The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-10-02
TARE ON SUGAR.
ST. BERNARD PARISH, Oct. l, 1875.

ST. BERNARD PARISH, Oct. 1, 1875
To the Editor of the Bulletin:
As we un derstand this is as yet an open
question with your Chamber of Commerce,
and IS the sugar planters are, by implica-
ton, the parties under arraignm snt, common
justice entities them to be heard.
In the first place. we will candidly admit
that ten per cent often does not cover the
weight of the package or hogshead, but equ-
ally as often, if the truth were known, it is in
excess An old, dry cypress hogshead, with
ordinary heading, will rarely weigh over ITO
or 120 pounds, and yet such may often con-
tain 1400 or 1900 pounds of sugar. In de-
Quoting the tare from these, the planter evil
IDENTIFY loses from thirty to forty pounds, even
at tar of ten per cent, and much more if at
twelve per cent But if he were to intimate
to the broker or purchaser upon the levee one
word as to reclamation he would be laughed
to scorn.
It is the duty of Chamber of Commerce
to redress the wrongs, or cheatings, if you
will, in trade. But why select the sugar plant
ers as subject of your endeavors at honesty,
unless you will at the same time abate the
money cheatings and impositions they are
often subjected to in sale of their sugars
Why are they not paid for these same hogs
heads that you propose increasing the tare
upon? The planter does not get them for
nothing, or grow them like his cane, but each
one of them honestly costs him in good cash
from two to five dollars. Although they cost
the grocer nothing, he is very certain to sell
them when empty
Now, Messrs. Grocers, our compliments to
you, as our Chamber of Commerce in right
ing the wrongs of trade seem to have ne
elected you. In packing out this same sugar
into barrels or half barrels, you surely have
not the cheek to charge anything for them, as
you have got our heavily tared hogsheads for
nothing? Alas for poor humanity.
If our packages are too heavy, yours are
often too light. But, as honest business men,
after an almost unanimous effort to correct
the tare upon the planters hogsheads, can
you not invert your vision and look a little
nearer home? When you correct or right the
tare upon your own packages, that you do
not give away, but get paid for, there are
many others, little things, in your trade that
an enterprising Chamber of Commerce might
investigate. If twelve per cent is the tare
upon domestic sugars in all other markets there
may be some propriety in insisting upon the
same here. But this increased tare will cause
dishonest planters to increase equally the
weight of their hogshe ads Ii all planters
were only honest, like all grocers, how vir-
tuous and happy we would be.
If an iDfexible rate of tare is fixed, it
will not prevent fraud. Hogsheads may be
made to tare fifteen or twenty per cent? then,
Why the wisdom of charging from ten to
welve?
1t is best for all partias that the planter be
paid for his hogsheads with the actual tare
marked upon them. If subsequently ascer-
aimed to be fraudulent, as the broker or COM
mission merchant knows him, demand recla-
nation, and forever debar the perpetrator
rom again selling sugar upon the levee.
We do not believe it is our tare of ten per
ent that is driving Western grooers from our
ugar market. 1t is our highly sulphured and
sugar that causes ruinous loss in
weight. Often two or three hundred pounds
re lost in weight, and the Western buyer can
lot calculate what he is really getting. But
he planter is not responsible for this; it is
he grocer and sugar broker who will insist
pon fght-colored sugars and molasses.
Whenever all open kettle sugars are made
With lime alone, as of old, then you will find
Western grocers on our levee "as thick as
caves in Valambrosa." PLANTER