Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-12-20


gar Journal on this country's sugar
crisis, brought about by the passage
of the Underwood tariff bill. is of ex-
ceptional interest. 1t sees no eco
nomic good to be derived from the re-
duction in the tariff. and fears its in
fluence will be felt over the world. 1t
attacks the dogma of free trade on the
ground that it is a mistaken policy
and pernicious one, and it seems to
be inclined to the view that before the
duty is removed entirely from sugar,
Congress will right the wrong it has
committed. The following is the ar
ticle:
1t Is said that the New York REIN
ers were among the moving spirits
in the revolutionary sugar policy of
the United States government There
is a possibility that they may find.
before very long, how hasty and in
complete has been their forecast, and
what dangers may threaten them as
the result of their short-sighted &C
ton. They hoped to get rid of incon-
venient competition; but it may be
that eventually a competition of a
much more serious and wide spread
character may overtake them. And
the worst OF it is that this danger
~ may spread beyond the confines of
the United States and affect the
whole sugar refining industry of the
world
The protection hitherto enjoyed by
the American sugar refner has been
trifiing as far as the amount of pref
erence is concerned. 1t was 1919
cents per 100 lbs, till year or two
ago, when II was reduced to ~
cents. But the real protection was
that no raw sugar was permitted to
be imported above the Dutch color
standard OF No. 16. The result has
been that all raw sugar for the Amer
lean market, whether from Cuba,
Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philip
pine Islands, or from non-preferential
countries, such as Java, Brazil, St.
Domingo, the West hides, ETC., has
been specially produced below the
color standard, No. Is. Hence the
American refners have had a mono
poly of the market for all moist re-
fined sugars above No. IS, and pref
erence of 1914 (reduced recently to
7k) cents per 100 lbs. on all white
refined sugars. The new tariff has
Immediately abolished the limitation
of color, and WILL on the LIST of
March, abolish the protection OH re-
fined sugar. .-s,
The abolition of the sugar duty, in
1916, threatens Louisiana, Porto Rico,
the Hawaiian Islands, and the Amer
lean beetroot industry with serious
injury or absolute destruction, unless
they can find new ways of making
sugar at less cost and of higher
quality. They were encouraged by
every possible means to produce
sugar, not only by ridiculously high
protection, but also by exhortation
and instruction from the experts OF
the government department of agri,
culture. This gives them claim
for consideration which would ap.
pear unanswefable, but which has
been rejected with scorn. The abo1i
ton OF the sugar duty has become a
dogma and must be carried out re-
CARELESS Of consequences. A large
revenue must be abandoned because
1t costs the sugar consumers the
large sum of one dollar per head an
nually. For the sake of that infatu
ated delusion the vast sugar factories
in the United States and in the trop
les, which have been erected under
the stimulus offered by the govern
ment, are to be threatened with de-
struction. What are their owners to
do to save themselves?
The answer is clear There are
the factories, and there are the sugar
plantations and the beet fields. They
must be worked, and they must be
worked at profit. II not, thousands
of workmen will be thrown out OF
employment and millions of capital
will be destroyed. 1t is a cruel thing
to bring a great industry into exist
ence and then to destroy 1t, without
any appreciate benefit to anybody
The original protection and encour
age ment may have been an econom
ic error-certainly the exaggerated
amount of it was ridiculous-but that
is no excuse for the government OF
a great country to turn around sud
denly and destroy what it had itself
helped to create, and to do so merely
in obedience to most erroneous and
mischieyous dogma. The industries
are now considering what is to be
done There is, of course, still ray
of hope that before 1916 comes there
may be a change of policy. 1t may
} be possible-though very difficult-to
educate the 9O,OOO,OO0 people of the
United States and get them to know
and understand facts of which they
are now ignorant. One good method
of doing 80 has already been started
by Mr.. Truman G. Palmer, who has
published most interesting and
splendidly illustrated book, 1.-THE
Beet Sugar Factories of the United
States" where the ignorant man-in
the-street may see pictures of the
great beetroot sugar factories-co-
lossal buildings and vast machinery
the fields of beetroots stretching
from the spectator to the horizon, the
great army of laborers and agricul.
tural implements at work on the
land, and the herds of cattle feeding
on the beetroot pulp from the fac
tory. He sees this and is told that