The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-04-12
The Fight to Go On.


following New York news item under
date of April 2:
The re-assessment of duties
amounting to total increase of ST.
$4,000 on sugar imported by the
American Sugar Refining company at
the refinery of Havemeyer & Elder,
between December, 1901 and Noyem-
Der, 1907. has been ordered by Collec-
tor Loeb of the port of New York. Loeb
ordered the reliquidation on the
ground of fraud The imposition of
the increased assessment is the re-
suit of second trial of the case
against the American Sugar Refining
company In which the government
was awarded $134,000.
Ex-United States Attorney Stimp-
son and Assistant District Attorney
Denison who prosecuted the previous
case have been retained by the de-
partment of justice as special coun-
sci to carry on further litigation of a
similar nature. Acting upon the evil
dence which they laid before him, Col
lector Loeb ordered reliquidation of
duties and the increase in assess
ments followed
The government also claims 1t has
been defrauded of about $1,000, 900
in duties on sugar weighed at the
refinery of Havemeyer & Elder i'm
Brooklyn and at Jersey CITY rcf.o.y
prior to 1901. Ii was announced to-
day that legal steps are now being
taken on behalf of the government to
enforce the collection of these duties .
In the face of the discovery, by the
merest chance, that the great sugar
bling the government for years through
the trickery of false weighing mach
ines, the assertions of the heads of
this and similarly vicious trusts and
their apoligists, that barring, possibly,
a little reckless stock watering. big
business" is all right and honestly
conducted, is effrontery of the most
stupendous kind.
Then here is another news item of
the same date as the foregoing, this
time from Washington.
What is designated as a "joker''
that cost the consumers of tobacco In
this country nearly $4,000, 900 has
been found in the existing revenue
laws of the United States by Con
gresham Dawson of Iowa, who at
once introduced bill to correct the
errors.
Under the Dingley tariff law, the
two ounce packages of tobacco sell
to the consumer at five cents each,
and the four packages for 10 cents.
In 1898 war revenue tax of six cents
a pound additional was levied on to-
bacco.
AT the same time in order to serve
the convenience of the trade. author
ization was given for the reduction of
the size of the packages from two,
three and four ounces, to l 2-3 and
2 l-2 and 1-3 ounces, thus enabling
the smoker to procure a five cent and
a ten cent package of tobacco at the
store.
I'm due time the war revenue tax
was repealed. Somebody forgot. Mr..
Dawson believes, to restore the pack
age OF tobacco to the original sizes
and hence, ever since 1902, the CON
sumner Of tobacco has been paying the
equivalent of the war revenue tax to
the manufacturers of tobacco.
According to figures obtained from
the commissioner of internal revenue
over 100000 / 2-3 ounce packages
have been sold during the past six
years and over II billion packages of
the 1.3 size.
Mr.. Dawson figures out that the
purchaser of each small package has
been mulcted out of one cent, and the
purchaser of the larger, of two cents.
and hence the joker has cost the con-
sumner almost S45,000,000. Mr.. Daw-
sons bill provides the restoration of
the packages to the original sizes"
This presumably, is merely an IL
lustration of one of those little pecul-
iarities of trade which in a country
merchant would be defrauding the
public, but in that rarified atmosphere
in which the trusts move constitutes
master stroke of business, surround
ed by the safeguard of legal technical
tiles.
In such instances as these, taken at
random from weekly reports of SINH
lar operations, that plainly point out
The necessity of vigorous continue
ton of the fight for honest and squane
dealing in business. big and little
and of the crusade for a higher stan
dard of morals in the industrial and
commercial world.
The activity of the Taft administra-
ton through the department of JUS
tice. as evidenced by the proceedings
against the Standard Oil company is
gratifying indication of the purpose
to continue the policies already in
augurated.
The sugar trust. the tobacco trust
md others, caught with their hands
in the pockets of the people can blush
md pathetically ask to be 'let alone, :"
Uncle Joe can hilariously exclaim that
this is II of a country" flowing
with milk and honey. but it does not
obscure the main fact that there is
vet much to be done to bring about
that liberty of industry and equality
of opportunity which the awakened
spirit of the times demands.-Enos-