Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1897-07-08
Hood's PINS cure sIck IIeadaole. -.
SUGAR TRUST PROFITS.
John DE watt Warner Makes some E.;l.
mates and Scores Che Trust.

. JOnm lie v TIT W lfncF r4dNeS some ~ K Z.
! mates and Scores Che Trust.
Ex-CoDgrcssnan John DE Witt War.
ncr is one of the best posted men in this
country ON sugar tariffs When in con-
| gress, he carried the house for free suR.
ar In a recently plbllshcd statement
he estimates the net protection to the
trust given by the Aldrich schedule at
from 35 ccrts to Sl.14 on every 100
pounds CT /, Nned sugar.
Without attempting 20 give his argu-
ment as to cat Ia OF the ways in which
the trust v ocid le projected We give
his summary Of trust profits as follows:
Specific differcntii.l. .......... so l5asU. so+
Thirt y-fye Ter cent ad valu4cm
differen;ial. ............. G.it8 eel
Countervailing duty, say. ... Gus . O.55
Additional by subs. ituiCn Of -
per cent al vr!ol CA for srtCciCc
duties in low e. ades. ............. 0.050 Ols
Total. ........,..... .......$5.:5 s&l4
In the vast minority # orsca, hov ever, the
actual result III Jc;ween IS and 60 con O, lcr 10
pounds net protection TO the trs', rnd it is
impracticable so to ccmli1r G.. c.l.as,cuccs as
to bring tins below d cun,B or ABOVE CO cents
for any considerable amount
As an item Of tariff taxation the sag
ar schedule is ideal fem the prctection-
ist standpoint Sugar is the one article
used by poor aud rich to mn equivalent
extent, and tax Oil which therefore
falls most heavily on the poor in pro-
portion TO their ability to pJy it. Its
production aud distribution are control
led by concern which is at once the
greatest OF our mean trusts and the
meanest Of our great ones.
1t is consistent Therefore that Oh this
one article there should lie levied more
than one-third of our total tariff taxa
ton, and that our people should be bur
dened by tax of more than 500, 00O,-
900 that realizes less than S7O,0OO,
600 for the treasury and more than
$40, 900, 900 for the sugar refining com
bine, while the same combine is enabled
to net an additional $40, 600, 600 by the
opportunity given it to import at present
duty rates raw sugars from which it
can make refined to be sold by it under
the enhanced price assured it by the
proposed Aldrich schedule. The net
protection" Of from 45 to GO cents per
100 pounds given the trust Oh its refin-
ing process alone should DO considered
as sufficient Whun we remember that
the labor cost of this process is slightly
less than 9 u cents per 100 pounds-that
is to say, Senator Aldrich, in behalf of
American labor, proposes unduly to tax
wage earners in order to give the trust
from five to seven times as much "pro-
lection" as it pays for all the labor in
volved
Next to the wage Garner the farmer
Is dear to the protectionist heart, and |
he is therefore equally favored by the |
sugar schedule. OF late years through |
out the eastern and middle and many of |
the central states the competition Of the \
far west has driven our farmers from |
grain raising into fruit culture. This
has now so developed that except for |
exports of canned goods-jams, pre-
serves, etc. lin which We ought to sup
ply the world, the business of fruit rails
ing has, in its turn, become almost profit
less. And poverty is now assured to
those who are dependent upon fruit cul-
lure by the proposed tax of two cents |
4 pound on sugar. This increases
oy from 90 to 75 per cent the article
which would make up from 40 to rs
per cent of the total weight of the jams,
'tc., the export of which might insure
living prices for the surplus fruits, but
which is now practically prohibited.
And this is "a government of the
'eople, by the people and for the peo-
lie. j" Who are "the people?"
|