The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1880-01-03
OUR SUGAR MART.

10 bnA huttoF OF tne democrat:
In your issue OF Sunday, December 7. there
appeared an article, under the heading of Our
Sugar Mart" treating In clear and forcible
| manner q subject OF great importance to the
sugar planters Of our State, to wit: The weigh
| Ing of our sugars and the gauging Of our mo-
| lasses.
| II is to be hoped that article met with the
careful consideration and reflection that II mer
| lied and the subject demanded on the part oi
| our factors and planters both interested In al.
most an eaual degt ee In honest handling of our
| cane products on the levee In New Orleans
nropose to add few remarks to The sug-
gesiions OF that article, which tf may pe Der-
20 sas ~ mf, ~ ws q q
10 its statements,
1t is not. probably, without some effort that
We shall be- able to fully convince the busine
public, as well as those more specially engaged
In handling sugars and molasses. that n change
for the better is hourly called for In the pres
eht system. But the FIRST step. and a long step,
will have been made when the facts OF the case
are clearly stated and fairiy-not once. but
Gften.so shh hthat at last, public attention end
the weighing of sugars. Il is q fac that every
hogehead Of sugar is weighed on the levee ON
sions, and that the beam must be made atoays
to rise In favor OF the buyer. To illustrates:
Though y hogshead should really weigh say
utmost only 1850 pounds. while, II in addition
the beam Is made to rise, 1t may be made
to weigh ohly 1145 pounds So much as to
Now as to the gauging OF molasses. 1t con-
sists Of the goki,ne in Of 9 smearsd and dirty
sauglnR rod, with masioal rapidity. n i libersl
and 10 equally liberal deduction from the gal.
lonage " the So ca led ''outs''-a EN- per-
feetly devised fer the. Inter ests OF the buyer.
and If molasses be only calculated at twenty
five cents the gallon, II Will be seem the loss on
each barrel must be considerable. Indeed, 80
n a, hi hiatt s,,ttx
Saving on the leyee that shippers OF molasses
tp the West or New. York ply their freights to
those points by the liberal allowances of mes
But 10 return to the weighing of sugars The
defenders of the present system ASSERT that.
what with mud elnging 10 The outside OF the
pack ages and soft sugar to the Inside, the pres
ent advantages or allowances made to the buy
ers are no more than reas onable. Admitting,
do stick In the hogsbeads. and that a buyer
cannot get full weight out, ytt this reason will
aot hold good 10 the case ot centrifugal tugars,
which. due deu uetion being made for the taIe,
ought to be bought at thelr EXPORT weights. In
gal sugars. whether In barrels or boxes or bags,
flaefs Of New York send out their packages
By those weights. and those alone. are they
sold, subj Ct Uf course, to reclamation on ac.
count Of error. II proved.
there s the mud the levee mud 1t sticks to
p. The lh,ogsheads. and allowance should be made
1t tis undoubtedly true that mud does stick,
and the mores the pity. IL shows what la
mentabla plaae our sugars are sold In. and
what unhappy business capacity presides over
our municinal regulations. OF course this
mud makes the package weigh more. and yet,
strange to say, the writer OF this q planter. not
of to-day. has never In his expe ianoe received
the levee weights of lot OF sugar that euualed
those OF his carefully adjusted Fairbanks plat
form. scales. marked. gross and iare. on the
There is now within bis knowledge case of
one, among several. whore a planter shipped
twelve hogsheads of dry whites, weighed care
fully before shipping on IN aGeurat ~iy afl listed
platform scale. On receiving 81 account sales
Of these twelve hogs heads. he found that the
levee weights showed q loss on the lot, az com
cared with bis own weights. of l0i pounds
Comment is almost unue ttssary. And yet this
was dry sugarl II It may he allowed to travesy
a sacred verse: II such things are done In the
dry what may we expect In the gresnf"
What must be The loss OF tn SO unhappy cul |
vators who. ing raw sugars aud not weigh
ing their h0geheHds trust 10 the tender mel eias
If the evee balance? Herr. II ever, one may
exalaim. II ignorance Is bliss. It's folly to be
wtsel"
Ths writer bad the pleasure to disouss some
OF these points with one OF our largest and most
resDee able brokers on the lavse. aud who,
while not entirely denyieg that some reason
existed Tor change. yet argued that, under
the circumstances. results uld not we'll be
otherwise; THAT ths space for selling sWess"
on he leves had been too much restricted by
the erection OF the sheds that the short space Of
twenty.four hours only granttd for lots lyins
on the lsvee forced rapid sales aud weiehinRs
that TO ship to the West or North by certain
vessel often forced candle.llght weishipRs and
that consequently great haste was used In
weighing, and necessarily mistakes would
occur. Ytsl 1t would, and does ohraus occur;
and. be II safd. always In one way-against the
seller. He must alteaps be The sufferer under
The present syst ma 81 ste m which. II onea good
reasons existed for. supporting, yet now, witt.
raid bu insss habits. different class OF
sugars and restrie ed area on which the sales
are made, should be abandoned.
Why. should planters Civ up, OF their hard
earned and often already NOR gagged sugars.
any number Of pounds. however few they may
he.t middIemen aud spt culators. whether OF
the West or New Orleans Ii here are In truth,
and In fact. 30 many pounds of sugar In q hogs
head why should not u b yer pay for every one
Of those pounds? 1t is the rule so to do in
grain. in haY, In meats all articles as bulky as
sugar-why then this exceptiob2 and why must
It. as we have shown. always work unfairness
TO the saller'
But we must close this article, already too
long, and defer to another number of your
journal soms further considerations OF his
subject. and perhaps the suggestions look ing
to remedy of the evils under which the plant
.rs suffer. PLANTER.