The times., 1901-03-09
CRITICISM OF Mr.. GAGE.
A Sugar Importer Discusses 'he
Tariff War With Russia.


NEW YORK, March S.-Exporters IN
this city are not disposed to cease crltl-
cism Of what they call Secretary Gage
limping action in the Russian tariff trou-
bic. w. L. Saunders, of the IngersoIi-
Sergeant Drill Company, who has taken
the lead in the fight said today:
"The Secretary of the Treasury Is re-
ported as using the following language TO
representatives of the Illinois Manutac-
turing Association, who called to protest
against the imposition of countervailihs
duty on Russian sugar:
The facts appear to be clear. ANY ex-
porter of sugar from Russia can get
certificate from the Government 10 'he
effect that he has exported this sugar, ana
it is worth to him just three-quarters OF
cent pound. The man who ships sugar
from Russia gets two things. He gets the
price of the sugar in the market to when
he ships and he gets the premium from
his own country, from which he has
shipped 1t. This is undeniable
Immediately after the Secretary OF the
Treasury issued his order, in personal
conversations and in writing he made the
statement, In the present case the facts
are involved, and the conclusions to be
drawn from them are correspondlnSly OIL
fiCult
His statement TO the Illinois manu-
facturers that the facts appear to oe
clear would indicate that he has some
fresh information; in other words, that
after deciding this point with facts in
voived. he has looked into the subject
further and cleared them up. Manufac-
turers who have been seriously afected
by this move justly complain that the Sec
a 4 70 haT
facts were involved, and chat he would
not act until he received a brief from
them as to whether or not Russia gave
an Indirect bounty, and yet he gave his
decision before giving them time to act.
'As to the facts, those who have been
to Russia and have looked into the mat
ter deny that the exporter gets pre-
MUM from his own country. The inter
nal-revenue tax is returned on exporting
sugar and we hold that this is not a
premium or bounty. 1t does not ana III
reducing the cost Of the product. we also
aI!ege that the barter and sale OF export
certificates in Russia is not bounty. a
refiner near a seaport sells his home f1ght
to one in the interior, and exports MS
stock, the difference being mace up OF
exchange among those of official certlfl-
Gates of export. This is an entirely prl-
Vate business arrangement among mer-
chants. The Government has no more
to do with IL than has the United States
Government with the combination among
steel merchants to put up prices Of steel
rails and in doing this to buy out some
small producer who agrees not to sell in
the home market, but to ship ali his pro-
duct abroad In the speech of Mr.. Mann.
in the Congressional Record there is
published an elaborate report from an
American Consul In Russia, and this re-
port is supposed to have Influenced the
Secretary of the Treasury in deciding this
matter / extract the following from the
report:
-t,%
right receives from the manufactures
who acquired the right the price per .pood
agreed upon between them, which is
/ usually determined by the difference ex-
listing at the moment between the price
obtainable for the sugar on the home
market and the price obtainable by sale
abroad This is what is termed 3 trans
fer Dependent on the fluctuations In
price Of sand sugar in Russia and abroat,
the price OF these transfers also varies;
therefore the person who sells the trans
ket) charges several kopecks more than
the difference mentioned above. This is
done on account of the risk that is taken
that sugar prices abroad may fall, and
also for the trouble involved In export
| ing
! Us not this an explanation why Rus
! sian export certificates are subject to
| barter and sale. and is 1t reasonable 70
/ call this a Government bounty? The
whole arrangement liz like a trust or q
| combination Of producers to put up prices
prices 1t is a wide stretch to call this a
| Government bounty, but If we are to so
| construe 1t the United States is the larg-
/ est bounty giVer in the world. ."