| Show THE SUGAR QUESTION DISCUSSED BY HON MILTON H WELLING THE TIM QUESTION IS 18 ONE THAT iian CAUSED AS MUCH COMMENT AS ANY COMMODITY ENTERING INTO THE QUESTION OF OV THE HIGH COST OP OF LIVING VING AND WE QUOTE THE FOLLOWING PROM TIIE THE HON ILION MILTON II 11 WELLING THE democratic MEMBER bims mEn or CONGRESS WIIO IS IN A POSITION TO KNOW THE SUGAR QUESTION VOTER RE READ CAREFULLY WHAT congressman WELLING HAS TO SAY lay F IN REGARD TO THIS QUESTION AND SEE WHO IS TO BLAME POP FOR THE TUE HIGH MOU COST OF SUGAR ih thoro there is ono one subject indies and gentlemen which lies near to the heart of every man and woman in this state sugar has come to he be ing agricultural band and one of the leading manufactured product products of the state our republican friends claim farst that the president ailt was re for forthe the failure to purchase the 1919 20 cuban crop second that cane sugar manufactured in the south was old sold at 17 and is 18 conte cents while beet sugar was required to be sold for from 10 to 12 cente cents I 1 third that the utah companies compan lea were justified in defiance of the law lawo which defiance resulted in a charge of from 20 to 30 cente cents for their sugar in thie this state in answer to these contentions let lot the record speak for itself the food control act became a law augut 10 1917 under authority of thie this act the president caused to be organized a corporation known aa as the sugar equalization board thia this board purchased eed the cuban crop of 1818 1918 19 and under rigid license regulations caused it to be refined and distributed to the consumers at prices around 10 to 11 cents the prices of beet sugar in our state were governed by these prices and so far as I 1 know were loyally and patriotically adhered to by the ugar sugar manufacturers of utah LEVER ACT SAVED MILLIONS no well informed man will deny that between and 41 1 l was saved to the consumers of sugar during 1918 and 1919 by reason of the operation of the lever lover act the lover act provided that the provisions of this act shall cease to be in effect when the existing state of war between the united states and germany shall have been terminated mina ted by the middle of august 1919 the peace treaty had been before the senate for four months it had been approved by the great powers of europe every tight thinking man assumed that it would be promptly approved by america thereby terminating the provisions of the lever act at this time the sugar cron of 1918 19 nas ft as n earing nearing exhaustion and the ther 1919 20 crop was in sight in july 1919 the cuban producers offered their entire crop to the sugar equalization board tt it the government desired to purchase it on august aukust the president recommending that the president recommending the the cuban crop be purchased one member of the board dr sag dissented from this view the president did not reply to this recommendation except to acknowledge its receipt through his secre seere tray A second letter renewing the recommendation was sent to the president by the board on september 20 two days later september 22 the cuban producers withdrew their offer and on the day following september 23 the board notified the president of this withdrawal PRESIDENT IDENT NOT responsible because of this situation tho the president has by his one enemies rales been charged with responsibility tor for the high price of sugar the facts do not justify such a contention on august 8 six days before this matter was presented to the prost dent by the sugar equalization board he be addressed a joint session of congress his address was devoted entirely to the recommendation i of legislation necessary to reduce the cost of living at that time he said let me urge in the first place that the present food control act should be extended both as to the period of time during which it ahall shall remain in operation and ae as to the commodities to te which it shall apply As tt it stands now it ie Is limited in operation to the period of at the war and becomes inoperative upon the formal proc proclamation of ol peace we should formulate a law requiring a federal license and embodying in the license or in the conditions under which it Is to bo be issued specific regulations designed to secure competitive selling and prevent unconscionable profit profits in inthe inline the method of ot market marketing tur this message was delivered dellver od to a coll congress so with nothing to do ite its whole 0 arie legislative program bae has been denounced by ono one of its part partisan izan friends tho the hon james R mann of illinois as chicken feed legislation the was delivered six days before the sugar board over ever consulted tho the president pro eldont regarding tho the cuban crop of 1919 20 CONGRESS TO tho dugar equalization board coupled alth ith their suggestion that tho the cuban crop bo be purchased eed the do roand manol addressed not to the president proal dont but to congress that congress cong roae extend the life of the food control law to a definite dato date guaranteeing their power to sell 11 the crop if it purchased they repeatedly stated that the purchase would cot not be made oven if authorized by the president unless the relief asked for bythe by the president preal dent in his message of august 8 were granted at a senate investigation of this matter late in october 1919 this testimony occurs on page pago 1078 81 8 t senator norris ought not the crop to hare have been bought before this chili f P mr glasow not unless we had that power 0 0 senator do you think wo we would go down there and buy tons of sugar when our power to dispose of it depended on having tho the control when the act might drop any time you gentlemen might ratify or declare peace senator norris As a matter of law the authority existed at that time to buy that mr glasgow yag air ir but bat I 1 think we would have been very culpable if wo we had gone on and exercised tho the power of the sugar board to purchase the cuban crop of sugar unless we knew know congress desired us to continue continuo the control and distribution for the coming year senator norris if it the president had authorized you would you have done it mr glasgow no sir air not until congress congre sg had given us the power and they thought it proper it would come back at last to the discretion of congress as to whether they desired the distribution of sugar continued this testimony clearly lays the blame for the failure to purchase the cuban crop squarely upon a congress wholly political in its activity and evidently evi denty without the power of remedial action or constructive legislation Is the president and the tho board both had rightly demanded such legislation as a condition precedent to continued control of sugar prices in america HIGH PRICES IN LOUISIANA the price of 17 and 18 cents for louisiana sugar has perplexed every honest manin man in utah and yet the explanation is perfectly simple the lever act vaa as a war measure it was drastic and severe ever body admits that its whole aim as applied to food and especially to sugar was to see sea that the tho sugar reached the consumer as cheaply as it could be made plus a reasonable profit if the cost of production over a stated area here or elsewhere differ differed edo the price under the law must differ now what happened louisiana sugar rea reached chei the market before any western beer was offered for salo sale it was the first output of the 1919 20 crop there was a famine at that time in sugar and brokers went ent onto the new orleans exchange and offered from 18 to 25 cents for tho the total crop the Loul louisiana plana crop had suffered from excessive drouth and early frost which makes sugar cane worthless the farmers had raised but 40 per cent of a crop the goutal louisiana crop of 1918 19 was tons the crop of 1919 20 was tons now let me read you farmers it if there are any farmers here the contract of the sugar manufacturer fac with the cane farmer of we south and you farmers who have been battling with sugar contracts here will understand PRODUCERS GET PROFITS refiners refinery Re finers party of the first part agree and bind themselves to pay party for the second part tor for the faithful mance ance of the above written contract the sum of 1 pr per ton of 2000 pounds of cane for each gach cent and fraction thereof of the weekly average price of prime yellow clarified clarl tied sugar as sold on the now orleans sugar market here you have a sliding scale contract which has been in effect there for more than twenty five years what did it mean it meant that the Ince reame in price went direct to tho the farmere farmers who produced the cane jn administering th the 8 lew law the depart ment him to obtain what they considered to a fair price a fair profit upon the product of his farm will any man mail here object to ta uch such an arrangement or condemn it the money did not go to the ilg en ar manufacturer who could refine a light crop with as little expense as a heavy one it went through the manufacturer and reached the pock dock ota eta ot of the farmere farmers whore where it belonged WHAT HAPPENED IN UTAH now what happened in utah when the beat farmer delivered hie his beota beats bo be lost control of his hi product just an tf if it were wheat or wool under hie ble contract ho he was not permitted to havo have any concern about the coat cost of tho the manufactured product the manufacturers manufacture re would see e to that and in thia this state they have soon to it with a Tong vengeance oance according to their own undisputed figures the coat cost of utah idaho sugar never did exceed per bagi under those circumstances the department of justice bald said to these men that they would not consider it profiteering under the lover act to sell at 1060 and later on at 12 per bag the sugar officials eventually disregarded th those a prices entirely and began to sel gelt in n open ot the law sell bell to whom to the very men who had grown the beets to bla his wife and boya boys and girls who bad had tolled tailed in the field by his eldo side to the workman in the factory to his wife and children joining with him in a nevor struggle ag against alnet advancing costs to tv a million of consumers within their own territory whore there every home was a battleground with profiteer profiteers STIFLING A FREE PRESS 88 these interests Into havo sought to subsidize ubil dizo and control the press of utah at the timo ot of this excessive raise when they wore preparing to reach into the pockets of every consumer co in utah they sent this I 1 letter ate tor to every ovary country dapar in the stat after offering an ad UTAH IDAHO SUGAR RUGAR CO salt lake city utah feb fob 25 1920 utah labor now news salt lako city utah gentlemen enclosed herewith copy for display advertisement 3 column 3 in choa ches deep to be run in the next le Is BUO of your paper an per contract for eleven weeks advertising service arranged with you by this company kindly blond rno me two copies of issue carrying our ad and we will bo be pleased to accept your bill for or samo same will aleo also advise that thia this corn com pany 1 is now planning to extend ite its advertising activities and tho the medium we will most naturally choose ie Is the paper that la to friendly and loyal to the sugar industry and our own organization in particular it ie is our intention to read your paper with a view to your editorial and general attitude attl tudo towards us and we trust it will prove such as N s 3 JAMES ES M 0 cox the vory very institution which had capitalized your loyalty and appealed to your defiantly disregards the law itself and levies upon your homes your wives and child ten ren a tax estimated to equal 40 to every home la in the territory they control AN Df IMPROPER PROPER DEFENSE this dis disregard retard for law hag has been justified Justl justi fed because it waa was said other men were breasting brea bre alting lung the he law any criminal in america could be justified if that were a proper defense if it the law was defective it should have been amended or repealed as the president had demanded A republican congress for two years in control after the close of the war did neither 1 the congress did undertake to pass a blanket resolution Te solution making a separate peace with germany and repealing some war laws this shameful desertion of our allies was prevented by the veto of the president of dt the united states the congress said expressly in this resolution of peace that the lever act should remain in full force and effect the republican national platform denounces the administration for failure to prosecute profiteers under the lever act in fact some of the man now under indictment in this state were wore applauding in the gallery at chicado when that declaration was adopted they went bronx that convention by night like nicodemus ot of old to ko beg the department of justice at washington to give them immunity failing in that they denounced the officials wb who are sworn to execute the law and proceed in open viol tiola tion of its letter and its 14 spirit to warrant future bust business nead profitable to us both yours truly utah leoha sugar co I 1 per C byron whitney thie this remarkable appeal was bent sent out to gag tho the press of utah at the very moment the increase in h price w was a s being levied upon the pockets of the people ot of tho the intermountain states for a us usurious arlous price on their product SEEK TO TERRIFY their last or ar cumont gumont has been addressed d to the beet farmers themselves they are asking him to denounce the department of justice for pushing pending prosecutions against officials who have violated the law they seek to terrify the farm er or with ther threat that such much prosecutions will decrease the price of bis his beets this fall the farmers of utah will not permit themselves to be used as aim a smoke screen in this unworthy fashion after years of struggle with these interests the farmer has obtained a fair contract he lie knows that it will bo be fairly treated by his government as was the Lou louisiana latana contract last year he knows the manufacturer in utah has resisted restated his efforts t to il obtain such a contract lo 10 the u ut most WHO SENT SUGAR EAST I 1 now come to a very brief alef discussion of the tho advertisement exten i elvory published by tho the officials of the sugar company asserting that tbell reason for the great advance i in price of sugar was to conserve A I 1 sufficient supply athime at home to meet the local demand they say in this advertis advertisement oen t that thie profiteers were collecting this sugar from retail grocers gro cors assembling it in carload lots and shipping it away from rom the state to stop tho the activity of theao these profiteers tho the price was railed raised I 1 assert now that when tho the general manager of the utah idaho sugar company signed that statement ho he knew know that his own eon son the assistant general manager in connection with one or two other men had bad picked up and ind shipped at least bag bags ot of sugar carloads of pounds each it Is true that three or four carloads of sugar were assembled and shipped by tho the little profiteers who wore were denounced by mr Jl bley but it Is in significant that he overlooked the activity ot his own son who had shipped boutot the state fifty tamos as much as all the little profiteers Oroff tears put together at an average profit as ho says in the advertisement of from five to ten dollari dollar per bag I 1 wonder if senator smoot when he hi Inger inserted tea this advertisement in the can congressional gross tonal record on may 24 know of this transaction as mr nibley knew of it here gentlemen of the convene conven tiofil and hero heto alono alone lies the reason reasor for the draining of thy western mar ket bf utah sugar As |
