The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-05-11
sTEAlrHY SUGAR TRUST.


t.nsu. or Antitrust Laws.
Tor thirty years our government has
IN In partnership with the sugar re-
eers. The terms of the contract un.
M. the Mckinley act are that, in con-
Iteration that the reiiners shall STAY
o, our soil aud continue To pay ~ mer-
;ean wages TO American worxingmcn, 1"
The government grants them lcens sc to
collect from consumers from j-6ths 10
cloth cents per pound more for re- fined
snrar than IL sells for outside of our
boundaries At the same time il gives
them free raw sugar.
This Is very much Of one-sided bar
gain. /. The retiners employ almost
no American workingmen . The
wages they pay are perhaps the lowest
paid in any industry. 8 While the
duty was ostcnsibly only intended to
cover the difference in wages be-
tween this and other countries il is. in
fact. fully Eve times the total labor
cost Of refining, which does not now
exceed one-tenth Of one cent per pound.
While the refners have formed a
trust To collect the last cent possible
under the contract. they have not only
closed many rciineries and thrown out
hundreds OF wage-earners but they
have sl.amcfully mistreated those still
employed.
The government, being n silent part
ner in the sugar trust and guaranteeing
profits of one-half cent a nd on the
! 200 900. 900 pounds of sugar annually
consumed here might naturally be sup
posed To have the right 10 cxa mine
The books occasionally. This is neces-
sary not only in order 10 see that the
contract is faithfully performed but In
order To supply a basis for future gree
ments.
The census statistics. taken every ten
wears might answer for this purpose.
ia l.ro however, the sugar rehner, re-
fused 10 show their books or Ia su omit
statements To census officials Some Of
the smaller rcfincr~ submitted care. less
iy complied or incomplete statistics
hut several of the largest made no at
tempt To give away their business" by
complying with the ''act 70 provide for
tak.rg the eleventh AMI subsca uent
census
Under these conditions It would take
an unusual amount Of assurance for an
industry 10 ask congress 10 rcno,v the
contract or to ask 10 have the govern
mcnt continue as the financial hacker
ot the industry. Yet this is what the
sugar trust is doing with .igor not
found outside of Of the wcil-nourisncd
protected infant industries" The
sugar infant has. in fact gone to Wash
ington with its millions Of unclean dol
lars 10 stay there until il can. by brb-
tariff legislation and thus compel the
government to continue its partnership
under the Mckinley contract.
on March IS senator Pettigres~ Of
serel "A resolution. which the senatc
agreed to. calling on the census office
u state whether il was a fact that the
sugar trust. substantially alone among
all manufacturers in this country. re-
fused to answer the census questions
Col Carroll ID. Wright made TO con-
Yress the same reply that Mr.. Robert
T. Porter made more than a year ago.
adding to il his reasons for advising
the department OF justice to discontinue
the suits against the refusing refners.
Concerning this reply the Journal Of
Commerce and the Commercial Bulletin
% March %. 1894. said:
The superintendent of the census
made report TO congress last year Of
his efforts to get from the sugar re-
iine-s the same sort of information that
be had got from the -four mill-owners
the steel rail makers and the wooden
manufacturers Harrison. Frazier 4
%. Of Philadelphia. made a report SO
deGcient rs TO Toe worthless: they were
requested to supply the missing infor-
nation. and they refused. Mr.. Porter
called their attention TO the act OF
July 1892. and they promised to sup
ply the information. but they failed 10
keep their promise. The Louisiana
Sugar Refining Co. of New Orleans,
and the lIavemcyer Sugar Ref ming
Co. of Brooklyn. referred all the cen
sus officials To the American Sugar Re-
inning Co. at Ma III. Wall street The
Havemevcr refinery in Jersey City re-
erred all census inquiries to Matthies-
sen & Wiechers Mt the same address.
Agents of the census went again and
again 10 No II, Wall street From
written reports on file in this Office,
says the superintendent, it appears
they received numerous promises and
al other times refusals. to comply with
the requirements of the law. They
finally reported. however. that they
We're satisfied that further efforts on
their part 10 secure the returns would
Re without avail"
Why should sugar refincrs be any
more reluctant TO give their business
away than iron or lumber or cotton
men? II Mr.. Havcmeycr will not OBEY
the law, why should the law make Mr.
havemeyer exceptionally opulent? lie
certainly would not invest any of his
money in business the particulars Of
which were refused To him: but he and
ms associates and their hired agents
INSIST that the people Of the United
states shall guarantee them profits Of
twelve million dollars year. though
they refuse TO answer the census ques-
Tons that other people answer
~ is about time that this foolish ness
We're stopped. II there is any reason
Why the refineas are entitled to pro-