The Washington times., 1901-11-08
Porto Rican Coffee.

Porto Bican Coffee.
A few days since delegation from
Porto Rico called upon the President to
urge consideration of a duty on coffee
for the protection Of the coffee growers
in that island. According to the state
ment of one of the delegates, the Porto
Rico coffee is the best in the world, and
before the Spanish war it sold at a high
price in Europe. But since then the
| island has been a possession Of the
| United States, many Of the plantations
! have been ruined by a hurricane, and
! Porto Rico coffee has been sLut out Of
| Europe through the beneficent work
| ing Of the Diugley law. The United
States is. therefore the market to
which Porto Ricans must look, and
here. it is claimed, they cannot sell
their coffee in free competition with the
cheaper product of Brazil. The Porto
Ricans themselves, it is said, will not
use the cheap and inferior Brazilian
stuff but the Americans will. rather
than pay u little more for the superior
article from our new West Indian
island. Therefore, the President is re
quested to recommend duty Of five
cents pound on coffee imported into
the United States in order that the
Porto Rican product may have that ad-
vantage in the American market.
The Times ventures to express the
hope that the President viii do nothing
of the kind. IT would be difficult to i'm
agine a more glaring abuse Of the tariff
principle than is embodied in this re-
quest In the year 1900 there were
nearly eight hundred million pounds of
coffee imported into the country. \
duty of five cents per pound on this
quantity would be forty million dollars
directly added TO its cost. There is no
tax on consumption that would be more
widely felt or press with greater severi-
ty upon the poor. The proposal is to
tax the American consuming public
forty million dollars annually in order
that the Porto Rico coffee planters may
sell their product in the United States
at higher prices than it will command
on its own merits. In connection with
this proposal we are told by one Of the
delegates that before the hurricane the
coffee crop Of Porto Rico. sold at high
prices in Europe, was worth thirteen
million dollars-barely one-third of the
tax proposed to protect it. One is
strongly inclined TO lose patience when
seriously confronted with such re-
quest
If Porto Rican coffee is the best in the
world, there is not the slightest doubt
that it will find ready sale in this coun-
try at its fun value. TIE very poorest
Of people may take cheap and inferior
coffee in preference TO that which is
better and of higher price. But the
Weather classes, and even those in
moderate circumstances viii usually
get the very best in the market, if the
price is within the bounds Of reason
The entire crop of Porto Rico at its
largest is not equal to one-twendeth of
our annual consumption. The sugges-
ton that this small quantity OF coffee, !
claimed to be of superior excellence, |
cannot be sold at a fair price in the |
greatest coffee using country in the !
world is almost an insult to our people. |
II is nothing less than ridiculous TO as |
sumo that the people of Europe would |
pay more for good coffee than the |
Americans viii if the brand is present |
ed to them fairly upon its merits. 1t |
looks very much as if our Porto Rican
are little afraid that
the people of the United States may
have opinions of their own concerning
he quality Of coffee. However that
nay be. and without questioning the
,laim that the coffee Of Porto Rico may
De the best, it can be affirmed with per
,ect safety that a superior ;rticle can
Ilways maintain itself in competition
With an inferior one.
The Porto Ricans may have good
grounds for complaint concerning the
feet of the Dirgl=y law upon the Eu-
opean market, but they now have some
cry substantial advantages here. They
an send any and All Of their products
nto this country. duty free, and sell
hem for what they are worth. 1t is
for them to expect the
american people to tax themselves
orty million dollars year TO enable
ew planters in Porto Rico to sell their
title coffee crop at five cents pound
more than it is worth in fair and open