Evening star., 1937-03-16

ored to find some better and more
effective way to establish limitations
on the amount of incoming sugar.
These threatened dangers were
averted by two measures passed by
the American Congress, The first
the Philippine independence bill,
which placed a limit on the impor
tation of Philippine sugar of $4,000
tons, an amount less than had been
ports, yet large enough to provide lib
orally for sugar culture in the islands.
The other measure was the Jones'
CoStigan amendment to thv agricul-
tural adjustment act, which fixed
quotas on both imported and domestic
sugars and provided by processing
tax for payments to growers. This
measure was very successful in its op
Grafton but the decision of the Su-
preme Court invalidating processing
taxes led to its abandonment except
as to its quota provisions.
Improved Bill Sought
The present bill seeks to secure, in an
improved and in constitutional form,
the principal objectives of that act. The
pending bill provides that the Secre-
tary of Agriculture shall each year
estimate the amount of sugar to be
consumed in continental United States.
OF this total estimated amount quota
is fixed by the bill of 1,550,O00 tons
for American produced beet sugar and
100000 tons of American-produce
cane sugar The remainder of the
estimated consumption is divided
among the various offShore sugar
producing areas. To Cuba 1,948, 900
tons; to Hawaii, s8e, 726 tons; to Puerto
Rico, 42,6ll tons, and to the Philip
pine Islands, the amount fixed by the
independence act.
These quotas are figured on basic
estimate fixed in the bill of 6,452,00O
tons. If the consumption is found
to exceed that amount, the excess is
to be spportioned among the various
sugar producing areas. Many details
are incorporated to meet various con-
tingencies which need not now be
considered.
The bill also provides for the levy
Of an excise tax of three-quarters of
a cent per pound on all sugar pro-
duced in or imported into the United
States.
The money raised by this tax will
90 into the Treasury of the United
States. The tax of quarters of
= cent will produce approximately one
hundred million dollars. Of this tax
the sugar producers of the United
States will pay "a per cent.
s20,0OO,000 Donated to Cuba.
It should be noted that under the
tariff act of 1880 the sugar tariff
on Cuban sugar was 2 cents per
pound. This was reduced by the
ones-Costigan act by one-half cent
per pound to offset the processing tax
Of the same amount. When the
processing tax was declared invalid
the tariff which had been reduced be-
cause of it was not restored. There
fore, the pending bill, if adopted, will
but restore in effect that cut in the
tariff, and add an additional tax of
oiIc-quoi tSl VI d. CellI per pOullu.
With view to securing reasonable
payments to the grower, preventing
child labor in sugar fields and op-
pressive wages and hours for workers,
preventing excessive profits to ref1ners
and unfair or extortionate prices to
consumers, the bill provides for con-
ditional benefit payments to sugar
beet and cane growers
The method by which these pay
nnents are to be used to accomplish
these desirable ends is as follows
The bill authorizes the Secretary
of Agriculture to make a payment of
70 cents to the grower for each 100
pounds of sugar produced. These
payments may, however, only be made
to the grower if he has complied with
the following conditions:
/. He must not have permitted
child under IA to work at ALL or child
between II and 16 to work more than
eight hours per day.
2. His employees must have been paid
not less than such minimum wages
and have worked not more than the