Evening journal., 1889-01-30
SUGAR FRAUDS.
II is Enough to Make Mans Head
Swim to Investigate Them.

II is Enough TO Make Mans Head
Swim to Investigate Them.
The startling statement that the Gus
toms revenue has been robbed to the ex.
tent Of from $4,000. 900 to $1,000 600
year through the New York appraisers
Office by undervaluations ana damage
owances-mainly in the underclas fl
cation Of sugars not an exaggeration,
large as the figures may seem.
An official of the Treasury Department,
who has been devoting months Of inves-
| tigation TO this matter Of sugar importa-
tion. said TO me yesterday
III believe the estimate in the Herald
to be far within the truth. It's enough
to make a mans head swim to investi-
gate this sugar business. For several
years past the importers seem to have
paid Just about what duties they pleased.
There appears TO have been no proper
sampling or testing Of eargoes of sugar.
There may be so many different grades Of
sugar in one cargo-all paying different
rates of duty-that it is only by the most
thorough and complete watchfulness that
the interests of the government are pro
tected ! can illustrate what ! mean by
a single instance:
Not long ago my attention was called
TO cargo of L. 600 bags of centrifugal
sugar by the steamer Arrecibo consigned
to Havermeyer a Elder. 1t was all en-
tered under one mark-'F, and TO pay
dlty at "a polariscOpe test. / learned
the cargo had been picked up at three
Cuban ports and knew that it must neces
sarily have been gathered from a number
Of plantations and therefore was of diff
ferent degrees of hneness, for no two
makings of sugar ever polarize at the
same degree, and every degree of course
means a different rate of duty.
when demanded of the ensignees the
plantation marks they told me they
didn' have them. You can Judge as well
as / whether that was the truth or not
| ] had to have all the cargo overhauled
and found no less than twenty-one differ
ent plantation marks on the bags The
sugar from each Of these was tested and
found to run from IS to 9S, and the con
signees had to pay about $50, 600 more in
duties than if the sugar had all been
graded the same at %, as would probably
have been done had the usual practice Of
the appraisers Office been followed. It
was onl a rigid examination that saved
this $50, 600 to the government.
"A negligent or complaisant sampler
can easily be managed by the stevedore
who unloads the vessel So that the sugar
bags from which he takes his samples
shall not represent all the grades of sugar
in the cargo Those of the higher grades
can be stacked up on the dock out of
reach. or troublesome to get at. There
are many ways OF doing il.
There should be general order re-
quiring that all centrifugal or molasses
sugars should be weighed and sampled,
so that every plantation mark in con
signment shall be represented in the
samples. II is the only way TO prevent
J fraud on the trevenue The Weigher'
Department will kick because Of the ex.
ira labor and handling, but that should
not be allowed TO lprevent the reform.
T. The extra $50 900 duties / collected In
the case have cited-and that is the
E only one of Inany-would pay the entire
: expenses Of the weigher's laborers for {
year.
LAS to the other cases I found. on in
Quiry. that the firms whose cargo / over
i hauled i'm ported about ! 900, GOO bags o
sugar between September, 1887, anS
. Nav, 1883 And if a rigid inquiry re
quired additional duties of about $50
600 on 1900 bags, what ought il to have
l. been on !, 600 OOOg"
l.; The principal importer OF sugar at New
A., York is that illegal combination know
as the sugar trust, which, apparently
e will soon be broken up by the courts
s All the sugar used by these rehneries
with the exception Of few cargoes 0
n Hawaiia sugars, that have been IMPORTS
n via San Francisco, are subject to dut
II according to quality. low appraise
menf of the grade OF sugar would be
the manifest advantage Of the importers
as can readily DC understood when IL
Z stated that the amount OF sugar dutie
collected * about 500 600 600 annualh
D. tn, largest proportion of which is paid /,
rs Nay York New York Herald.
h
S for solu "a .s.isur As.1s.4e- see DaV
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