Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-04-30
FOR CHEAPER SUGAR
HOW TARIFF CONCESSIONS MAY
HELP COMMERCE.
White Reducing the Duty on Cuban
Raw Sugar, the Duty on Refined
Sugar Should BE Correspondingiy
red-Prospective Trust Profits.

II the friends of the Cuban relief
proposition are really DESTROYS of doing
something for the American consumer
| While relieving" the Cuban producer,
! they can accomplish this result by
adopting the plan submitted by Repre-
/ sentative Morris, of Minnesota. This
plan. briefly stated, provides that the
| tariff reduction on raw sugar shall also
apply to refined sugar. The bill as re-
| ported from the Ways and Means Com
mittee makes a reduction of 20 per
cent in the duty on raw sugar, but
leaves the duty on refined sugar as it
is now. 1t cheapens the cost of raw
sugar to the refiners to the extent of
| the tariff reduction, without cheaper
| ing the market price of the refined
| product That is what Mr.. Hayemeyer
meant when a few weeks ago he an
nounced that the selling price of re
| fined sugar would not be in the least
degree affected by any reduction, or
even by the removal. of the duty ON
raw sugar. He knew what he was
| talking about. He knew that the great
est boon that Republican Congress
could possibly confer upon the Sugar
| Trust would be to cheaper raw sugar
| by means of tariff reduction while re-
tanning the full tariff ON refined sugar.
He knew that alr2ost the entire bulk
of money thus lost to the United States
Treasury would, in such an event, find
its way to the Sugar T st treasury.
| There is not single Republican in
| Congress or out of Congress whose
bowels of compassion yearn for suf-
| ferfng Cuba who does mot know that in
cutting down the tariff on raw sugar
and leaving intact the duty ON refined
sugar he assists in swelling the profits
of the Sugar Trust by many millions of
dollars. There might be some excuse
for Republican at either end of Penn
sylvania avenue who did not know, or
did not believe, that the 10000 tons of
| sugar now held on the wharves IN
Cuba has long since passed out Of the
hands of the planters who raised it and
into the hands of the Sugar Trust, ind
hence that the proposed relief" meas
ure would prove hollow mockery to
the original producers of that sugar.
The Sugar Trust has covered its tracks
so skillfully that even Governor Wood
might be pardoned for his inability to
find the trail and for publicly asserting
that practically all of the held-up sugar
| is still owned by the parties who raised
| 1t. Ignorance and excessive credulity
might possibly reach these extremes.
but that is the limit. To vote for or to
Iqpprove of scheme of tariff reduction
It withdraws protection from domes-
tic producers and adds millions to the
already swollen gains of the Sugar
Trust by leaving that concern in the
full enjoyment of a tariff protected
profit margin would be bad economics,
bad craftsmanship, bad politics. We
cannot believe that the Republican
party will be made to stand for
blunder so atrocious as to amount to
crime.
The American Economist, speaking
for the principle and policy of protec-
ton, deprecates as ill-advised and I'M
called for the entire scheme of tariff
reduction for the benefit of ali' ms and
to the injury of our own producers:
but, if any scheme of the kind shall
unfortunately prevail, it earnestly
hopes that through the retention of the
differential on the finished product
while reducing the duty on the crude
material it will not take the shape of
a big prize package for the Sugar
Trust