The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-13
Says That It Is "a Most
 Wicked Tax"
HE COMPARES DUTIES
"Your Uncle Sam Is Engaged in Talk ing Candies From Children, the Heighth of Meanness; Beet
 Sugar Also High

New York. October 12.-Just before sailing for Europe today, John Ar buckle. the sugar redner and coffee manufacturers issued statement strongly attacking the taritf on raw sugar declaring il to be a wick ed tax" for the benefit of the beet sugar interests In his statement MT. Ar buckle said:
 T have not been well and am go- ing abroad 10 rest and recuperate in preparation for the fight to be made in Congress at it's next session for free sugar l propose to devote all my time and all my ability and all my strength to the abolition of all import duties on raw sugar. most wicked tax on food necessity of all our people. II taxes the man who works for a wage sof s1 a day as much as it taxes an Astor or MT. Morgan or MT Rockefeller. Each eats, or at least, needs the same amount of sugar and they pay not ac- cording 10 their ability but according to their needs. reversing an elemental rule of taxation
 Just look at these figures showing how the prices of refined sugar to the consumer are made up. l disregard the abnormal price latelx prevailing for the raw product and take normal price.
 Price paid by New York refiners for raw sugar, 2.4 cents.
 Duty per pound. 1.6S5 cents.
 With the raw sugar costing the re finer 40S5 cents per pound, his price to wholesale grocers for granulated sugar is about 490 ceuts per pound and the wholesale grocers' net price to the New York retailer grocers per pound is about 4.95 cents, and the re- tail grocers' prices 10 consumers was between 515 and 525 cents per pound. So that for every pound of sugar go ing into a household in New York city at 5.25 cents per pound, the govern ment of the United states has eXacted 1885 cents almost the third of a total price It means that every mousse hold that now buys three and halt pounds of sugar could for the same money buy five and one-quarter pounds if this tax were removed
 If, as someone has said. sugar k the comfort of old age and the delight of youth, your Uncle sam is engaged in taking candies from children, the height of meanness. The duty on raw sugar is IS per cent of it's value.
 You will be surprised to compare this import duty with others:
 Name Duty. Sugar ..................7 per cent Champaign ................70 per cent Automobiles ...............4O 40 per cent Furs ..............t..... 50 per cenc Diamonds ..-......'..''...l ID per cent Pearls ..............#..'.. .'...#..20 per cent
 The duty which the United States .eNacts on the importation of raw sugar holds up the price of the best sugar as well as the cane sugar for the gen tlemen who are manufacturing beet sugar exact from the public every penny they can get The beet com panes have stated. as l am inform aa, that they can produce beet sugar al from 2lz to 3 cents per pound. They sell it al from to ! cents. The bee. sugar people use the tariff to exact the uttermost penny for their prod uct.
 Everywhere the beet sugar manu- facturer takes full advantage Of the tariff tax and il results that the peo- pie of the United States pay the tax to the government on the cane sugar and to the beet sugar barons on the beet sugar. The saving to the Amer iccl people on the sugar consumed last year if the tax were removed would amount to almost s150,000,000.
 The benefciaries of the duty are planters of cane in the Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico, Louisiana and the Philippines, and the manufacturers of domestic beet sugar. We are taxed for the benefit of Louisiana and the de- mestic beet sugar producers. 1he do- mestic beet sugar intersts need no protection. The American Sugar Refin- ing company has s20,000.000 of uveC sugar capital.