The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-06-17
DEBATE ON SUGAR SCHEDULE
.
THE MONOTONY WAS RELIEVED BY
A TILT BETWEEN SENATORS
HOAR AND TILLMAN.
ALLISON DEFENDS The SCHEDULE.
Produced Figures to Show the Pro-
posed Measure Afforded Less
Protection to Sugar Than
the Wilson Bill.

: was small today The tariff bill was take
d. up with little delay for morning business
t and Mr.. Allison, in charge of the bill
asked for an agreement for daily session
of the senate, to begin at IL a. m o
and after Wednesday next.
Mr. Vest preferred to have the agree
ment conditional on an understanding 70
daily adjournments at p. IN. Mr.. Ali
son stated that there would be no diff
Guilty about that, and the agreement 70
early sessions was agreed to.
Mr.. Allen of Nebraska then. revertc,
to the colloquy last Saturday in whcl
he held that it was right and the dut,
of the government to take legal steps t,
dissolve the sugar trust He argued tina
injunction, quo warranto and other lega
processes could be invoked by fedora
courts against state corporation. /
Havemeyer and his associates went Il
New Jersey to procure charter as ;
mere shield to improper proceedings, the
act was fraudulent. the charter void anC
the federal courts have jurisdiction over
the subject. Why, therefore. should the
sugar schedule and sugar trust when the
courts offered a real remedy for dissOlv.
ing this gigantic monopoly?
Mr.. Allen next spoke in favor of abrO
eating the Hawaiian treaty. The senator
said the sugar investigation. in which he
took part disclosed that Havemeyer and
Claus Spreckles had an agreement by
which Spreckles controlled the territory
west of the Missouri river, while the ter
ritory east of the Missouri was Subject
to the forays of the American sugar
trust. His vote, and he believed the
vote of the populist senators. would be
cast to cancel the Hawaiian treaty as a
means of developing the beet sugar indus
| try of this country
| Mr.. Pettigrew of South Dakota follow
cd in support of his amendment proposing
| mat articles made by trust be put on
| the. free list. He asserted that it was Il
| serious question how the present govern
| ment, by the trusts and for the trusts, :"
could be thrown off. There were trusts
in coal, sugar, OIL glass, steel chemicals
crockery and all other great staples. stiff
ening competition and setting up the rule
OF monopoly. No tariff bill would be sue
cessful, he said, without some defense of
the people against the trusts, and such
Dill would meet with condemnation. As
a protectiOnist he offered the amendment.
but having that with it. the tariff bill
could be defended against assaults.
he contended that the amendment
would not seriously diminish revenues. as
the bill was not framed to get revenue
from trust articles the American mar
kets being in effect turned over to the
trusts.
Mr.. Pettigrew gave the details of Or
ganlzation of the many extensive trusts,
beginning with the sugar trust, whose
annual profits be put at S15,000.000.
MIR. Pettigrew said he was glad that he
had supported in the last campaign a
man who had the courage to avow his
opposition to trusts. He charged that the
trusts in the last campaign all opposed
MIR. Bryan's election and that many of
them closed down some of their factories
to influence their workmen. He named
eleven trusts and said they were capital
lied with S432 100000 and bonded at
S43O, 100000 while representing an actual
investment of only S171.0OO,00O. He
spoke of the trusts as modern pirates"
The assertion that if the antitrust
amendment prevailed the revenue design
ed 10 be provided by the tariff bill would
collapse. he said, was absurd, and submit
ted figures to show that proposed duties
on articles controlled by these eleven
trusts based on present importations
would be but SS,000000.
lf some remedy against trusts was not
adopted, then the extreme remedy of gov
eminent ownership would loom ND as a
practical question. While that he said.
is socialism, yet socialism is preferable to
deSpotism.
The. senate then voted on the pending
amendment to strike out the distinction
as to duties in the first paragraph of the
sugar schedule and place all sugars on
an equality at l cent per pound, and Oh
OF cent additional for every degree
above -. 1t was defeated--yeas &C.
nays, 20.
Mr. McEnery (dem.) of Louisiana vuted
with the republicans in the negative. and
Messrs. Mantle and Pettigrew, silver re-
publicans, with the democrats in the af-
trmatlve.
Mr.. Mills moved a uniform duty of 40
per cent ad valorem on sugar. Rejected
without division.
MIR. Hoar of Massachusetts offered his
amendment for the appointment by the
president of commission of five members
10 investigate INTO the subject of sugar
production and the best means of sup
plying the American market at the least
cost.
Mr.. Hoar urged that the proposed COM
mission would command the best talent
IN the country in presenting to the senate
me fullest information concerning sugar.
Next TO the development of our virgin
wheat fields the development of the sugar
beet would be the greatest boon to agri-
culture. The trainers of the tariff bill
were honorable men. and although if had
been suggested in the press that somebody
mad been bribing senator's. these state
ments, he said, are received by serious
people throughout the country with alb
solute contempt"
The amendment was referred TO the
finance committee
Mr.. Tillman of South Carolina then
answered Mr.. Hoar. He said he had the
deepest respect for the integrity of the
senator from Massachusetts. But. per-
haps, he had become callouS in his long
service. rs was indicated by the state
ment that the best people of both parties
treated with contempt the statements
that there was irregularity in making the
schedule. On the contrary the neople
wanted an investigation. They want the
honor of the senate indicated or the men
who stand on it punished. For that rea-
son. Mr.. Tillman said. he contemplated
an amendment to Mr.. Hoar'S proposition
so the commission would NOT only inquire
into the mere machinery of sugar making
but also whether the sugar trust has
used undue means to control legislation
ana to get at the root of how it is and
why 1t is that the American senate can
not touch sugar without getting contain
mated.