New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-25
FRIDAY,
JANUARY Is, 1895.
RUIN IN LOUISIANA.
RESULTS OF DEMOCRATIC TARIFF.
MAKING.
THE SUGAR PLANTERS LEFT TO THE MERCY o.
THEIR CREDIToRs-REPEAL OF THE
BOUNTY LAVA BREACH
OF PUBLIC FAITH


BOUNTY LAVA BREACH
OF PUBLIC FAITH.
rrRoM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT or THE TR.pcyEl
Louisiana is o Democratic State which has
been brought to the verge IF ruin by Democratic
Incompetence in Washington. The sugar In
dustry Of this State represents an investment OF
500 900 900 in land. plantation buildings. mills
machinery, rolling-stock AMI wharves. This In
vestment has been enormously deprecated
through the action OF Congress in Withdrawing
the sugar bounties and exposing the planters to
destructive competition from foreign producers
without adequate protection. Sixteen presidents
OF commercial exchanges and banks in New
Orleans nave united in a declaration that the
practical operation Of the new tariff Is to inJure
the industries OF Louisiana more than the COM
bined industries Of forty other states. THIS
injury" they add goes far to ruin the cane
producer and manufacturer and Will threaten
with heavy losses kindred industries In New
Orleans and other cities. whose means have been
absorbed in advances to planters and furnishing
machinery and supplies and to annihilate an In
dustry that has been building up for hundred
years. and has been doubled in the last three.
and the destruction Of which VIII add to the
1920 OOOO 900 now annually sent abroad for for
eign sugars" AS nearly all these sixteen presi-
dents are lifelong Democrats. this plain state
ment Of facts cannot be discredited partisan
Indictment
Before charging upon the ruin wrought In
Louisiana by Democratic tariff makers with the
cooperation and connivance OF the two repre-
sentatives Of the State in the United States
Senate. ] shall present brief outline OF the
history OF one OF the oldest industries in the
South Sugar culture was introduced In the
rich a.luvial lands Of the lower Mississippi as
early as ISL and the first tariff bill passed by
United States Congress. that OF 1889. contained
o clause for the protection Of the industry. From
1929 to 1861 there was a rapid development OF the
sugar resources OF the State. under the con-
tinuous opera ton OF tariff on sugar. Although
the Yield always uncertain. Louisiana was
the main source of supply for the American mar
ket, the bulk Of the sugars q the British ana
Spanish West Indies going to Europe During
the civil war the Louisiana sugar industry was
practically destroyed the product declining from
1910 hogsheads IN 1861 to 1900 in 1865. The
vacuum caused in the American market was
filed with West Indiaa sugars which were
diverted from Europe rs higher prices and
shorter lines of transportation. The Louisiana
planters IMPOVERISHED By the war not in
poslton to compete successfully with their
West Indian rivals, and while their product
gradually increased between 1865 and 1890. II
formed only a small proportion u the sugar
supply o., the United States What had once
been a protective duty adequate for the develop
ment Of the industry beclme practically reve-
nue. duty.
Meanwhile the beet industry Of Germany.
Austria Hungary France. Belgium and Russia
had been brought to high state OF perfection
and prosperity under the operation Of the bounty
system Through the introdu 'tion ~ improved
chemical and mechanical processes and the edu-
cation Of the agricultural classes by technical
schools. Continental Europe gradually became in
dependent Of tropical sources Of sugar supply.
Cane sugars not only found their only great mar
iSet IN the United states. bu, their ascendancy
there was challenged by beet sugar. The total
crop Of Europe in 1890 was 100000 tons. This
was an increase Of 10000 tons over the previous
year or 200 900 tons more than the aggregate pro-
duction OF Cuba. The louisiana planters con-
frontel with destructive competition from the
West Indies Hawaii and Europe were barely
holding their ground. with a tariff duty
averaging cents a pound In their favor So
hopeless was the prospect that they would ever
succeed In supplying the bulk OF the sugars re-
quired for consumption in the American marker
that the abandonment Of The revenue duties
which had been IN force almost without Interrupt
ton for eighty years was favored by many North
ern protectionists. and finally carried into effect
In the Mckinley act under reciprocity conditions
To the honor OF the las; Republican Congress
be II said that this odiime Southern Industry
was not ruthlessy destroyed although reprisals
had been invited. Louisiana. with its sugar and
rice in iusries vitality interested in the pro-
tective policy yet had voted steadily against the
Republican party year after year. There was no
political support 10 be obtained in Louisiana In
return FOR the protection OF Its industries was
there any reasonable probability OF change IN
election methods by which free actually cast
might be honestly counted President Cleveland.
during his first term had forced upon the country
the question of the reduction OF surplus revenues.
and the abolition OF the sugar duties was the east
est and most convenient method OF accomplishing
that result Moreover Secretary Blaine had per-
ceived the advantages To be derived from the ne
gotiation o. reciprocity treaties based upon the
free market for sugar. and was advocating that
policy with characteristic energy. The tempta-
tons TO abandon the Louisiana planters to their
fate were numerous and strong but the Repuoii-
can party not influenced by political resent
ment. sectional feeling and motives OF expectancy
In the place Of the revenue duties. when sihcs
1865 had not avaed to offer sufficient protection
to secure the development OF the LOUISIANA IN
dustry on d large scale. Il substituted the bounty
system which had driven cane sugar out OF Eu-
rope and was threatening to displace 1t on the
American continent. -,
In December 1890 Secretary Blaine In the
course M n long conversation with me In mis-
Washington house remarked that Louisiana was
no, In the Sugar Belt but on the edge or II. and
consequently that the industry was forced one.
IN which eighteen months work had to be done
In nine He seemed disposed to regard 1t as a
National misfortune that the industry was there
AZ AL since under the disadvantages OF a semi
tropIcal climate il could not be developed to a
point where IL could meet any large proportion
OF the American demand yet could not be aban-
doned altogether by protection tarlff-makers
without their exposing themselves To criticism
on the ground Of sectionalism. Secretary
R,aines opinions were shared by many Protec-
tionists, who found the sugar duties a source Of