Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1894-09-20
SUGAR LEGISLATION.
How Republican Laws Have Robbed the



that the sugar schedule of the tariff reform bill
is a distinct and emphatic triumph for tariff
reform The best way to explain the sugar
SarIn is to tell the story of sugar legislation
There three stages of sugar Hesitation
the republican stage before the Mckinley bill
the stage OF the Mckinley bill and the present
new stage or the democratic tariff reform bill
The sugar tariff before the Mckinley bill was
so-called revenue tariff on all sugar coming
into the United States. It was graduated
scale of duties, rising with the quality grade
OF the sugar. The average duty was about 2X
cents per pound.
These duties, while chiefly for revenue,
acted as very high protection to the Louisi-
ana sugar growers, but that was popularity
supposed to be their only protective feature
There was announcement in the bill that
there was any protection for the sugar re-;
liners. There was, however, hidden in that
schedule of graduated duties practical pro-
lection for the refiner. How much it amounted
to was not generally known. It was not public
property. 1t was probably one-hah cent
pound But the protection there. Itwas
part OF the protective system of the repub-
11can party to protect refners and sugar farm
ers SO much for the first stage of the sugar
tariff.
ucan party, when it went into power after 1888,
found the government in the possession of
very large revenue. It had a hundred millions
OF dollars year surplus. The republicans
saw that that was temptation to the people
and to their enemy, the democratic party, to
cut down the protective tariff, because, as the
government had more money than it wanted,
1t was perfectly natural that 1t should cut down
the taxes, and first of all the protective tariff
taxes To remove that temptation and protect
protection the republicans then in power made
up their minds to wipe out the surplus first by
largely increasing the expenditures OF the
government by raising the expenditures to the
billiondollar figure; but that they did not
think enough, so they also cut down the in
come of the government by cutting off the
revenue part OF the tariff on sugar S56,O00.000
year. They wanted to destroy the surplus and
create deficit and they actually turned a
surplus of Sl0o,OO0,0O0 into q deficit of
$7OOOO,OOO so as TO remove the temptation of
the people to cut down protective taxes
But they did not want to lnjure the protcc-
tive feature of the sugar schedule. They did
not want to take of the protection to the
6ners. Mark. however, that the situation in
the refining business had changed. We did not
make much objection to this protective duty in
the old time. PARTLY because most people knew
nothing about 1T, and partly because ut that
time refining. free and the competition
among refinerS was very keen and kept prices
down. But before the Mckinley bill went into
operation that had been changed. The compe-
t1tlOn mad ceased, and the sugar trust had
risen up and made refining practical monop-
oily. "Tne Mckinley people wanted to give the
trust q big protective duty on sugar, but they
did not want the government to get any rev.
enue out OF the sugar, and the consequence
was that the Mckinley bill arranged that all
raw sugar coming into the country should
come in tree, but no refined sugar or sugar
trust could come in free
Mckinney gave the trust the advantage of
free raw material, then highly protected the
trusts product. He gave the free sugar to the
trusts and the protected sugar to the people.
Refined was taxed oEe-half cent a pound and
One-tenth of a cent extra if it came from Ger
many France, on the theory that those coun
tries paid bOuntieS to their sugar growers. But
while this arrangement provided we'll for the
trust, the removal of the duties raw sugars
took away the protection. Of Louisiana sugar
growers. This led to that extraordinary feat
ure of the Mckinley bill creating u bounty of
two cents a pound on all sugar raised by the
farmers of Louisiana, Nebraska, California
and Vermont. 1t the first bounty ever
created in America, and 1t will doubtless be
the last. So that was the situation in the Nc
Kinley bill. the Mckinley bill made the sugar
tax pure protective tax for the first time in
the history OF the country and created boun-
ty system. Sugar now openly protected.
there straight-out duty OF u half cent
per pound on refined sugar.
Now, how did the republicans represent this
action to the people? They went before the
country with the cry of free sugar when they
had only made free the material Of the
trust and when they had given u protection OF
half cent or SlX-tenthS per pound, which the
people had to pay. They sought to carry the
election OF 1892 on the theory OF free sugar when
for the first time in the history of this country
they had made sugar an openiy-protected artl-
Gle. and that for the benent of the sugar trust
alone. The reason the people were deceived
was their unwillingness to believe that great
party would deliberately deceive them by such
4 statement, but that is what the republican
party did. They were aided in their deception
by the lower price OF sugar. AS two and one
half cents revenue Guty had been taken OF
sugar, of course the market price OF sugar was
lower, Notwithstanding the fact that the peo-
pie we're taxed half cent by Mckinley for the
benefit OF the trust.
Now We come to the third stage OF this blu
which we have Just passed The tariff reform
erS of congress want absolute free sugar, and
they will get 1t If the people vote for tariff re-
form this fall But they found the sugar trust
intrenched in the senate. Now what was it in
treuched behind? 1t was intrenched behind
ats old friends, the solid republican party, The
friends who had hrst protected, and, therefore,
practically created 1t, and few protectIonists
who call themselves democrats, but who by no
tests that now prevail are democrats
But did the tariff reIormerS fail? Were
they defeatedy Not at ALL by no means de-
teated. The democrats were not able to get
free sugar this time, but they got great deal
more than the protectlonlSt majority wanted
to give They did not destroy the sugar trust,
but they hold the battlefield themselves. and
the essential difference between the Mckinley
sugar tariff and the new sugar tariff is just
this: The Mckinley tarin gives the sugar
trust half cent protection. That half a cent
duced to about three-tenths OF cent by the
new bill The protective duty of the McKin-
ley bill has been reduced one-third in our bill.
That is what got by fighting We did not
get the whole of our demand any more than we
= got free iron free coal, but we reduced
iron ore from Seventy-hve to forty, coal from
seventy-tive to forty, and we reduced sugar
from nifty to thirty.
1.-The protectionists also included in the new