Evening star., 1920-01-06
THREE AUTHORIZED
PRICES FOR SUGAR
THREATEN TROUBLE
Officials Fear Widespread
Profiteering as Range Is
From II to % Cents.


Retail dealers charging % cent"
pound for sugar were attacked In
the Senate today by Senator sMoo.;
republican, Utah, who decinfeo
"they ought to be handled" Dy the
Attorney General.
"Sixty-five per cent of the beea
sugar crop has been deliVereo,
Senator SmOOt said, 'and II there
Is any boarding the Attorney Cen
eral should find out who Is hoard
ing 1t, and stop 1t. Here in WASH
fngtOn dealers are charging =.
cents and selling only two pounds
mt n time. There fs no excuse 1or
1t. There is plenty Of law 10 deai
in drastic fashion with these prof.
fteerx, and the people ought not to
be forced to pay such prices"
Apprehension is expressed by officials
of the Department of Justice and
others familiar with the sugar situa-
ton that the existence of three widely
different, but officially authorized
prices for sugar may pave the way for
widespread profiteering and extortlon
on the part of INSCRIPTIONS dealers IN
sugar. Officially authorized prices Tor
sugar. to be charged by retailers, and
calculated to yield a fair profit on re-
tail sales. range from IL cents pound
for western beet sugar to % cents
pound for advanced crop" Cuban
sugar.
Sees 20 Cents the Minimum.
In a statement issued in New York
few days ago George A. Zabriskie.
chairman of the sugar equalization
board, expressed the opinion that the
retail price of sugar would not be less
of the present year, and that it might
go as high as 25 cents for time.
With no means yet discovered by
chemists to distinguish between refined
cane sugar and refined beet sugar, or
between refined cane sugars made form
raw sugar produced in different coun-
tries, officials fear that unscrupulous
jobbers. brokers. retailers and others
may take advantage of the three diff
ferent prices authorized by the sugar
equalization board and charge maxi
mum prices for sugar from all sources.
The original price fixed by the sugar
equalization board for western beet
sugar was 1O1a cents a pound. this
being later increased to II cents. The
price of Louisiana cane sugar was
fixed at II to Is cents a pound, while
Cuban sugar of the 1920 crop is per-
mitted to be sold at % cents a pound.
Difference Cannot Be Detected.
After sugar from these three sources
has passed through the refineries and
energies in the form of fine white
granulated sugar no chemist in the
world, by any test or method of
analysis. can detect the slightest diff
ference in the three kinds. Beet sugar
responds or reacts to precisely the
same tests as the best cane sugar; its
polarization is the same-in fact, it is
exactly the same as the refined cane
sugar.
Sugar produced from cane grown in
Louisiana is exactly the same as that
fro no 0 in N,vh q
Brazil, java or anywhefe else. When
refined no expert can differentfate be-
tween them, and no chemist can say
by analysis which originated In Cuba
and which grew on the Mississippi
river plantations.
Under these circumstances officials
of the Department of Justice who are
responsible for enforcement of fair
price regulations. as well as members
of Congress. and countless thousands
of housewives are asking what is to
keep dealers from handing out beet
sugar produced in Colorado and
charging for it the price authorized
to be charged for Cuban cane sugar?
Nobody has been able as yet to give
a satisfactory answer to the question.
Dealers and Buyers Warned.
The federal food administrator in
New York has issued a warning to
dealers and to buyers. declaring that
invoices must be kept ready at hand
to be shown to purchasers on demand
and that dealers should sell sugar
only from original containers. The
same action, has been taken by the
federal food administrator in Buffalo
and in Boston. However. it already
has been pointed out that it will be
impossible for dealers to comply with
the latter order. because original con-
tainers of Cuban and Louisiana cane
sugar are not suitable for refined
sugar and are destroyed at the re-
fnaries after being emptied.
Government officials assert that the
present puzzling situation Is exactly
analogous to that which would arise,
for example. II an order were to be
issued with the authority Of the gov
ernment permitting dealers to charge
three different prices for blue serge
cloth Of exactly the same weight. finish.
number of threads to the inch. color.
texture. etc, but woven of wool grown
in Montana. Vermont and Kentucky. 1t
would at once be possible for any dealer
to declare that his serge was the kind
for which the government permitted the
highest price to be charged. and nobody
could tell. by test or examination OF the
cloth, whether this were true or not
Congress and President Blamed.
Officials reluctantly admit that the
puzzling situation. which probably will
result in sugar consumers paying near
ly a billion dollars more for the sugar
they use in 1920 than they would have
paid If 1917 prices had been main
tanned. is due to failure Of Congress and
the administration to heed the urgent
advice of Herbert Hoover last spring
to buy a large part of the Cuban crop.
The failure of President Wilson to heed
Mr.. Hoover's advice. it was stated. was
because Prof. F. w: Taussig. former
chairman of the tariff commission, ad-
vised against 1t.
Mr.. Hoover Predicted Shortage.
At the time Mr.. Hoover was reiter-
ating his assertion that the country
fall and winter Of 1919-20 unless the
sugar equalization board was direct
ed to buy the Cuban crop raw Cuban
sugar could have been bought up to
f. o. b. Havana or Guantanamo. To-
day what little remains Of the old
crop finds ready sale at S14 to 3
cents in Cuba. and the same prices
prevail in Santo Domingo and ether
sugar-producing countries in the
stated, has arisen because of the en-
try into these markets of the British
and French governments, which have
bought up rs to so per cent Of the
ed States, had it refined here and then
sent to France and England.
Sugar can be bought in Java, it
was stated, at 2 to cents a pound
but the distance is SO great and
| freight rates are SO high that when
lava sugar reaches American refiner-
les it has become more costly than
the cuban product at 81 cents in
the raw state. Java has between g.
0oo. 900 and 100000 tons of raw
sugar for export. II was was stated, but
American markets, although two
small cargoes Of raw sugar in hogs
haoda have been received In this