The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1880-03-24
LETTERS FROM TIE PEOPLE.
cThe DEMOCRAT is responsible for none o
oka vtewB expressed In Che communication
Nnder thie head but no communications vii
u printed except from responsible partiee.l
TINE TARIFF AND SUGAR PLANTERS
NEW ORLEANS, March %, 1880.

rive II any further currency. We have been
~ accustomed To ite TRADES upon uH, and at
the same time to Its advocacy OF the cause OF
b cliuue of smaller refiners and Cuban houses
III New York, that we expect little else: but
this specimen of its tactics merits notice for
its mingled malignity and misrepreeenta-
tion.
That the planters Of Louisiana should seek
openly 10 retain the protection under which
they Ut their predecessors were led to spend
their substance and their toll In the cultiva-
tion aud improvement Of the alluvial lands
" tho State, their redemption from overflow,
end their enrichment with villages and
UAMs,factofiee, is but natural. This prutec-
Nun it ID that our writer 30 elegantly terms
stba government spoon" But is not this the
eAnle spoon which has fed, In their infan-
ctes, the Iron masters Of Pennsylvania and
nothing OF New York reiiners 1t is, at the
eame Nme, the very identical spoon which
has given birth TO and developed all Of our
varied industries, 30 that now we, under its
hetaree with any and every country It is
omphaHcelly the American ''spoon" 90
against tho starving nouriahment OF Brit
lel stapmOther and her disciples In thls
country But our writer asserts IT, that ,o not .
the eugar planters "cannut stand alone"
What does he mean Ii he means anything,
be le In favor of withdrawing protection
g0islana sugars. and # 60. why does
AZ Htn9le out that industry alone Of all those
prutected And iust here let us cay that 1t
VuuM be difficult, In the history Of the world,
% parallel the cluRged industry ana peIse-
yerance OF the Louisiana sugar planters
UNDER their great trials.
Imtsoyerjshed, and. In many cases ruined
by tue results of the civil war, their slaves
freed. hArried by carpet.bag thieves, legiHla-
tors aud tax gatherers, yet, In sptte OF all,
they have preserved courage % and kept ~ lie
one which, ut the present time. represents
sixty millions Of capital and employs. In one
way ue another, 100000 souls And yet, for
These men, our writer has no other words
than these Of contempt and depreciation.
Let IN pass by HE remarks on the Hawaiian
&r0afv. OF which, we venture to say. that II
NJ inner history of II could be written, As
Au90 Job would be discovered az often has
rs practical results, we have understood,
though we do not vouch for 1t, that sugar IN
EAn FtAnClsco ie none the cheaper. inasmuch
- the trade with Hawaii is entirely In the
A.nds 81 one monopoiist, . ,u4
that the planters wtsh to close the doors to
the inaportAtion OF sugar from the Spanish
and British West indies. What evidence is
there .of thisa The planters ask, and eek M
only. tuy the retention Of the present tariff.
Unitar this tariff. the consumption Of West
lnsiia and other foreign sugars In the United
States has been steadily increasing. until
fcr the year 1879 It has about reached the fix.
are Of G50,0 tons, and the consumption Of
sugar Der capita, In this country, is second
only to that of Great Britain. the largest
sugar consuming country In the world. Add
b this. that under this same tariff refining
Industry In New York and other Eastern
cttiee, inferior to none In Europe, has grown
and thriven, and yet, because the planters In
1Ocently ask for the retention Of this tariff.
they are to be the objects 81 obloquy and re-
Not content with thie, our writer further
Npresents the planters as going into hys-
whatever that may mean holding
public meetings at New Orleans against any
reduction Of the tariff, and deluging Congress
With petitions, memorials and what not on
thA subject. We were not aware It was sin
t0 hpldN public meeting for a subject Of great
commercial interest. We had thought that
MI long since such a meeting was held In
New York. On the sugar question: at which
1fr. Durant was chairman. and at which
certain epicy interrogatories were drawn up
10 ba made to the chairman Of the Committee
of WAYS and Means, and the proceedings Of
se meeting were we presume; rae, pHoshed IN
tiou. We say that had such meeting been
Aeld, and such petitions forwarded, after
The example Get In New York, there would
Aase been : warrant for It. B9t as It hap.
whole charge-not one. No public meeting
Wng held, then or ever, In New Orleans on the
sugar Queetion--no deiu9e OF petitions or me-
UOrtals were poured into COn9ress-nay. not
d slnxie peSltion! The truth ts, that at
aectiSa o}the Sugar Planters Association,
Il their accustomed chamber, during the
&arly part of this month. certain resolutions
Nue offered to and passed by the meeting,
Which resolutions characterized IN ht terms
thesUeusorious" and unwarranted interroGa-
tsgtes addressed through the chairman OF the
1--we mentioned New York meeting to the