The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-09-07
Troubles of q Trust.

The atlanta Journal says the Sugar
Trust hasa rough sea ahead of it. If
there ever was trust which was
thoroughly disreputable. and which dis
tinguished itself by its defiance of de-
cency as we'll as of public opinion, this
is the one. The probability that the
sugar trust has seen its best days will.
therefore, be viewed with general salts
faction by the public, which it has
fceced for so Tonga time The dangers
that beset this gigantic corporation are
manifold. 1t has recently found a
powerful rival in the Arbuckle Com
pany, which has built and opened a
great sugar refinery in Brooklyn. An
other refinery on Long Island, to be
operated by the Doscher Company, will
be ready for businessin October. Still
another refinery that will make war on
the sugar trust has just been completed
in San Francisco. The trust now pro-
duces about three-fourths of all the re-
fined sugar used in this country, but it
Is estimated that its powerful compcti-
tors, who are now in the field will take
away nearly half Of its business. The
rapidly growing beet sugar industry is
also giving the sugar trust trouble. 1t
is necessary, in order to make the pro-
duction Of beet sugar profitable, to re-
fine sugar where the beets are grown,
and thus make large savingin freight.
The business Of refining sugar near the
Louisiana plantations is also increasing
every year for similar reason. But
the most serious danger which now beset
the sugar trust is one which was broght
on by its own greed and the exercise Of
influence with Congress. The lobby
lists of the trust and its toolsin Con-
gress succeeded in putting diferen-
tial duty OF one cent a pound on refined
sugar into the Dingley tariff Act This
gave the trust an enormous bounty, but
was too good thing 1t is this big
differential which has lured other pow
erful companies into the sugar refining
business. If the sugar trust had not
grabbed for so much in the way of legis
lativc favors it would now be in much
stronger position than it holds. And
now the trust is brought face to face
with another pcrplcxing problem. TIE
sugar Of Porto Rico and Hawai-: will
be admitted free of duty. II'ne sugar
product of Cuba will allso come in free
when Cuba becomes ours, as it prob
ably will before long. There will GER
tainly be reineries established in those
islands to put the sugar into shape for
market before it is shipped to this
country. Tho trust will have gay
time keeping down this competition.
This concc,n now has common and pre-
ferred STOCK to the amount of S75, ,000,
600. On this it is expected to pay
handsome dividends. 1t has been
forced by its policy Of crushing COM
petition to pay for competing reineries
prices immensely above their real value.
1t is said that all the plants of the trust
could be duplicated for one-ffth of the
amount fer which they are stocked.
This gives the rival reineries recently
built an enormous advantage. To buy
up these refnerics would put stop to
the trusts dividends and run It's stock
down to something like real value. To
face and fight the great competition
now before it will be to lose one-half of
its monopoly The situation is badly
mixed for the trust, but all peraons who
do not hold its watcred stock may con-
template the situation with cquanimity
and hope for the collapse of 4 combina
ton which has forfeited all claims to
Syn,pathy or respect.