The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-12-29
FREE SUGAR Fight.
Reciprocity Struggle to Begin
Soon After Holidays.
SAD CONDITION OF CUBA
VIII Undoubtedly Have a
Bearing an the Subject,
SAD CONDITION OF CUBA


fight over admission Of Cuban Sugar a
reduced rates viii he on. This confess
viii be the forerunner Of the recIpricity
struggle in congress. It will also tenC
10 establish a tariff precedence more OF
less permanent. for the insular posses
sions Of the Omitted States.
The first step viii be hearings tefore
the committee Of ways and means Of ths
house Before the holiday adjournment
prior to the passage by the house of the
temporary Philippine tariff bill, r.pre.
sertatives Of Cuban commercial inter
ests beseached the committe to grant
them hearing. The committee refused al
that time. It deemed it necessary al
first tc establish some sort of temporary
of temporary tariff arrangements with
the Philippines, pending more permanent
plans, in view of the situation with re-
gard TO the Philippines But while the
committee of ways and means at that
time refused the Cubans a hearing. * il
effect told them they would be heard
eaIly in the year. This is how the strug-
gle Will begin.
sentine theic case strongly, and the SEN
timent now prevailing II congress cut
side OF the protection circles should
be in majority, the next step would lrob-
ably be the report Of a bill by the com
mittec of ways and means to the house
providing that the president be author
.zezd 10 lower or abolish duties on sugar
and possibly other Cuban products in
the United States. He may do this. and
then call for reciprocal agreement with
Cuba on certain products interchanged
between this country and the island.
If the committee shall report such a
bill so authorizing the president 20 pro
ceed. there would be precedent For in
the Dinghy law, enacted at the begin
ming Of the Mckinley administration,
section provides as follows:
That for the purpose of equalizing
the trade Of the United States with for
eian countries, and their colonies, pro
ducing and exporting to this country the
following articles" Then following an
enumeration Of certain products, includ-
ing liquors, works Of art, etc, the pres
Ident be, and is hereby. authorized, as
soon a smay be after the passage Of this
act. and from time to time thereafter
TO enter into negotiations with the gov
errments OF those countries exporting
to the United States the above men
toned articles, or any Of them. with a
view TO the arrangement OF commercial
agreements in which reciprocal products
and manufactures in the United States;
and whenever the government Of any
country. or colony, producing and eX-
porting TO the United states the above
.ncntione1 articles, O rany CT them, shall
enter into a commercial agreement with
the United States ,or make concessions
IN favor Of the products. or manIfact-
ares thereof, which. in the judgment of
the president. shall be reciprocal and
equivalent. he shall be. and he is hereby,
authorized, and empowered TO suspend,
duling the tine Of such agreement or
concession. 10y proclamation 10 that ef-
feet the imposition and collection of the
duties mentioned I#S1his act, on such
article or articles SO exported % the
United States from. such country or col
onv. and theraupon ana thereafter the
duties levied. collected and paid, upon
such article or articles shall be as fol-
lows. namely: them"
1, is estimated that the importation of
sugar into the United States for the year
1901 VIII be nearly four and one-half bill
lion pounds. This shows ar increase of
about 80 percent il the last decade. The
enormous uantity can perhaps better be
realized when it Is stated that accepting
theave~age carload at 60.oo0 pounds, the
sugar imDortations for 1901 would be suf-
ficient 10 load 5000 cars
in addition 10 this enormous figure of
nearly four and one-half billion pounds
Of st,rar imported, the production IN the
rnited States for TIE year is pr-sum-
ably about 600 milton pounds.
Taking another computation. the sugar
consumption foe the current year Wi. he
f,e..rlv two and one-half million tons. OF
this amount. 50 per cent is cane sugar
Imported from the tropic. The remain
de, is beet sugar chiefly firm Germany
and Austro-HuagaTy. Ending with Oc-
tolcr. 1901. the mportations of beet
SUGAR for 1901 were 500 million pounds.
out ct a total importation Of over four
billion mounds. OF the four billion pounds
Of cane SUGAR. three per cent comes from
cuba. and about fifteen percent from the
Fast Indies. The remainder is from the
West Indies ana Genital and South Amer
lea
Distributed more properly. the impor-
tatio,,s OF nearly two ard one-haf MILL
lion tons of sugar consumed in the Unit
ed states for the year 1901. the following
being csir division;
o,liSiana produces go 40 tors.
rfra,r
i5oee tons
Hawaii contributes. free s5oo6 tons
Porte Rico contributes. free l5aeo tons.
This makes tota LOT about one million
tois. winch We either produce in this
country or import free of duty
The computation leaves nearly one and
one-hslf million tons IMPORTED on which
duty IS paid
Froin the above computation * viii
Re seen thar IN of the cane and leet
sur.f~. consumed ia this corntry. consid-
ertblv less Than one-fourth is produced
at home.
Tais fact we7keus the chief ars lment
made ty the beet sugar men Of the west.
and The eatic sslcar growers of Louisiana
and the south Shat reciprocal agreements
with Cut.a and reduction Of sugar du-
ties would Inquire 20 the great disacNant-
asc Of the home Industries. II not wholly
destroy them. For il Wit han rfae pro-
testation we have given them in the last.
these growers and manutacturers are
unable to produce less than cne-foarth
ne holac consumption. surely they
wsaId not be materially affected. hy the
admission free or at reduced rates. Of
Cuban sugar