Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-11-30
BROUSSARD OF LOUISIANA GIVES
= VITAL FAC7SNR. R, RATE fight

Il and II general survey vas pre-
: scented OF certain speCial or S0-Ca!led
free services performed by Eastern
carriers for some shippers These
I free services are or many kinds.
shippers of freight bj the carload
! must ordinarily load and unload cars
al heir own expense. This is one of
the reasons why carl0ad Gtte> are 81
much hwer than ess-than-cartnad
rates Shippers OF freight are CrdIna7-
: lily entitled t. only two dG,s free use
Of cars at destinations. For some
reason some railroads rave made ex-
ceptions at some places to these rides.
and the exceptions are very expensive
to the railroads.
Lat this is in no sense an academic
discussion of these practises of the
eastern railroads Is evidenced by the
serious situation that has suddenly
confronted the people OF ny state
within the past few days rs a result
OF the present method o. distributing
the Trust output OF refined su"ar.
Sugar cane is the principal crop
Of Louisiana, which is essentially an
. agricultural state. BY reason OF rall-
road rebating, blacklisting, violating
Of the Antitrust laws and other prac.
tises which caused the UnteI States
| attorney-gener raj of the last admiris-
tration to denounce ii as gl.;ty Of
| long continued and unparalleled de-
pravity, the Trust years ago Pffectu-
ally drove out all competitive pur-
| chasels OF the Louisiana sugar crop.
The Trust acquired control OF the
Louisiana territory about 1890. 1t at
| once inaugurated a campaign that de-
stroyed the market for plantation
sugars and having done that it in
turn began to prey upon and pillage
the farmers who had produced that
sugar. 1t compelled them to agree to
sell their sugar at a fixed number of
points below the New York price, the
differential supposedly representing
| the freight from New Orleans to New
York, although none of the sugar was
ever shipped to New York At the
New York end the Trust systemati-
calIy conducted dishonest wash
sales" of sugar upon which settle
| ment was made for the louisiana
product at prices ranging from Is to
so points below the actual New York
parity, and on an average, a quarter
of a cent per pound below the New
York price for raw plantation sugar.
After groaf1ing under this burden
for quarter of a century, the gener.
al assembly of louisiana at its last
session, provided the means which
would enable the governor to deal eff
fectively with the Trust.
Some ten days ago Governor Hall.
having failed to induce the American
Sugar Refining Company ito desist
| from it's violation of the Antitrust
laws, particularly from deducting the
| fictitious freight rate between New
Orleans and New York when settling
with the Louisiana sugar producers,
instructed the district attorney at New
Orleans to institute proceedings
against the Trust.
The arrogant reply of the Trust to
the demand Of the governor and the
general assembly of Louisiana that 1t
desist from its illegal and dishonest
practises has been to close its Louis
lana plant, the largest in the world, on
the eve Of the sugar grinding season.
This will seriously embarrass the LOU
isiana producers
its conduct the Trust claims it wishes
I to dispose of the immense1stock it has
stored in different parts, of the coun-'
try before refining any more raw
sugar. -
The trade conditions which it pre-.
tends to be anxionss to straighten out.
before proceeding to work up the
Louisiana crop are due to the prefer
entail treatment it has received at the
hands of the eastern railroads.
| wish to make 1t plain that the
branch refinery which the Sugar
Trust has maintained at New Or
leans and which has been its princi-.
pal instrument in expressing the sug-t
ar farmers of that state has also been
enjoying these concessions from the
railroads on sugar shipped from New
Orleans to Chicago. 49,: = - "a
wish to make it plain that l have
no concern with the efforts of the
cial condition. But the people OF Lou
isiana are opposed to having their
leading industry sacrificed to the
greed of the Sugar Refining Trust be-
cause these same eastern railroads do
not see MT to make that great cofpor-
alton pay its equitable share of the
freight charges that are necessary to
maintain them. !
They have been willing parties to
the practise of absorbing lighterage
and other charges which makes the
handling of the refined sugar business
under existing conditions scandalous-
lv unprofitable.
The courts have held that this prac-
tise is legal and the railroads can
continue it if they care to. /
But we object to this continuance,
il when the echoes of the controversy
have died out they come into court
and ask that the deficit occasioned to
their revenues thereby be made up in
other ways. The very existence of the
domestic sugar producers of Louisiana
and other States is imperilled as long
as these DractiSeS are continued.