The Washington times., 1902-06-17
Senator ElkinS Expresses
Confidence of Win
ming Out.
RECIPROCITY TREATY FAVORED
If Anti-Administration Party Holds
Out Bill May Be Passed Authorizing
President to Negotiate for Such an
Arrangement.

There is no change in the Cuban reci-
procity situation in the Senate. Despite
the Presidents message on the subject,
eighteen beet sugar Republicans declare
very positively that they will stand out
10 the last against the Administration S
plan.
Senator Elkins seems entirely conf
dent that they will hold together.
Senator Nelson. who is one of the in
surgents," gives it as his opinion that
either nothing will be done or the House
bill will be adopted.
MIR Cullom, of the Administration
Senators. says he believes that if the
beet sugar men remain firm nothing
will be done except to authorize the
President to negotiate a reciprocity
treaty with Cuba
The story printed yesterday that at
Sunday nights conference at Mr.. Elkins
house the beet sugar Senators decided
to abandon the House bill, TO refuse to
vote with the Democrats to abolish the
sugar difierential. and to concentrate all
their forces to secure the adoption of
the rebate proposition instead of di
rect tariff concession, is generally de-
MED by those who were present.
Reciprocity Treaty Favored.
The suggestion of Mr.. Cullom that the
fight win end in a reciprocity treaty met
with some favor yesterday. Senator
ha fay
such treaty individually.
The Cuban Relations Committee will
hold a meeting today and decide on the
lines to be followed on the Spocner
bill This bill will be reported tomor-
row, probably. and will form the basis
of the Republican caucus tomorrow
night.
Before the Committee.
Wallace P. Willett, of the firm of
Willett & Gray, sugar brokers and
statisticians, of New York. was before
the sugar subcommittee of the Senate
Committee on Relations with Cuba
yesterday.
Mr. Willett said he had been in the
business for forty-eight years. His firm
had correspondents in all parts Of the
world gathering information regarding
sugar. In Cuba the Information was
principally as TO crop conditions. and
York. Sugar prices. he said. depend on
the price of beet sugar at Hamburg.
which controls the markets of the world.
Mr.. Willett's testimony was confined
largely to an explanation of the cartel
system of Germany and Its workings.
He told how the three syndicates of
German refiners working together. and
aided by the government bounty, the
consumption tax and the impOr: tax i'm
posed on sugar by the government, ex-
ported sugar below cost. and more than
made UP the loss by selling sugar in
Germany at high price.
He went into the system with great
minuteness, showing that the syndicates
last year lost thirty-one cents on each
100 pounds OF sugar exported, or 81, ,40J,-
072. and made sixty-four cents on each
100 pounds sold in Germany.
Countervailing Tax.
He advocated the imposition by the
United States of a countervailing tax Of
twenty-six and one-half cents hundred
pounds on German cartel sugar. in addi-
tion to the twenty-six cents now i'm
posed because of the bounty paid by the
government.
Although the matter was now before
the Supreme Court for determination,
his opinion was that the Secretary OF
the Treasury under the present law had
no power to levy a countervailing tax
against the cartel or syndicate bounty.
The figure named, twenty-six and one
half cents. he said, was the profit made
by the cartel syndicate on each 100
pounds of raw or refined sugar exported
Asked what the result would be of
the abolition under the Brussels agree
ment of the cartel system Sept ember l,
1903, Mr.. Willett said eventually the
price OF sugar throughout the world
would advance, but that advance would
not come until the surplus of beet sugar
now on hand. some two million tons,
had been consumed.
CONTINUED on Third Page.)