The Hawaiian gazette., 1910-10-11
SPRECKELS SUGAR WAR Is
WARM ONE FROM THE START
San Francisco Bulletin Becomes Ills Ally in
the Fight Against the Staple Product
of Hawaii.

Using the same tactics as his father
in his time, Claus A. Spreckels has
entered the local market to break
the grip of the sugar trust upon Cal
ifornia and war is on with prices
and the casualties so far all on the
side of the combine, reports the San
Francisco Bulletin of September 20,
which makes the story of the sugar
fight the principal one of the day,
Continuing, it says: There has been
sharp break in quotations and tim
orous retailers, previously held in
subsection by coterie of trust job
bers, are venturing to handle non.
trust sugar
1t is a within Of fate that Claus
Spreckels, in carrying war to the com
bine, has found the enemy's country
in the very city where his father start.
ed out a generation ago to oppose the
sugar trust. At that time the enemy
undertook to invade the territory Of
the elder Spreckels and he promptly
retaliated by establishing a refinery at
Philadelphia and beating the trust at
its own game.
But since that time the trust has
gobbled the whole country and Claus
Spreckels comes back at this time to
fight it on the Coast. For the first
time in the history of San Francisco
cargo of refined sugar has been
brought into this port around the
Horn and 100000 bags are the mu.
nitions of war with which the first
engagement is being fought
With the output of the Federal
Sugar Refining Company of New
York, the one refinery of the coun-
try independent of the trust, Spreck.
els is entering the field against the
Hawaiian production controlled by his
brother, John d. Spreekels.
On his entrance into the local mar.
ket Spreckels met with opposition of
the jobbers who stand in with the
sugar trust.
Trust Tries Intimidation.
The iobbers demanded a concession
of twenty-five cents a hundred pounds
for handling the production of the
Federal company. The reply of Spreck-
els was circular to all the retailers
of the city and State, quoting them
granulated sugar. Typical trust meth
terday a representative of the com
bine was stationed in front of the
Federal eompany's office at 26 Davis
street to take note of all the retailers
who would venture to break away from
their grasp. He was reluctantly forced
to move on by policeman after he
had kept his vigil for four hours.
The retail dealers have eagerly &C.
cepted the quotation of FIVE cents a
pound The trust price has been five
and three-fourth cents a pound and
at that price the trust has adulterated
its cane sugar with beet sugar, which
sells at twenty cents less on the hun
dred pounds. It does not brand its
sacks as pure cane sugar in order to
escape the attentions of the pure food
inspectors.
The Federal Refinery brands all its
packages "Pure Cane Sugar, guaran.
teed under the Food and Drugs Act, -
to give assurance of the quality of its
product.
The campaign of the independents
has quickly brought results. Already
the jobbers are offering terms of peace
But the Federal Refinery is in the
California market to stay and is pre-
pared to supply the local demand by
more shipments of refined sugar around
the Horn. It's plant at New York now
has capacity of 1850 tons day.
Even after getting its raw material
from the West Indies, paying the high
duty written into the tariff by the
trust, refining it in New York and ship
ping it around the Horn, the independ-
ents are still able to cut under the
prices of the combine upon the Pacific
Coast