Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-13
Washington Ticker
BY CLINTON COFFIN,
Associated Press Financial Writer.

Two congressional debates, the Sec
ond of which Is still in progress IN the
Senate. have served to demonstrate
clearly the difficulties which American
sugar producers face in endeavoring TO
get satisfactory advantages out OF tarlff
protection on their commodity. The
crux of their delimma, as 1t mas neen
set forth by Senator Vandenberg OF
Michigan and Representative Timber
lake of Colorado, and as 1t has been
incidentally reflected in bounty plans
suggested by Senator Borah of Idaho
and Representative Frear OF Wiscon-
sin, lies in the large tropic possessions
now under the American flag, such as
Hawaii, Porto Rico, and, above all, the
Philippines.
Raw sugar can apparently be produced
in Cuba at a rock-bottom cost Of 2
cents per pound, and in the American
tropic possessions for around 3 cents,
while the various committee approaches
to cost studies make 1t seem probable
that 31z cents a pound is as low as
raw product can be turned out of the
American beet sugar areas, and the
limited American cane territory in
Louisiana and Florida. Thus the rails
ing of the American tariff on sugar,
which has been the congressional
policy since 1909, is conceded on all
sides to have the effect of shutting out
the Cuban supply, but the gain has
been doubtful for the American pro-
Queer, since the expansion in produce
! ton, particularly in the Philippines,
has tended to supply the country's mar
ket requirements.
Senator Vandenberg now proposes
that the Philippines be granted their
independence, so that the tariff might
go on their product. Representative
Timberlake urged earlier that the sugar
imports let in free to the United States
from the islands be limited to 100000
tons per annum, and neither proposal
seems to gain widespread favor. The
Bohar-Frear project involves dropping
the attempt TO raise the sugar duty and
to pay outright to American producers q
bounty of cent or so pound on pro-
duction, at a cost of 500, 900, 600 or so
year, to be met out of the $3.50, 100000
year which the Treasury now collects
in tariff on Cuban sugar.
It will be some time before congress
sional roll calls settle the controversy,
and most observers expect that instead
OF initiating any new governmental
policy, or attempting to grapple with
the mixture of political economic issues
the question presents, Congress will
deal with it solely by fixing sugar
impost on the Cuban product at some
where between 1.76 cents per pound,
the present rate, and 2.20 cents per
pound, which~the Senate Republicans
have recommended. In the mean
time, though, sugar remains in pressed
commodity classification, the reports of
restriction In its production coming
from around the tropics of the world
give producers considerable ground for
hoping that the law of supply and de-
mand, apart from all tariff discussions,
may treat them better In the future
than it has in the past.
Another appeal for tariff to meet a
commodity emergency was instituted
this week by Senator Oddie Of Nevada,
who presented an amendment calling
for an impost on silver, while his COL
league, Senator Pittman, and other
spokesman for mining areas explained
to the Senate the distress occasioned by
the recent collapse in silver prices. Here
again the possibility of relief by tariff
is generally voted as ambiguous, in
view of the normal status of the United
States as a silver exporting country.
It Is rather remarkable fact that the
American production of silver seems to
have declining trend in any case, since
the mint figures place 1929 output in
$4,000 ounces, while the figure for
1925 was 66,155.000 ounces, and for
1928, it was 73,334,0 900 ounces. Though
there is big consumption of silver in
the United States, for tableware and
Photographic film purposes, the great
world use of silver has been in the
currencies of Asia, and it was in the
reduction of demand there that the
silver price fall originated.
With silver as in sugar, there are
some signs that the normal economic
influences are working to an amelora-
ton of the producers situation that is
probably more effective than tariff at
tacks on the problem will be. Last
week the silver price, which has
dropped steadily from a figure of "a
cents early last Spring to under 43,
turned around notably. 1t had recovered
to above As cents on Saturday, and in
view Of the fact that much of the
worlds silver Is by-product of copper.
output of which commodity is now
being curtailed, the price turn gave a
slightly more hopeful outlook to the
mining groups.