The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-05-26
DEBATE ON THE
TARIFF BILL
Opened in the Senate hy Senator
AIdrirh. of Rhode Island.
SUGAR SCHEDULE EXPLAINED
Beet Sugar, aad Reiinsre, to be Protected
In the unitsd States The Effects
OI the Application Of the Law.
SUGAR SCHEDULE EXPLAINED


| gp,cinl 10 tho Ar'oria1.
Wnnhingtan. May 20 Tho debate on
| the tnrin hlli began IN the senate tcdhy
with crowded galleries and a lnrEr at
tendance of senators aud the tHriH lead
/ rrs Of the house Scan2r Nlbrlch. or
uhodr Island. In charge OK the hill. hnd
| tho measure tAld before che srnni" nnd
took ths, floor for the OPENING speech
| Aldr,ch spoke FOR almost an hour ANA
a quarter Hts sp~.si was the official
utttrnnce OF the finance committee ana
I'm "a aonso OF the republican side OF the
chamber. Mr. Ailrich fyii.
gtGAlt scHEpHLE.
Be- lho auFar arN-iulH q. wr have
uuggrstei change On rate ana in the
manner of a~rv-slng tho duties. As the
schedule is a very Important one. u
sr ems proper that I .hpuh ,NplAin dcii-
nlteiy tho croCt of 'ht provisions We
recommend The annual consumption or
sugar ln thy tulti snlys 81 about
so1sp gross tons OF 22n pounds each,
with % y.luc based on 'or gn prices mp
prnNimaiing SaaDoo.nvp n the hsh duties
proposed ln either house or senate hill
should bo adopted, the annual cost Of
sugar to consumers wuIid hc more than
tlGg,tuueo Ot the consumption OF l%
forty thousand tons. or . per cent were
beet sugars produced IN the Unit, d
States. and ain.nOO tons, or l. pcr cent
wcru domestic cane sugars ana ljtU0O
tons, OF per cent. were sugars admitted
from the Hawaiian islands free Of duty
under our treaty with the Hawaiian gov
eminent The s.eoooo tons OF sugar con-
sumcd In the United 1tltrs constitutes
nearly 30 per cent OF tho total consump-
ton OF the world. the total crop OF 1875
aal ..IA -
which $4,000. or about 81 - per cent OF
the whole were beet sugars.
The pressing necessity Tor securing
greatly increased revenues seem 10 rem
der return TO "a republican policy OF
free sugar adopted In lS9l an impossible
lty The demand Tor revenue pur-
purposes and the belief that every rca-
sonnblc effort should be made to cncour-
age the protection of beet sug,r In the
United States lc,i majority Of the Il
nance committee 20 rr' >mmcrd the high
rates upon sugar which are contained
In the bill now before 'he senate.
II II believed by the friends of the beet
sugar industry that We can successfully
Initiate the example OF Germany I'm the
rapid development OF beet sugar produc-
ton.
Tho bill ~ Il came 10 US from the house
Of representatives contains provisions
which levy a specific duty. based upon
polariscopic test upOn imported sugar
varying from | cent Der pound nt 10
degrees TO IS cents per pound on all
sugars above No. l6 Dutch standard In
color and refined sugars.
The effect OF these rates, as applied to
tho total importations nt the port OF
New York for the month OF January,
1895, Is shown by n table which | submit
10 the senate. which has been prepared
by the customs officers In New York.
The rates suggested show Il range OF nd
valorem equivalents from $50 10 iHS per
cent careful examination OF the ta-
bles will show that the scale OF rates
adopted bears very unequnlly on all low
grade sugars The character and extent
OF this discrimination led your commit
tee to believe that the schedule should
be modified, The committee determined,
after u careful examination Of the whole
subject to recommend rates which would
he In their erect as high at least as the
house bill, but would he levied In a
manner that would make the ad valorem
equivalents moro uniform. We believe
that the imposition Of the high specific
rates upon lowgrade sugar testing 81
degrees or below would have the effect to
exclude them from the markcts Of the
0HllNh NtittS, iOO lOtA amount oi
these low grade products Is. as I have
already stated. unimpor:ant as compared
adjustments OF rates that would lessen
tinued Importation into She United States
Is very important when viewed from the
standpoint OF our trade and commerce
with other countries.
To exclude from the American market
all the low-grade cane sugars from the
and TO centrifugals from points nearest
nearby countries and sugars OF all
grades from distant countries would con-
fine American purchasers to heet sugar
the United States. and send all other SUI
gers TO free markets like Canada and
England. This pallcy would undouhtcd-
ly Increase the price OF the sugars from
nearby countries and necessarily add TO
the cost of sugars 70 consumers IN the
United states. These are the reasons
which led your committee to suggest an
ad valorem rate OF 70 per cent on all SUI
gars testing not above 81 degrees. But
this rate can never apply 10 but a very
small portion OF the sugars OF the world,
as from obvious causes the proportlonate
amount Of such sugars Is constantly de-
creasing.
or the same sugars testing 81 DEGREES
very much the larger portions, as I have
already stated. are centrifugnls testing
about 96 degrees, and we were confronted
with the fact that these would dlscrlmi-
nate in favor of sugars of certain locall-