The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1923-06-06
SPECULATION NOT
TARIFF BOOSTED
SUGAR PRICES

The United States tariff commits
sion has made its report to President
Harding on the sugar situation. 1t
states without equivocation that the
increase in sugar prices since jan
uary was due to causes not connect
ed with the American tariff"
simultaneously with this report, the
department of justice, at the direction
of Attorney General F~augherty, filed
suit in the federal courts against
sugar spectators. This action was
taken after the facts collected by the
department of justice has been pre-
scented to Mr.. Harding and his cabi-
net and discussed in detail by them.
In filing the suit, the department
of justice sets forth that there was
and is a combination and conspiracy
in the restraint of trade in raw
and refined sugar. The petition al
leges that ian orgy of speculation in
raw sugar has been INDUCED in
through the instrumentality Of the
exchange and celaring association"
(the New York Coffee and Sugar Elk
change, Inc, and the New York COT
fee and Clearing Association, Inc.)
since February z.
In support of this it sets forth that
during the month of February "enor-
nous quantities of raw sugar greatly
in excess of quantities customarily
dealt in and more than the total stock
of raw sugar then in existence have
been subject to fictitious paper
sales. T. 1t shows that the trans
actions on the exchange during Feb
ruary aggregated 1915 $50 tons,
while in point of fact, during that
month, only 800 tons were actually
delivered as a result of transactions.
In other words, only two ten-thou-
sandths of n per cent of all the
February transactions on the sugar
exchange were bona fide and repre-
sented the sugar that was actually
delivered.
All this bears out exactly what the
Republican national committee stated
on March II, in reply to the Demo
cratic charge made at that time thai
the high price of sugar was due t.
the FOrdney-M cCumber tariff. /
also bears out the statement at tina
time to the effect that the Republican
congress had stopped gambling il
grain to the detriment of consumers
and there was no reason why Their,
should not be a stop put to gamblin,
in sugar or any other food product
to the exploitation of the consumer
Since that statement was issued
the United States supreme court ha
declared the grain futures act con
stitutional, and it is largely upon tn
principles of law embodied in that &C
that the department of justice intend
to base its prosecution of those
charges with gambling in sugar an
fixing fictitious prices to the Amer
can consumers.
1t was charged by the Democrat
national committees publicity bureau
by leading Democrats and by a nun
Der Of demagogues who do not class
~ themselves as Democrats, that IL
department of justice would never {
anything IN regard to the sugar 81
uation. The investigation was star
ed less than six weeks age. In Il
interim, agents of the department
justice have been in Cuba, have visi
ed the sugar markets, made exhaus
i've examinations of books and re
Ords, have compiled the data gat
cred prepared their case and ha'
commenced, all of which is almost
record for expedition in a case Wi
so many ram;fications and involvil
a r.chiem of s. great magnitude.
The action of the department
Jusse 4 seeking to stoo the spec
latioH in sugar by an Injunction is
hard nut to crack for those dem
gogues who have been attacking t
courts and what they term egover
, ent b.. injunction" It is the /
vor1te argument of this class Of 6
eznies of judicial process that the
junction is never used except agar
q poor mar or the laboring ma
that 1t is a weapon only in the har