Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-06-15

GAVE IMPORTANT EVIDENCE
BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL COM
MISSION AT WASHINGTON.
SAYS THE CUSTOMS TARIFF Is
THE MOTHER OF ALL TRUSTS.
A TEN PER CENT TARIFF HIGH
ENOUGH-SOME INFORMATION
REGARDING THE SUGAR TRUST.
WASHINGTON, June 14.-Mr. Henry
o. Havemeyer, president of the Ameri-
can Sugar Refining Company, was ex-'
amined by the Industrial Commission
to-day in connection with its investi-
cation of trusts. His testimony related
almost wholly to the sugar industry,
and he opened with a vigorous attack
upon the customs tariff, which, he de-
clared, was the mother of all trusts"
becoming such by providing IAN inor-
dinate protection to manufactured
articles" This attack was made in a
written statement which the witness
had prepared before making his APP
pearanee before the committee, and
which he read in ringing voice.
Continuing his statement he asserted
that tariff of 10 per cent was as high
that sugar is Disseminated against in
the tariff in the interest of the Louisi-
ana cane growers, the beet sugar
makers and the sugar growers OF the
Hawaiian Islands. To these interests
he continued, the United States con-
tributed $24,O00,000 which was taken
out of the pockets of the people. The
protection on sugar amounted to only
Is of a cent a pound or about 31a per
cent ad valorem. 1t ought to be twice
as much. What the sugar refining
business has paid or is paying repre-
sents nothing more than an adequate
return on the capital invested" he said.
What Congress should have done was
to have put an internal revenue tax
on the American production of sugar.
The representations made in Congress
concerning the trusts, he declared,
were untrue, and if it was fact that
the people suffered from trusts they
must blame the protective tariff system
of which the trusts were merely the
machinery. No advantage had ever
been taken by his company of the pro-
tective system beyond the 1s of
a cent given. He admitted freely thai
the company did all possible to adj
did not think the corporations were
under obligations to the different
States, but that the reverse was true.
Capital and labor" he stated, would
all adjust themselves if let alone The
only way to prevent competition, Mr..
Havemeyer testified, was to keep prices
at minimum-not necessarily in the
interests of the consumer, but as mat
ter of business. He referred to the
trust laws of some of the States as a
premium on dishonesty, specifying the
Missouri law. There were always
two classes of people in a community
the industrious and those who wanted
to live off them.
Replying to questions by Prof jerks
after he had concluded the reading Of
his paper, Mr.. Havemeyer said the
American company was capitalized at
much less than it was worth. But for
the clamor against trusts" he said, 'it
could be sold for three times its cap
italization." Yet he thought the re-
fineries could be duplicated for $685.
100000 or $40,000,000. The present
capacity of the trust is, he said, $4,000
barrels a day, and the output 10000.
He thought the trust was refining
about 80 per cent of the sugar refined
in the United States.
The witness spoke very freely of the
methods of the company in preserving
and extending its business. Of the
earlier history of the enterprise he said
he did not fight the Harrison refinery
at Philadelphia But we had to fight
Spreckels when he went into the field
with his enormous plant. We had to
do that or suspend our dividends. We
went into the fight and we kept it up
until We got the refinery" The late
drop in the price of sugar had been
caused by the starting of new refneries
which had threatened to take so per
cent of the business. st was part
of our policy to put prices down and
let the opposition take the results,
whatever it may be. Every sale made
by the opposition displaces so much of
the American eompany's product" he
said. 1--WE must protect our own bust
ness" Mr.. .Havemeyer then went on
to say that what the company did, il
did not do for motives of philanthropy
that it had its own shareholders to
protect. Anybody can buy our stock"
he continued, land as a consequence
the public owns the stock. But |
doubt whether anyone would want any
of the stock of the independent re-
fneries."