The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-03-30

I'm the year 1910 the last available
year. the American got his sugar for
an average price OF about nine.tenths
of cent more than the English con.
sumner paid Now, gentlemen will say,
why should not the American have
the cheapest sugar? contend that he
does have the cheapest sugar on earth
when all conditions are taken into &C
count In proving to you that the
! American enjoys the cheapest sugar
on earth, | want to call your attention
to very interesting document Is.
! Doc No. 3S, G2d Cong, LIST sess.), con-
tanning a report put out by the British
board of trade. They made an inves-
/ tigation of conditions in this country
and in England 1t was part of a wide
series of investigations, undertaken to
determine the economic condition of
England with reference to competitor
nations, and that investigation carries
in every line of it evidence of it's
Itruthfulness. 1t shows that the aver
age family of a laboring man in Amer
Iica uses 5A pounds of sugar a week.
You will have glowing pictures paint
ed to you of the total saving to the
American people on the sugar we con-
sumo. l submit to this House that
the only true criterion is the amount
Of sugar consumed directly in the
average family. This 81 pounds Of
sugar a week is almost the same
amount used by the English family.
The figures are based on actual in
quiries conducted in many cities. AS
a statement of the sugar situation as
related to the family it is far more
reliable than deductions made from
dividing the total sugar production
with the population of the nation.
Much sugar is used in manufacturing,
in tobacco, soda water, candy, canned
milk, and so forth; but in the prob
lem of saving to the ultimate consum.
er it is not necessary to consider the
) sugar used in manufactures, unless
we believe that the tobacco man, the
soda-water man, and the candy man
will pass along to the family the al
= most infinitesimal percentage which
he may save on the plug of tobacco
or the pound of candy.
Taking, then, 5A pounds of sugar
the weekly portion of an American
. family, how much does that sugar cost
in the worlds oldest and truest cur
rency, the labor of the father of the
family? The British Board of Trade
has compared many kinds of Ameri
can labor with many kinds of English
labor. l believe it is the best anG
most impartial comparison we have
On pages 10 and 16 of the Senate doc
ument to which 1 have referred there
is comparison of wages and hours
of labor. l will take the wages of thu
bod carrier as fairly illustrative o
: the difference between the two Goun
tries, because the bod carrier applies
y natural labor and not machine-aideC
labor. This comparison shows tina
the English hod carrier can earn tn
weeks supply of sugar for his famil,
:, by working los minutes, if he can bu
at the wholesale prices cited by tn
; Sugar Investigating Committee, an
: the American bod carrier can earn tn
, weeks sugar for his family, buyin
also at wholesale prices, in forty-fiv
=, minutes. Applause on the Republ
can side.l That is, the weeks suga
>. costs the American laborer forty-fiv
minutes and costs the English lahore
=. 108 minutes. [Applausel 1 have giy
en- wholesale prices because in a dis
= cussion it is not fair to charge to tn
: tariff the profit that the retailer ma
take.
G Based on retail prices in the tw
i countries, as found in the board O
10 trade investigation, the Englishma
: works 1902 minutes for his sugar, tn
il, American fifty-three minutes.
"a l have examined carefully, and l be
n lieve the difference between the il
q comes of hod carriers IN this countr
g. and England is fairly expressive c
,t the general difference in incomes, nc
Ia only as to laborers, but as to profes
a. sional men, clerks, and other en-
h. ployees in general Where the Ems
,t lisbman earns a dollars the America
If earns $3.50.
A Penny-Wise Policy Not Desirable
"a To take the duty off raw sugar i
not to save the consumer in price i
Is the long run.
ly Mr.. Olmsted-If it will not interrup
10 the gentleman, | should like to as
n him one question. Perhaps he ca
TT answer it. That is, whether the prio
n of sugar is cheaper or dearer in thi
ID country today than it was during tn
ct short period when we had no tart
10 Wb9tpVar IN euoar9