The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1909-03-18
CORNER COFFEE
TO ESCAPE DUTY
NEARLY A BILLION POUNDS TO BE
STORED IN NEW YORK BEFORE
TARIFF BILL PASSES.
ESTIMATE s39,6OO,OOO PROFIT.
Breakfast Berry Gamblers Take Big
Chance on Congress Imposing Tax
of Cents a Pound.
BEST COUP EVER ATTEMPTED.

NEW YORK, March i5.-Nearly one
third of all the coffee in the world, is in
New York today The vast warehouses
that line the harbor's edge are damned
high with millions of bags-hundreds of
thousands of tone. a dozen great steam
ers, coffee laden to the Fimsoll mark,
are blowing their way northward
through the 5000 miles of dark ocean
that stretches between the coffee coast
of Brazil-away south of the line at
the other side of the world-and Sandy
Hook.
At Rio and Santos half a dozen more
steamers are loading with coffee for
New York.
In Havre and Hamburg and Antwerp,
too, there is great activity along the col
fee docks and in the huge warehouses
where the worlds reserve supply or
Americas favorite breakfast beverage is
stored. Everything is being got IN
readiness to fill ship after Ship and send
them hurrying across the Atlantic to
New York with still more coffee.
All this is because of the belief among
the great coffee merchants and the great
coffee gamblers of the world that the
United States Congress will put tax
on this fragrant berry that hitherto has
entered this country free OF duty. The
guesseS as to the amount OF tins lnpost
vary. Some importers say that 1t Will be
cents a pound; others assert that 1t
will not be less than cents.
Millions in Balance.
Millions of dollars tremble i'll the bal
ance on the outcome. There are nearly
100000 bags of coffee i'll storage III
New York and on the sea bound hlther.
If Il duty of cents a pound is decided
upon il is quite possible that the guam
tity will be increased to i,JD,oOo bags
\ bag of coffee weighs l32 pounds Sey-
en- and Il half million bags would weigh
nearly a billion pOunds-9OOOD,ooO TO
be exact, or 44J,OOO tons. This would
he enough to till 22,25o freight cars.
which is more rolling stock than any
| except Il great railroad possesses. The
saving in duty on this tremendous
amount Of coffee, if it were all landed
here before the new tariff went into eff
feet, would be S39GOO,OOO.
This flood of coffee began moving
toward New York ms far back as last
| Novembcr-shortly after Taft was elect
| ed 1t has been rising higher and high
or ever since.
Biggest Coffee Corner.
! This is the great coffee Corner prob
| ably the greatest and best organized that
ever has been attempted. What it Is
and what It's outcome will be is Of i'll
| tcreSt to everybody who drinks coffee
The coffee 'yaloriZation' plan, which
| is the basis of the coffee corner, is
| based on the theory that the average an
nual consumption of coffee in the world
! is 50 many million bags: that if there
! is a surplus crop one year only enough
| should he fed out to meet the demand,
and that at price fixed in advance
one that will insure fair profit Of
course. If the crop the next year is
! less than the demand the difference Is
supplied from the surplus which is held
| back. bumper crops two or three
years in succession are to be feared, of
! course and these are guarded against
to certain extent by the Brazilian gov
eminent having forbidden any increase
in the areas devoted to the cultivation
of coffee \ coffee tree will bear for
! twenty-five years, however, and there
is no restriction against replantng.
Two or three years ago Brazil tried
| the withholding of 100000 bags from
i the market. and for Il time il looked as
! if they would he marketed at the price
! fixed. bur the corner collapsed, it Is said,
with loss of about $l3,OOOOOU 10
/ Brazil and those interested. In tins
case Brazil. directly or indirectly. AID
vanced the money to the growers, taking
! their stocks Of coffee as security. The
load grew too heavy finally and good
part of il had to be throwE IN the mar
ket at the current prices.