The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-25
THE SUGAR TRUST AND HAWAII.


THE SUGAR TRUST AND HAWAII.
The annexationists are playing their
last card. We have had a series Of ar
guments ranging all the way from that
Of the patriots duty Of extending the
bliss of our free institutions wherever
we can grab a bit Of territory down,
now, to the bugaboo. England and ia
pan have been shaken in the scared
faces Of those Of our people who think
we have nothing so much to fear as
one or the other or both Of those coun-
tries, but dull to the fact that we have
nothing so much to fear as a depart
ure from the course Of right and hon
orable conduct. But neither England
nor Japan has moved, except to dis
avow any intention Of taking the ISL
ands. The invasion Of China has serv-
ed its turn at the soaring trick and its
effect has worn away. The utility of
having a "key" a couple Of thousand
miles away from the lock Is impercep-
tible to the eye Of common sense, while
the realization that the acquisition OF
national Defense means the establish
ment Of a naval force adequate to cope
with the strongest, with it's attendant
millions of appropriations, cools the ar
dor Of those who balance cost with
profit.
Now, however. comes the favorite
! bugaboo. The sugar trust is fighting
annexation. One Of our esteemed con-
temporaries, the Chatfeld Democrat,
finds a strange inconsistency in the
G. e, than which no paper has
made such bitter attacks upon trusts"
because 1t has now joined hands with
one Of the most odious trusts in the
country" Humanity evidently has not
got beyond the child period when it is
moved by bogiemen. They are still the
stock in trade Of the politician and
the demagogue. Public affairs are not
| to be considered on their merits in the
cold light of reason and broad policy,
but by soaring people with predictions
Of the terrible things that will follow,
or frightening them with the apparition
of some imaginary demon. The money
| power serves some, corporations"
others, and trusts" are found effec-
tive by others.
We have kept close track of every
| published step taken in this annexation
movement but we have failed to dis
| cover any tracks Of this fearsome trust.
We want something more than vague
and unsupported assertion. We refuse
| to be scared by any such antiquat-
| ed old scarecrow. Besides the surface
probabilities are all against it. True,
| Spreckels is against annexation, and
| he, as usual, is moved by his pocket
nerve. He fought the trust until it
! bought him out, and then he went back
| to California and engaged in beet sugar
! refining. He worked last year for the
repeal Of the reciprocity treaty of 1876,
| and at that time it was believed that
| the sugar trust was with him. But 1t
subsequently developed that the trust
was merely flashing the Hawaiian
| planters into a renewal Of contracts
! about to expire, under which the trust
| took to itself the protection profits Of
! the tariff.
1t is, moreover, safe to assume that
the managers Of the trust are actuated
by the same motives that move all
men, and want to secure their raw ma
terial at the lowest cost. It has pa
tronized the beet sugar Of Germany
and France in preference to the cane
sugar Of the West Indies, because the
| export bounty paid by those two ma
| lions cheapens the cost of sugar to
the foreign ref1ner. 1t is. probable that,
with Germany, France and Austria
now trying to arrive at an agreement
to abolish their bounty systems en-
tirely, the trust would favor the con-
tinuation Of the Hawaiian reciprocity
treaty, under which it gets all 1t could
with annexation, while the sugar, pro-
duced by labor of Chinese coolies, viii.
supply raw material at the least cost.
While this is merely probability, it Is,
at least, more SO than Is the alleged
opposition Of the trust to annexation.
Even If 1t be true that the trust is
against it. it should have whatever
credit attaches to being. from what
ever motive, on the side Of right.