ex prate judge and has the power only to hold the accused for Special Sessions. If found guilty of violating the short-weight laws, a major misdemeanor, fines of $100 may be assessed against the matzoh moguls.