Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-02
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL,
THE TARIFF COMMISSION UN-
DER FIRE.

ties-The Schedule as Fixed bv the
Senate-The Treasury Balance Sheet
Another Call for Bonds.
WASHINGTON. Feb. I'm the Senate
MIR. Blair presented several petitions Of
citizens of Virginia, South Carolina.
Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, West
Virginia and New Mexico for national
aid to common schools.
Mr.. Malone presented similar petition
from citizens of Virginia.
The tariff bill was taken up, the ques-
tion being on Mr.. Frye's amendment pro.
posing an ad valOrem duty of 40 per cent.
upon all sugars.
Mr.. Morgan, Of Alabama, speaking in
! opposition to a high duty on sugar. gave
as one of the reasons for his opposition
| the fact that letters had been read in the
/ Senate from member of the Tariff Com
| mission Duncan +. Kenner) showing a
combination between the Sugar Planters
/ Association, of Louisiana, and manufac-
| turefs of glucose in the North for the pur-
pose of adulterating sugar with glucose,
and securing to both the advantages of
high duties on sugar.
MIR. Jonas said there was nothing in Mr..
henneTs letter showing that he repre-
| Sented or assumed to represent the sugar
| planters of Laisiana, and in behalf of the
| planters Mr.. Jonas denied that they had
/ entered or sought to enter into any such
combinations.
Mr.. Morgan read Mr.. Kenner's recently
| published letter to a glucose dealer in
! Buffalo, and said it contained distinct
/ proposal to enter into a combination to
1 defraud the whole country. He regretted
/ that any Southern man or any man should
! have placed himself in such position as
/ that IN which Mr.. Kenner was put by
| this letter.
Mr.. MaXey would be the last man to de-
/ fend Mr.. Kenner's action, but he asked
! Mr.. Morgan whether an examination of
! the work of the Tariff Commission did not
/ show that all the other special interests
! Represented in the Commission were not
/ as carefully guarded as the sugar interest
/ and in like manner.
| Mr.. Morgan. replied that it did, and for
| that reason he had no confidence whatever
I in the Judgment or recommendations of
/ the Commission. The only influence their
recommendations had upon him was to
make him examine the subject more
| closely and critically.
Mr.. MaXey-kenner showed his hand a
/ little more plainly than the rest of the
! Commission, but they all held the same
/ hand.
! Mr.. Rollins said he had understood the
| Senator from Ohio Mr.. Sherman) to say
] Ou 1u6Sudg Iudb Iue COMMISSIONS re-
/ port would reduce the duty on sugar to 81
! per cent. and the Senator from Rhode Is
! land that it would make the duty 40
/ per cent. and he wished to know which
| was correct. Upon being thus appealed
| to, each Senator reiterated his opinion as
| quoted.
| Mr.. Aldrich said the bill as interpreted
/ by Mr.. Sherman would reduce the revenue
/ from sugar about $20,O00,000 while by his
| own Mr.. Aldrich's) computation the bill
/ would reduce the revenues eight and a
| half millions.
Mr.. Kellogg said that ~ cents pound
1 was as low duty as the planters could
/ live under. Such duty on all sugars
| imported would make the article Az or 5
cents pound cheaper to the consumer,
l and while it would protect him (the
/ prOducer) it would bring the refners
/ face to face with the refners
/ of Cuba and other foreign countries Just as
/ it was proposed here to bring the free labor
4 OF Louisiana face to face with the slave
! labor of Cuba. The action of the Senate on
| all the preceding schedules would show,
| Mr.. Kellogg said, higher average of the
I ad vOlOrem rate on the articles dealt with
/ than the rate proposed by Mr.. FRYE, and
/ higher even than that proposed in the
/ committees bill.
/ Mr.. Allison asked Mr.. Kellogg whether
1 he regarded 81 per cent. ad valorem as
| lower than the rate proposed by the Com
mittee on Finance.
| Mr.. KellOgg-Oh, yes. / should say
that the committees bill would make the
ad valOrem rate about 45 per cent, or
at least 40 per cent.
/ Mr.. Frye's amendment. Mr.. Kellogg
/ said, if adopted. would ruin the Louisiana
/ sugar producers, who generally voted the
| Republican ticket, and he was sorry to
/ see an attack made from the Republican
] III 10 off I,o oh
1 hOrts.
In reply to a question by Mr.. Blair, Mr..
Kellogg gave some statistics of sugar pro-
/ ductlOn in Louisiana. He said that it
| employed about $90,000000 capital, of
J which $10,00O,000 was in machinery.
/ Four hundred thousand people lived by it,
I and sixty or seventy thousand men and
women were employed as labOrers, of
/ whom more than twO-thirds were cOlOred.
| The number of eX-slaves owning homes
and other property was two or three
| times as large in Louisiana as in any other
/ State, and that class of population was
more quiet and orderly there than in other
/ Southern States. These results were
/ largely attributable to the sugar indus
/ try.
| Mr.. Frye's amendment was then voted
/ on and lost.
| Mr.. George offered an amendment fixing
| the duty on all sugars at 35 per cent
J Also lost.
! Mr.. Kellogg offered an amendment
making the duty on sugars below No. 10
/ Dutch standard, testing by polariscOpe
not above seventy-five degrees, two and
| One-fOurth cents per pound, One-fOurth of
a cent less than the existing rating, and
/ equivalent, he said, to about 30 per cent.
! ad valOrem. Lost-yeas l, nays SO.
I Mr.. Kellogg offered an amendment re-
/ ducing the present duty sugars below
1 No. Is Dutch standard, 4 of cent. per
/ pound, and making q prOpOrtiOnate re-
/ duetiOn on all other grades, which, he
! said, was compromise proposition half
( way between the commissions bill and
4 the existing tariff. Lost, only Messrs.
| Jonas and Kellogg voting in the afirma-
/ tive.
! The substitute offered by Mr.. Morrill, on
| behalf of the Committee on Finance for
/ the sugar schedule in the committees
/ bill was then adopted.
/ Mr.. Morgan gave notice of an amend
I ment. which he would offer in the Senate,
/ prohibiting the adulteration of sugar or
! mOlasses by mixing glucose with it, and
making the sale knowingly of products so
/ adulterated an offense punishable by fine
{ of not less than $j0nOr more than $500 for
/ each barrel or package sold or offered for
/ sale.
| Mr.. Beck gave notice of an amendment
| making it a misdemeanOr to sell any mix
| ture of sugar and glucose as sugar with
/ out advising the purchasers of the fact of
/ its being MIXTURE
Consideration of the sugar schedule in
/ committee of the whole being concluded
/ the Senate took up the tobacco schedule.
/ The first paragraph, affecting cigars, ciga-
/ rettes. ETC., was passed over temporarily.
/ The next paragraph, concerning leaf to-
| baccO, was amended by the adoption of
/ portions of the amendments offered by
| Messrs. Sherman and Hawley, so as to
read as follows:
/ Tobacco in the leaf, manufactured,
/ when the greater portion of the bale, box
| or other package is suitable for wrappers,
/ 70 cents per pound upon the whole con-
I tents of said bale, box or other package;
| all other tobacco in leaf manufactured
/ and not stemmed, 30 cents per pound; to-
/ bacco stems. 10 cents per pound; tobacco
manufactured of all descriptions, not spe-
! cially enumerated or provided for in this
| act, 40 cents per pound.
The cigar paragraph was then taken up.
l The amendment of the Finance Commit
| tee fixing the duty on cigars and tobacco
| at 81 90 per pound, and % per. cent ad
valOrem was adopted. The provision
! schedule was disposed of without change,
and schedule II. liquors. was taken up
and some progress made, when the Sem
! ate, at 9;35 p. m, adjourned.
HOUSE PROCEEDINGS.
In the House, Mr.. Kelely, of Pennsylva-
MIA, asked that an agreement be entered
into whereby the House should sit until
6 O'Clock every day, that the tariff bill
might continue under consideration.
7 u IL