The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-04-01
PRESENT SENATE WELL DISPOSED
Trust Helped Elect Pres
ident Mckinley.
May Have Differential Duty OF
One-Eighth of Cent
Per Pound.


one knows that Treasurer Searles, the
able dipIomatist of the Sugar Trust, is
in Washington looking after the new
tariff bill
Every one is anxious to know what
is to be the limit of the game the
trust will play for this year. 1 have
obtained the present intentions of the
tariff makers in the Senate regarding
the duty on sugar.
The fact has escaped comment that
the chafrmen of four Republican Ma
tionaI Executive Committees of the last
four Presidential campaigns are now
laII in the Senate-Elkins, of the Blaine
campaign; Quay, of 1888; Carter, of the
Harrison campaign in 1892, and Han
ma, of the Mckinley campaign.
Three of these are favorable to the
trust.
Chairman Dingley, of the Ways and
Means Committee, is said to be per-
sonally in favor of high specific duty
on all sugar, raw and refined alike,
and no favors to trusts, but it will
presently appear that he is to be over
ruled The sugar duty in the new tar
| if bill will be very high-13s cents per
| pound upon all sugars and the Sugar
Trust will have an additional differen-
| tiaI protection of "a of ] cent per pound
on refined sugar.
OBTAINED BY THE TRUST.
This is exactly the duty which the
Sugar Trust obtained by methods
which created a national scandal dur
| ing the session of 1894, when the Will
son tariff bill was delayed in the Unit
| ed States Senate by four Senators I'M
| til the demands of the trust were COM
piled with.
The presence in Washington of Pres
ident Hayemeyer, of the Sugar Trust,
and of Treasurer SearleS, their famil-
iarity with members of Congress in
committee-room, and finally the friend
ly act of Secretary Carlisle In writing
with his own hand the sugar schedule
which the trust wanted, which was in
serted at the proper time by Senator
Jones, of ArkansaS,-theSe incidents
led to the famous senatorial investiga-
ton Every Senator in turn was put
under oath and asked whether or not
he had speculated in sugar stock. All
but three denied that they had. But
while the bill was pending the price
of Sugar Trust certificates in Wall
street rose from los to 125, and the
liveliest speculation was done over pri-
vate wires running from stockholders
Offices under the shadow of the Capitol.
ASSISTED BY MIR. SEARLES.
Treasurer Searles is again here help
ing TO make a tariff bill which will be
reported to the House in about two
weeks.
The extremely high duty on raw and
refined sugars. 15s cents per pound, is
levied because sufficient revenue can
not so surely be raised by other means.
The duty in the present tariff is 40
per cent ad valorem, equivalent to
about l cent per pound. The new duty
will realize for the Government from
S65. 600. 900 70 Sc. O00, 900 per annum
The additional duty of Il of l cent
differential will insure to the Sugar
Trust the continuance of its monopoly
of the American market. The trust
could undoubtedly maintain itself
without any duty whatever, as with
| the improved machinery and secrets of
manufacture now in use in the Brook
| lyn refineries sugar is manufactured
cheaper there than anywhere else in
the world. Other countries could not
| therefore compete in an open market.
The new tariff will, however, give the
trust a clear profit of Is of 1 cent per
pound in addition to it's legitimate
| profits This is bonus to the trust of
| 81 900 900 annually. as the total con-
sumption of sugar in the United States
is about 1000, 900 900 pounds a year,
and the Sugar Trust refines so per cent
of all the sugar in the country, and
will. therefore, get four-fifths of the
$5.000.000 additional profit.
WHAT THE TRUST CONTRIBUTED.
The Sugar Trust contributed $500, 900
| to the Mckinley campaign fund, far
more than it had ever been called upon
| to give to either of the great political
parties in any national campaign. This
comes from a United States Senator
who knows the secrets of the Repub-
| lican National Committee.
1t was given with a condition affect
ing the tariff. and this explains the
presence of the representatives of the
trust at the capital during the past few
weeks
Mr.. Hanna is said by his opponents
to be trying in every way to get
place on the Finance Committee, which
will have the tariff bill in charge. No
new Senator was ever appointed TO this
most important committee of the Sen
ate. WILLIAM SHAW BOWEN.