The Colorado statesman., 1923-04-21
SUGAR ONCE MORE
CAUSES TROUBLE
GOVERNMENT TRYING TO FIND
OUT WHY THE PRICE HAS
BEEN ADVANCING.
"LEAK" IN CAPITAL INVOLVED
Spectators Learned the Contents Of
Department of Commerce Bulletin
Three Days Before Its Release, and
Someone May Be Punished.
BY EDWARD q. CLARK

BY EDWARD 3. CLARK
Washlngton.-Uncle Sam Is taking
a deep and rather sudden interest In
the country's sugar bowl Secretary
Hoover of the Department of Com
merce and Augustus T. Seymour. as
sistant to the attorney general, jointly
are trying to learn the why's and
wherefores of the sudden advance in
sugar prices, which began about eight
weeks ago with a jump of one cent
a pound. The tariff commission is
also looking into the matter.
Sugar, curlously enough, on more
than one occasion has done something
to sour the disposition Of the Govern
mental Uncle of US all. Sugar grow
ers, sugar refners, sugar sellers, and
sugar spectators have Individually
or collectively borne the brunt of gov
ernmentai attack off and on for years.
Now there is In progress another as
sault, and the wonder is that If this
time anything or anybody is to be
brought back captive.
Again, Washington is interested in
what specifically, sharply and perhaps
picturesquely is called a leak" a
lump of sugar information which was
to be carefully guarded for some days
melted, leaked through crevice in the
receptacle of secrecy, and the charge
is that spectators and others inter
ested in the sugar market secured a
few drops of the leakage and were
enabled to profit thereby. to the dis
advantage of the general consuming
public.
Leaks Don't Come Often.
1t is the habit of government de-
partments to prepare statements of
various kinds for publication and to
put thereon a release date, binding
those who receive the Information to
hold it sacred until the day set for
it's submission to the reading pub
lie. 1t is not once in many hundreds
of times probably that any one vio-
lates the condolences thus imposed in
him. On only one or two occasions
has "leak" been traced to persons
who were given the advance notices
because of confidence they would
not reveal anything until the proper
time Generally speaking, leaks have
come from persons who had no right
to the Information, but who managed
to secure 1t through means best known
to themselves.
On February of this year a bull
letin was issued by the Department
of Commerce which contained state
ment on the supply of sugar in this
country. The contents of the bulletin
were not to be released for publica-
ton until February II. Somehow or
other the spectators in New York and
elsewhere were notified IF the con-
tents of the bulletin, their informa-
ton coming to them late on the day of
the bulletins issue.
1t seemingly is the suspicion of the
government that the information III
this bulletin was used in distorted
form to bring about an advance in
the price of sugar, and TO give an op-
portunity TO certain interests to make
preparations for further advances in
the price of the commodity to the con-
Sumer.
1t may be that investigation will
show who 1t was that leaked" and
1t may be as d result that someone will
be punished. If a department EN-
ployee gave out the information he
probably will lose his job. If some
person to whom the information was
sent for publication at the proper time
released 1t In advance, he will be
blacklisted so that no more confiden-
tial government documents shall reach
his office.
Woman Vote Losing Potency.
The National League of Women
voters is to hold its fourth annual
convention in Des Moines. Ia. the
second week In April. 1t is under
stood that one of the matters or mo-
ment to be brought before the conven-
tion will be what might be called n
plan to insure full female representa-
ton at the polls when the election
days CONC aroGnd.
1t probably Is not at all beside the
truth TO say that many of the organlza-
tions of women are somewhat disap-
pointed because all of their sisters
seemingly have not taken advantage
of the change in the Constitution and
in the laws which give the gentler sex
the right to cast Its ballot on an equnl-
lty with the ballot of the sterner sex.
Men politicians seem to believe that
In way the women constitute house
divided against itself. Many thousands
of the women of the country believe
that women should vote as women and
that therefore there should be wom-
ans party. Hundreds of thousands of
women believe that woman's party
Is, so to put it, bad business" and that
1t is the duty of the women voters to
align themselves with an existing po-
iI4innl M rtu md to nttpmnt through Ii