Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-06-15
aatieelalsnsuus 8saains.
SUGAR SCHEDULE JOKE.
Trick That Gives the Trust the Mon.
onoIy

Trick That Gives the trust tne "oh
opoly.
The cynical dictum Of Talleyrand
that language was given to conceal
mems thoughts, finds abundant Illus
tration in the sugar schedule Of the
tariff bill.
In that paragraph of the tariff bill
are the magic words mot above num-
her sixteen Dutch standard in color"
Sounds simple, doesn't it? Probably
the words with which the old wizards
raised spirits from the lower regions
sounded simple to the hearers, but they
raised the devil himself when in their
proper context.
The words mot above number six
teen Dutch standard in color" raise the
same thing with sugar producers and
sugar buyers when in the tariff bill.
They make the sugar trust possible.
They give that trust that has been
convicted over and over again for tar
iff frauds, supreme power over the Gu
ban, San DOMINICAN and Japanese su-
gar grower so far as imports here are
concerned. They give the trust su-
preme power over our domestic sugar
brokers, sugar jobbers and grocers. So
you see they are magic words.
This is the way Of it. The duty on
refined sugar is one dollar and ninesy-
five cents q hundred pounds. On raw
sugar it is on a sliding scale Of ninety
five cents a hundred for poor sugar
testing only seventy-fiv degrees In pur-
ity, and three and a half cents hun
dred additional on every added degree
I'D to one hundred-which is pure su-
gar. So you may figure it for yourself
that sugar ninety-five degrees pure will
pay a duty of one dollar and sixty-fVe
cents a hundred, or more than cent
and half pound.
This is quite enough to protect our
Louisiana and beat sugar growers in
the home market-quite enough. NO
foreign sugar can come over that wall
of more than a cent and a half pound
until the American production is sold.
Everybody should be satisfied, one
would think.
But when we get to a certain point we
cease putting the duty on according to
purity, and impose it according to an
other quality that has nothing to do
with purity.
We put in a clause that says that all
sugar above number sixteen Dutch
standard in color must pay just as
much to get in as If 1t was pure white
and one hundred per cent pure. Why?
Simply that sugar, no matter how
good or how pure, is subjected to
prohibitive tariff, If 1t is white enough
to be fit for the market!
The bill, if honestly worded, would
say: mo sugar white enough for the
market, shall come in. This restriction
is made so that the sugar trust may
have the job Of whitening it."
Number sixteen Dutch standard is
brown sugar, too dark for the table, or
the kitchen, or the preserve factory.
But the sugar mills in the tropics
could, If allowed, make 1t nearly white
and ninety-nine per cent pure at the
same expense at which they make the
dark stuff All they would have to do
would be to keep their centrifugal mills
running a little longer All over Eu-
rope this sugar is served on tables and
used in factories without the filterins
called refining. DR.. Wiley, the food ex-
pert, said ten years ago that the color
has nothing to do with the purity Of
sugar.
The Dutch standard test is the "jok-
er" in the sugar schedule. 1t sends all
the sugar imported to the wharves Of
the trust. If it were out Of the bill
the tropical mills would send us sugar
white enough for use in a thousand
ways. If the trust would not buy they
would sell to the trade. We should
have real competition in sugar. Sugar
would be cheaper Food would be
cheaper. The preserving and canning
industry would be stimulated. The
growers of fruits, berries and vegeta-
bles would be benefited.
Who would be hurt? The sugar
trust. Nobody else. There is time yet
for congress to line up with the people
on this rather than with the trust.
Write your congressman and sena-
tors.-Atlanta Journal.