Gilpin observer., 1914-04-16
WASHINGTON NEWS
By Edward Keattng.

| Ihe president, senators ana mem
bers of the house of representatives
of the United States" Caffery, who
is the son Of former United States
senator, is one of the most promin-
ent sugar planters of the south.
His charges are of peculiar inter
est to the people of Colorado just
now, in view of the inquiry being
conducted by the federal government
to ascertain why the sugar trust is
attempting to reduce the price they
pay the farmers for their beets. 1t
is hard for these monopolies to un-
derstand that times have changed,
and that they can no longer plunder
the producer and rob the consumer
while Uncle Sam stands by with his
hands in his pockets. They still re-
sent the governments disposition to
"pry into their business, but they
protest in vain. The new order of
things represents a fundamental
change and the wise corporation will
accept it and adapt itself to it.
How the trust has hoodwinked the
people is described by Caffery in
graphic style in his petition. These
are a few of the facts as he states
them:
THAT by using its watered stock
to buy up refineries in Philadelphia,
in St. Louis and in New Orleans,
the American Sugar Refining COM
pany closed the avenues through
which the Louisiana raw sugar reach
ed the consuming public, and there
by made itself virtually the sole buy
er for such sugar.
That, the American Sugar Refin-
ing company closed, and kept idle, a
refinery in New Orleans and one in
Philadelphia, each with a capacity of
5000 barrels of refined sugar a day,
Notwithstanding which it made an i'm
mense reduction every year in the
price of raw sugar in New Orleans,
below the current New York price,
on the pretense that the Louisiana
crop came in too fast to be handled
at the one refinery it operated in
New Orleans.
That when the planters of Louisi-
ana organized to establish a coopera-
tive refinery of their own, the Ameri-
can Sugar Refining company select
ed from the tools and parasites II
had created, two planters who are
shown.by written proof. to have been
sent among the other planters to be-
tray their plans to the trust and to
break up the organization by with
drawing from it at the psychological
moment.
'Tha. Whenever the planters OF
Louisiana manufactured table sugar,
the American Sugar Refining COM
pany, using its monopoly. systemat-
ically depressed the price thereof
Just long enough to drive them back
into making raw sugar.
That. when dealers representing
the planters offered this raw sugar
to independent buyers, the American
Sugar Refining company. again using
its monopoly. boycotted such dealers.
and thereby broke up all independent
selling.
THAT when independent buyers
came upon the New Orleans market
for raw sugar. the American Sugar
Refining company put up the price
on them and threatened to boycott
the dealers who sold at the advance.
with the result that, on one occasion,
a ship chartered by the federal refin-
cry. and sent from New York to New
Orleans for sugar, went back practic-
ally empty, and that. subsequently
independent buyers shuned the mar
ket
THAT having excluded all independ
ent buyers of raw sugar from the
New Orleans market, the American
Sugar Refining Co. put the price
of raw sugar down below what it
was worth in the markets of the
world to an extent which imposed on
the sugar producers in Louisiana and
annual loss of fully $2,000.O00
THAT Notwithstanding such forcing
down of the price of raw sugar, the
American Sugar Refining company
made no reduction whatever in the
price of refined sugar. and kept the
New Orleans price for refined. con
sistently up to the New York price.
THAT Notwithstanding such fore
ing down of the price Of Louisiana
raw sugar below the quoted New
York price, sugar trust continu-
ed to pay the full New York price
for all sugar it imported into New
Orleans from foreign countries"
Planters Want Damages.
On the strength of those charges