Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-31
BY WILLIS j. BALLINGER

BY WILLIS j. BALLINGER.
TT great many people arc wor-
rying about the way American
State governments can dip into
j the average citizens pocketbook
and increase the burden of living
costs, what will they say about the
easy manner in which Il small state
government In BraZil-Cne they never
heard of-can reach its hand into
every American home and to every
American breakfast table and heip
Itself to small tribute every morn
ing Of life.
That Is what Sac Paulo does, &C
corrling to DIR. Julius Klein, director
of the Bureau OF Foreign and Dones-
ito Commerce. Few know where sac
Paulo Is, though all must dtsgorge
20 It 1t IS 4 state In Brazil, and 1t
collects It's tax from the American
household through the means OF Its
monopoly Of coffee.
One OF Eight Commodities.
Coffee. according to ior. Klein, is
.sne of eight commodities which form
he subject of eight foreign monop-
"lies that are making the American
oeopIe pay through the nose. One OF
th$ others now getting Il good deal
Of airing is rubber.
- AS DIR. Klein was at one time at
tache TO the Brazilian state of Sac
Ss,,ie l picked him out to quiz on
this subject. I asked him to tell me
hoaE serious this monopoly is; how
much 1t has been able to boost the
nriee of coffee and how much the cof-
ice monopoliSts take from the Amer
lean people annually. Here is his an
Swer:
Coffee has become a food neces-
s5ty in the United States. We are
the greatest consumers OF coffee In
the world. our consumption has
-teadily increased. being now 80 per
cent greater than III pre-war days.
The average annual importation of
roffee into this country is 1856, o0o,-
400 pounds. or over 1917 pounds a
year for every man, woman or child.
rs against pounds before the war.
The value of all coffee imports In 1918
was S1fS,963.209 and in 1925 the value
had risen to s26T .153,S39. The aver
age import price per pound for COT
fee In 1913 was 1871 cents and In 1925
it amounted to 22.3 cents per pound.
50 you can see at Il glance that coffee
"a q food necessity In The United
States, and that Il rise IN price due
~ an artificial control Of the product
'y the state government OF Sac
Paulo. financed by the federal gov
ernment OF Brazil, has an immediate
effect upon millions OF American fam
ilE budgets.
Brazil Can Dictate.
Stxty-five to 20 per cent Of The
worlds coffee supply comes from
brazil Therefore Brazil is IN a posi-
ion TO dictate world prices II she
chooses. And she has chosen to create
I national monopoly that is becoming
81 serious matter Of dollar and cents
-nnuaI economy to the consumers OF
hts country. There IS little doubt
hat an artificial restriction Of the
"offee trade has been brought about
10y government action III Brazil. The
$40 Paulo state government Of Brazil
Las been u q position not only to
purchase co%ae and thus take 1t OFF
The market uNIil the high price Of the
market tempts out this stored supply,
hut the state government has been
able to control the movement OF cot
rec from the interior 10 the ports.
thus keeping coffee entirely out of
.,ight and the rest OF the world en-
rirely in the dark as to how much
coffee there may he or what grades.
How Scheme Works.
q. VIII YOU explain to me- how the
government works this scheme Of
CONTROLLING the production OF coffee?
A. The government controls the
purchasing of the coffee which IS pro-
duced. Only in one instance did It
ny to ban the planting Of coffee trees.
coffee growers must sell to govern
nent warehouses located in the IN
terror. The government aims to pur-
,hase as Cheaply as possible and sell
rs profitably as It can. In Sac Paulo
rEe railroads are state owned. Hence
1T the ports like Santos the govern
inent brings down from It's interior
warehouses only SO many bags Of
Office each day as can be sold lucra-
lively. In this way coffee is taken
uff the market by the government
and stored until it can be sold at
handsome profit. The money required
20 store the coffee IS obtained by for
ign loans.
Loans Are Refused.
Q. Do American capitalists lend
money to Brazil which is used to pro
mote this monopoly?
A. No: our capitalists have refused
capital to Brazil since the Brazilian
Office monopoly was exposed. Only
recently a loan was refused.
Q. Is the business Of taking coffee
"ff the market, Of artificially regulat-
ing trade, profitable to the Brazilian
government?
A. Some idea of the probability of
he business may be obtained by the