Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-17

affords an illustration of this fooiishness.
| After drawing correctly enough the dis
tinction between grading sugars by the
Dutch standard of color and by polariscope
tests of sweetness, the World makes the fol.
towing assertions:
A common method of committing fraud on
the revenues before 1888 was by coloring high
grade sugars. They were thus admitted on pay
ment of a lower rate of duty than the law con-
templated for Sugars of their sweetness. Under
the new law the same fraud can be repeated,
and to the greater profit of the refners. Sugars
really above No. 16, Dutch standard, can be
colored so that they will appear to be below 16,
or even 13 and will be admitted free OF duty.
The refners will then take out the artificial
coloring and sell them at the price charged for
the highest grades.
The trust will make a great deal OF money
under the new law and no one else will be bene
flied. In this return to the Dutch standard
alone there is a fortune for the renners. IL puts
the whole sugar product in their control.
That this allegation as to the fortune to
the sugar refiners in the abandoning of the
polariscope tests for sweetness is mere moon
shine, appears in the fact that the polaris-
cope test never was applied TO sugars above
No. 13 or the darkest in the standard of
colors. This was SO for the very good reason
that the frauds referred to consisted in
taking the higher grades of unrehned sugars
and coloring them SO as to resemble the
lower grade. AS the sugar must be refined
in any case, this entailed little loss. But
this process would not paw if refined sugars,
or those above No. 16 in color, were arti-
fcially colored and then had to be refined
over again. This appears most indisputably
in the fact that while the old tariff bill did
not apply the polariscope test to sugars
between Nos. 13 and 16, and therefore per-
mitted sugars above the latter grade to be
colored down if there was any profit in it,
he practice was unheard Of.
The new tariff law omits the polariscope
test, it is true, but that is because all the
sugars to which it is applicable are placed
on the free list. Refners can, if they choose,
color a No. 16 sugar down to No. 13; but
as they will have to pay no duty on either
grade they are not likely to throw away Ia
bor There is less inducement to do SO now
than before. The difference between the
duty on the highest grade of sugar subject
to the polariscope test and that on sugars
above No. 16 was six.tenths of cent; while
on the raw sugars that formed the bulk of
importations it was 1@1. &C., and if the sugar
was refined to the highest grade it was
1&@1.7c. Now the margin is cut down to
ive-tenths of cent. If artificial coloring was
not resorted to then, it is nonsense to say
that it will be done now with one-third to
one-half of the margin.
1t is equally foolish to say that the public
will get no benefit from reduction of duty
en- refined sugar of 21f@3c per pound, and
reduction of the refners' margin to one
third what was given under the old law.
Such talk gives the lie to everything which
the same papers have been saying about the
effect of duties on other articles.