River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1900-06-28
SUGAR TRUST TRICK.
Democrats Try to Make 1t a Pres
ent of $4,000, 900.
Ways and Means Committee Sat
Down Upon Effort TO Give the
Dig Combine Free
Sugar.

An interesting report submitted to
the house Of representatives by the
ways and means committee was that
upon the joint resolution offered by
MIR. Richardson (dem.), of Tennessee,
the leader of the minority. TO admit
free of duty sugar and molasses and
everything entering into the manu-
facture of sugar from Cuba and Por-
TO Rico. The report reads in part as
follows:
This measure is one of a series of
measures looking to the same re-
suit. The first was an effort during
the progress of the Porto Rican tariff
bill, so-called, in the senate, to place
upon that bill an amendment re-
storing 10 persons who had paid tar
if taxes upon commodities entered at
the port of New York and elsewhere
ia the United States from Porto Rican
ports the amount of duties thus paid
by them. The amount covered by
the amendment of Hon. James X.
Jones to the Porto Rican bin in the
senate on sugar and molasSes alone
amounted to SI,4S7 SOC. as appears by
the report of the secretary of the
treasury, and had that amendment
been placed upon the Porto Rican bill
1.-THE American Sugar Refining COM
pany and a. 5, Lascellcs q Co.. a part
of the same concern would have re-
eeiyed a gross sum approNimating
ST. 100000. This would have been a
direct gift from the public treasury
70 hn ,,f 81
money, and would have been the first
successful effort to appropriate money
directly to a trust Following that
abortive effort comes this resolution,
and if this resolution should pass it
would place upon the free list the
molasses and sugar hereafter to be
imported into the United States from
Cuba and Porto Rico. The present
product of Porto Rico amounts to
something like $4,000 tons this year,
and would not be very considerable
sum of money, but when there is in
cluded in this proposed addition to
the free list the products OF Cuba the
item becomes an enormous one"
The report then gives a table show
ing the total dutiable imports of mo-
lasses and sugar into The United States
during the year ended June 30, 1889,
and the total from Cuba and Porto
Rico for the same year, From this
statement il appears that those islands
furnish "a $40 per cent in quantity and
81 ITO per cent. in value of the total
dutiable importations of those COM
modities. and that the total amount of
duties collected on Porto Rican and
Cuban sugars imported into the United
States that year was $t4,C10.4S6.47. The
report of the committee continues:
I'll will be seen that to place these
commodities on the free list would, if
the same amount of sugar and mo-
lasses should be imported during the
year beginning July /. 1900 and rum
ming forward give TO the importers of
sugar and molasses some thing like Sl4,-
100000. This would be free gift from
the people of the country and measures
the value of the proposed yearly gift
to the sugar trust. calculated on the
importatious of 1899. which. of course,
will steadily increase from year to
year.
There rs probably no commercial
organization or trust with a more thor
oughly well organized and self-depend-
ing capacity than is the American
Sugar Refining company. and il must
be borne in mind that there is no sugar
re fined in Cuba. or. if any, only the
merest trace or small quantity, and
that all cane sugar unrefned that
comes from that country, or substan-
italy all of it. is received and refined
by the American Sugar Refining COM
pany, or. perhaps. one of the kindred
organizations which were started by
the manager of that company. TO be
under the same umbrella with the
sugar trust The tariff Of 1897. so far
as relates to sugar and molasses, was
intended 10 be both revenue prod ucer
ard a matter of protection to the beet
sugar industry Of the United states.
To now remove that protection would
be a fatal blow 10 that valuable and
growing industry, and would strip the
treasury at once of one of its most re-
liable sources of revenue. and the sole
fleet. so far as immediate and great
gain to any one. would be TO hand over
10 a great corporation, now enjoying
enormous prosperity, a degree of aid
and assist ance in accommodating larger
wealth that would shock the con-
science Of the American people"