Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1897-06-18
DISCUSS SUGAR TRUSTS
DEMOCRATIC SENATORS OPEN THE
Walls OF THEIR WRATH.
I'm Their Allegiance to the Agree
ment of the Caucus.

Washington, June 1.-THE tariff bill
was taken up in the senate as soon as
the routine business was out of the
way. Senator Tillman took the floor
on the pending amendment of Senator
Cannon. providing an export bounty on
agricultural products. He said the tar
iff debate had disclosed a nebulous
condition in the minds of the senators.
The republicans sat quietly, apparent-
ly controlled by the caucus, refusing
to discuss the iniquities of the bill and
voting for exactions in
behalf of trusts and monopolies. ION
the other hand" proceeded Senator
Tillman, "the democrats are in perl
cd Of transition. They do not know
where they are at. The older and
more experienced proclaim their allie
glance to the old time-honored doc
trines. We had an impassioned speech
yesterday by Senator Mills on behalf
of Walker tariff principles, brought
forward at this late day as democratic
doctrine. Secession, notification and
other issues which have passed out of
the minds of men might as well be
brought here. Tariff is merely ques-
ton of policy as to how the govern
ment will raise revenue. 1t Is to the
best interests of the American people
that articles consumed by our people
should be produced by our people. If
that Is republican doctrine, well and
good. II it is not democratic doc
the need is not for more farmers, but
for tariff which no longer would rob
the farmers we have" Senator Till
man vehemently pledged his word to
his colleagues that they would not de-
ceive the farmers, and that nine mil
lion followers of the piow will settle
with you at the ballot box" He de-
clared the south had been treated as
an Ishmaelite since the war, and the
farmers generally had been bled to
benefit New England.
After some running debate, a vote
was taken on the Cannon amendment,
providing an export bounty for agri-
cultural products, and resulted yeas
10, nays SO. Affirmative vote-Allen,
Butler, Stewart, Harris CKansas), Heit-
field, Cannon, Mantle, Pettigrew, Roach
and Tillman. This closed considera-
agricultural schedule and sugar sched-
The Sugar Schedule.
he would offer his amendment to adj
NIT free of duty goods made by trusts
in connection with the schedule. Sem
ator Allison asked that the proviso
relating to the Hawaiian islands go
over. He said the action of the SEN
ate T6ldLlVe 10 the f1dWdl-
ian proposition was due to a purpose
| TO exclude Hawaiian sugar. The COM
| mittee had never considered the ques-
| ton, and had let 1t go over for future
consideration.
Senator Allison, in behalf of the COM
mittee, then IN moved ,ye6 an amendment
| striking out S75-1000 and inserting 90
100 as the duty on refined sugars.
Senator Jones of Arkansas was rec
ognized for a speech on the general
features of the sugar schedule.
Senator Jones declared that he pro-
posed to see that there was some con-
| tention before German granulated was
taken as the basis for finding the diff
erential duty to the refiner. Senator
Jones insisted that the grades of sugar
compared by Senator Aldrich in his
speech did not compare.
Senator Jones stated the price of
refined sugar upon which Senator Aid
rich based his calculations of 2.30 cents
was too low. 1t should have been 2.66
he said. Still, taking Senator Aid
rich's figures, Senator Jones calculated
margin of from .43 to- .55 cents per
that this schedule was claimed to af-
ford less profit than the house sched-
ule. He had looked conscientiously into
the question without prejudice, and he
became satisfied that clear differen-
tial of one-eighth of a cent was right
|
profits had increased. How could the
other side now justify a further in
crease of the differential? He should
propose, he said, a duty of one cent pei
pound on sugars testing rs degrees
with an increase of three one-hun.
dredths on each degree above that, and
a differential of one-eighth on refined
81 will not propose this in any cap
tious spirit" said he, but because
believe it is sufficient, and that the
people are entitled to know exactly
what 1t is proposed to give the rein.
ers.'
Vest on the Sugar Trust.
Senator Vest followed Senator Jones
in criticism of the general features OF
the sugar schedule. 1t had always
been, he said, the Cape Hatteras of the
tariff debate. 1t involved the whole
question of the existence of the gigan
tic sugar trust, which had absorbed
refinery after refinery, until it was SUI
preme and all powerful in the field. The
Lexow investigation had disclosed the
enormous profits of this trust. 1t show
ed, he said, a capital of $75O00,00 com
mon stock and 75,000,0 900 preferred, al
aggregate of $500 900, with profit:
of IL per cent on it's common stocl
and per cent on the preferred stock
1t was an open, bold, admitted trust.
Gallery on Sugar Scandals.
Senator Caffery followed. The OLE
fight between the producers of raw su
gar and the refiner, which in thi
country was the trust, was, he said
again on. He spoke of the scandal O
, 1894 over the sugar schedule, produced
by the rapacity of the sugar trust.
was to be repeated now. There wer
!, consumed in this country four billion
! pounds of sugar annually. If the trus
was to receive half cent a pound
as this schedule proposed, that woult
mean $20,000.000 to the trust. Here
,, then, was the impellant cause whicl
brought this great corporation t
Washington to look after It's interests
They not only control the price, blu
they advance 1t, he said.
. A statement made by him, he said
would show that under all of the tarii
acts the profits of the sugar trust wer
very large. The trust never lost. Al
it wanted was sufficient tariff to kee
out the foreign producer, and then 1t ha
: the American consumer at it's mercy
to be fieeced at will. The trust ha
said they would be ruined by any dill
ferential under one-eighth of a cen
!, per pound. and yet they had thrive
under such a rate.
5 BIG HOLE BASIN TERROR DEAL