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SEPTEMBER 22, 1911'
The Commoner.
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How the Sugar Trust Made Six Millions by
Boosting Prices
A special dispatch to the Nashville Tennes
sean: New York, Sept. 9. All grades of re
fined sugar wore advanced ten cents a hundred
pounds today.
This follows closely on the heels of three
other advances since Wednesday, aggregating
45 cents a hundred for three days. The price
quoted to jobbers last, by the sugar trust is
$6.98. The price to retailers is $7.05.
The American Sugar Refining Co., known as
the sugaT trust, has made added profits of ap
proximately $6,000,000 since July 6 when its
11 directors began to steadily increase the price
of sugar. Since that time 19 advances have
been made, aggregating $1.80 a hundred
pounds over the price of $5.18 a hundred on
July 6.
It is a coincidence' that the sugar trust has
recently completed payments to the United
States government of approximately $3,993,486
in fines and restitution for the "drawback"
funds and for acknowledged cheating of the
government by means of crooked scales on
shipping docks. The trust also was put to con
siderable expense in defending criminal actions
Hied by the government against its officials on
fraud charges. The added profits received from
the consumers of sugar in the last two months
will "more than make up these ItemB.
The Increased profits of the trust do not in
clude the profits of the various Independent re
finers whose price has kept pace with trust
prices. When the trust made an increase in
price the Independents invariably followed the
lead and quoted the same advanced prices to
jobbers.
The reason made public by tho trust from its
Wall street offices for the arbitrary advance in
the selling price of sugar is that there is a
shortage of 1,500,000 tons in the beet crop in
Germany, and that the prospect of the Cuban
crop is below the average
The sugar now being sold by tho trust is
cane sugar manufactured from cane bought by
the trust several months ago at low prices. Tho
beet sugar will not reach the market until tho
middle of October, according to a broker for
the trust, who receives tho sugar quotations
daily from tho directors' conference room at
117 Wall street, and prepares a daily bulletin
of trust prices for jobbers.
Sugar sold prldr to July 6, when the prico
was $5.18 a hundred, was made from this
year's cane crop. The sugar now being sold
by the trust Is being made from tho same crop
at no additional expense, according 'to this
broker.
"But tho American Sugar Refining company
must figure ahead on the prico it expects to
have to pay for beets to supply tho demand for
sugar in October after tho cane supply is gone,"
s said the broker. "A largo part of the boots
necessary to supply the demand must come from
Germany. Tho crop there is short, and tho
prices have advanced on the raw material 59
cents since August 19. Sugar could now bo
sold for a much lower price if it was assured
that the coming beet crop would be as largo
as usual."
This apparently shows that the sugar trust is
making immense profits on tho present supply
of sugaT on the theory that It may have to pay
a higher price for tho beet crop to supply the
demand in October. The advanced price, there
fore, is all extra, profit to tho trust, as long as
tho present cane sugar supply lasts.
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Practical Tariff Talks
The iron and steel exports for the past year
furnish some fairly conclusive proof of the
lack of any necessity for the high tariff pro
tection still to be found in that schedule. These
exports amounted to over $230,000,000, or fifty
one millions more than in the .preceding year
and forty-seven millions more than in any pre
ceding year. This increase was distributed
among nearly all of the principle classes of iron
and steel, and included machinery, sewing ma
chines, wire, structural iron and steel, builders'
hardware, tools, typewriters, pipes and fittings,
bars, rods and locomotives. In fact there was
scarcely any iron and steel manufactures that
was unrepresented in this export business. This,
too, has been done, during a year when the ex
port price -which means the price fixed by com
petition in the world's maTkets was on a lower
level than in years.
When the steel and Iron schedule was under
discussion before the committees of congress
having to do with the making of the present
tariff law, Andrew Carnegie, who was in a po
sition to view the matter with impartiality,
since he is no longer directly interested in the
profits arising from tbe business in this coun
try, declared that there was no reason why the
tariff should be retained upon the principal
Items manufactured of iron and steel in America.
He gave as the. reason for this that the manu
facture had been fully developed, that the busi
ness had become standardized, and that the
superior processes employed and tho superior
capabilities of the American workmen were such
that steel could be manufactured cheaper here
tfian anywhere else in the world. This being
true, thero la no excuse, even under the re
publican theory of protection, for the retention
of duties on all of the steel and iron manufac
tures. ' This theory is or perhaps it would be more
accurate to state that it was that protection
was necessary In order to permit the manufac
turing industries to develop to the point where
they could compete with the world. The argu
ment implied that as soon as this was accom
plished the tariff should come off because it
would then be no longer necessary. Later this
theory was amended so as to provide that the
protection should never represent more than
the difference between the cost of production
here and abroad, with, a profit for the manu
facturer added, a reasonable profit. It is a fact
that no one disputes that America leads all the
world In the manufacture of steel and iron.
There are no longer any infant Industries of
that class requiring protection. It ought not
to require any extended argument to prove
that, under the latest test laid down by pro
tectionists, the steel subsidy should be abolished.
When the steel trust and those other manu
facturers who are in price agreement with it
are able to send over 230 millions dollars worth
of their products and sell them at a profit in
the world's markets it Is presumptive evidence
that they need no tariff protection against
foreign rivals who might sell in their home
markets. If they can meet those rivals on a
field so far distant from America, where the
Item of freight and the cost of handling handi
cap them, and undersell them to such a large
extent it becomes quite evident that the tariff
is only a price club for use at home. Hero is
what Mr. Carnegie said not long ago: "The
republic has won supremacy in steel and can
today, even during a temporary world-wide de
pression, send It profitably to eyery free market
In the world in successful competition with all
other manufacturers."
Mr. Carnegie's statement can not be success
fully controverted. Thero are the export figures
to prove that this Is what the steel manufac
turers of America are doing, and increasing
their business abroad each year. If the Ameri
can manufacturer makes his steel at a less cost
than does his foreign competitor, then under
the rule laid down by the republican platform,
as to the measure of protection, he is not en
titled to any protection, since the difference in
costs here and abroad is in his favor and not
against him. There are no Infant industries
in the steel business. Mr. Carnegie is authority
for tho statement that practically all of them
rank higher in mere bigness with foreign manu
facturers. The iron and. steel schedule, it should
also be recalled, is one that Chairman Under
wood didn't want tho democratic house t
meddle with at the recent special session.
C. Q. D.
WATCH IT GROW
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