Washington sentinel., 1899-12-02
Sugar Trust.

Sugar is not luxury. 1t is one
of the staple articles Of (ood oi
every civilized community. Why,
then, is there a tax On this article1
Since every one is a consumer OF
this product, is there any justi6ca-
ton in imposing tax on it for the
benefit Of few multi-millionaires
who control its manufactured No
man of reasoning mind Will say
that the sugar tax is justi6able. 1t
exists because of the power of
money.
The sugar "Kings" have sue
ceeded in defeating every act that
the representatives OF the people
have tried to put in operation for
the purpose OF checking the Sugar
trust. 1t is bad enough to know
that we are each day paying trib-
ute to Havemeyer and his band of
spoilsmen through the tariff But
what impels US to permit the sugar
"Kings" to monopolize the home
market7 We know that the tariff
is not imposed for the protection
of American labor, for in no other
industry where an equal amount
Of skill is required are men paid as
poorly as they are in the great
sugar industry. We know that the
tax collected from us every time
we sweeten our coffee is a direct
contribution to the millions Of dol.
lars that the Sugar Kings already
have and are adding to daily at
our expense. Why do we tax our
selves9
II we, as an intelligent people,
were to hear Of a savage tribe IN
some OF the East Indian islands
who daily went to the temples of
some OF their wooden gods and
placed before their deity a tribute,
we would say in a sympathetic
voice. Poor benighted creatures;
they really should have the benefit
of civilization and education that
America can give them. Let US
send missionaries to them. They
must be told not to pay tribute to
a wooden god"
And yet we, the leading nation
in the world, pay our daily tribute,
not to so ne craven image that we
worship, but to band OF men who
have succeeded in getting us to
put our hands in our pockets to
pull out money for them. The
appetite of the trust is inordinate,
Unsuitable.
Having gotten the people OF the
United States to tax themselves by
means OF tariff for the benefit oi
the sugar manufacturers, these
manufacturers combine for the
purpose OF forming a monopoly OF
the sugar industry in this country.
With the sugar from without shut
out by the tariff, the Sugar Trust
has gone about the work OF de-
creasing the price OF the raw sugar
in this country, to the detriment Of
the sugar planters. The planters
Of the South are no longer able to
make more than a bare existence
out of what was once a most prof
table industry. The laboring men
OF the South have to content them
selves with wage that will not
buy them as much of the necessi-
ties of life as the men in other lands
can buy with theirs. Still, we
speak with pride OF the American
wage earners being on a higher
plane than foreign wage earners.
In believing this we delude our
selves.
In comparison with one hundred
articles Of general use, in the past
twentY-one years, sugar has not
fallen in price to the consumer.
The trust has, since its Inaugural
ton, brought the price Of the raw
product down to a point that is
lower than it has ever been in the
history Of the world. Sugar is now
being cultivated by white men at
a price that makes it necessary for
the laborer to be paid a wage that
is comparatively lower than that
paid Tor any other form of toll.
And the sugar plantations that pay
this wage are in the United Statesl
They are gift of the Sugar Trust
in return for the self imposed tax