The Portland daily press., 1897-05-26

perablVe QuIy OF congress to provide in
the measure under consideration for a
revenue which will certainly meet the re-
quirements of the government for the
next fiscal year. The adoption of a reve-
nue. bill which should fail in this purpose.
andsswhich should create an additional de-
ficiency in the immediate future, and
which would require further issue of
bonds to meet current expenditures.
would certainly be fatal to the hopes of
future success of any political party re-
sponsible for such legislation.
In selecting the source for additional
revenue the committee decided to increase
temporarily the tax on articles of volun-
tary use rather than to assess additional
duties, which might prove imperative on
articles of necessity or upon those which
enter on the manufactured product. he
committee, believe that the duty proposed
on tea will not prove serious burden
upon the consumers OF that article.
Senator Aldrich then went on to speak
OF the sugar schedule as follows:
The annual consumption OF sugar IN
the United States is about 2,000, 900 gross
tons, of 2,24O pounds each, with a value
based on foreign prices approximatlng
wy, 600 coo: If the high duties proposed IN
either the House or Senate bills should ne
adopted, the annual cost of sugar 10 con-
sumers would be more than $780, COZ, 600.
VI the consumption of 1896, $4,000 TONS,
or per cent were beet sugars, produced
In the United States and 243, 900 or IL per
cent were domestic cane sugars, and 1866
ooo tons, or eight per cent were sugars ad.
mltted from the Hawaiian islands free OF
duty under our treaty with the Hawaiian
government. The 1900, 900 tons of sugar
consumed in the United States constitute
nearly 30 per cent of the total consump-
ton of the world, the total sugar crop of
1926 being approximately 1000, GOO of
which 1890, o0h about 81 liz per cent of
the whole We're beet sugars.
Inc pressing necessity for securing
greatly1ncreased revenues seems to render
q return to the Republican policy of free
sugar, adopted in 1890, an impossibility.
The demand for revenue purposes, and
the belief that every reasonable effort
should be made to encourage the produc-
tion OF beet sugar in the United States
led majority of the finance committee
to recommend the high rates upon sugar
which are contained in the bill now be-
fore the Senate
The bill, as it came to us from the
House of Representatives, contains pro-
visions which levy specific duty, based
upon the polarizcopic test upon imported
sugar varying from one cent per pound at
Is degrees, to rs cents per pound on al |
sugars above No. 16 Dutch standard in
color, and refined sugars. The effect of
these rates, as applied to the total impor-
tations at the port of New York for the
month of January, 1897 is shown by. a
table which / submit to the Senate which
has been prepared by the customs officers
in New York. The rates suggested show
a range of ad valorem equivalents from
1879 to 144.3 per cent. A careful examina-
ton of the tables show that the scale of
rates adopted bears very unequally upon
all low grade sugars The character and
extent of this discrimination led your
committee to believe that the schedule
should be modified.
The committee determined after a care
full examination of the whole subject to
recommend rates which would be in their
effect as high at least as the House bill,
but which would be levied in mann er
that would make the ad valorem equiva-
Tents more uniform. We believe that the
imposition of the high specific rates upon
low grade sugar testing 81 degrees or be-
low, would have the effect to exclude
them from the markets of the United
States. The total amount of these low
grades produced, is as / have already
stated, unimportant as compared with the
total sugar crop, but their continued i'm
portation into the. United States is very
lIupOrUdIU W0oIl NIoWeu lTOIl UIlS StHuu-
point of our trade and commerce with
other countries.
| They exclude from the American market
all the low grade, cane sugars from the
nearby countries and sugars of all grades
from distant countries and would confne
American purchasers to beet sugar and to
centrifugals from points nearest the
United States and send all other sugars
to free markets like Canada and England.
This policy would undoubtedly increase
the price of sugars from uearby countries
and necessarily add to the cost of sugars
to consumers in the United States. These
are reasons which led our committee to
suggest an ad valorem of IS per cent on
all sugars testing not above 81 degrees.
very small portion of the sugars of the
world as from obvious causes, the proper
tionate amount of such sugar is constant
ly decreasing. f:
The committee after full consideration
reached the conclusion that the essential
elements of certainty of revenue and an
adjustment of rates that would lessen
Determinations could best be secured by
the adoption of compound rates. The
committee, therefore, adopted the sug-
gestion which is contained in the bill we
have reported to the Senate of imposing a
specific duty which is equivalent to about
40 per cent ad valorem with an additional
duty of 30 per centum ad valOrem on all
sugars from 81 degrees to 100 degrees,
with thirteen-hundredths of cent per
pound additional on all sugars above No.
l6 Dutch standard in color and on refined
sugars.
4. In considering the effect of the proposed
schedule of the Senate committee upon
the refining industry, Mr.. Aldrich con-
tinued, it is incumbent upon us to show
that no protection is given the refining
interests by the proposed schedule beyond
that which its adequate for the continued
existence of the business in the United
States.
Senator Aldrich then submitted a table
showing that the differential between raw
and refined sugars by the Senate PROPOSE.
ton varies from 9.77 to 1910 cents per one
hundred pounds, while the differential
in the House bill varies from 1920 to
1875 cents per one hundred pounds. The
table shows that the differential between
granulated sugar and 9o degree centri-
fuegals, this being by far the most i'm
portant class of raw sugars and in
amount two-thirds of the total imports of