OCR Text |
Show Free Sugar Repeal At last tho way seems clear for tho repeal of tho frco sugar on May 1, 191C, clauso of tho Underwood Tariff Ta-riff bill. Any other courso on the part of Congress would have been nn net of financial sulcldo under tho existing ex-isting economic conditions In the United States. An appreciation of thu situation hns grndunlly been reached by practically all tho members of both houses of Congress and as wo know was reached long ago by tho Secrctnry of tho Treasury as woll ns by President Wilson. Ever since tho llrst mntcrlal chango In tho Bugar Tn-rlfT Tn-rlfT after tho civil war that of 1870, sugar has been tho footbnll of the American sugar refiners and now, after af-ter forty-six j ears of tlmo, a proper appreciation of tho economic relation of sugar tp American flnanco scorns to havo reached Us expression in our national legislature by its repeal of tho frco sugar clauso. During this samo period of tlmo, while our domestic sugar Industry has been fighting constant battle, for Its llfo, ovory effort hnB been mndo by tho leading nations of continental Kurope to foster their own sugar Industries In-dustries nt whatever cost it might require re-quire Tho work wns well dono and now wo find Hint from tho Russian emplro in tho north of Kuropo to tho kingdom of Spnln In tho South, nnd from llttlo Holland in Western Kuropo Kur-opo to tho Austrian empire In tho oast, thoro havo doveloped nlmost contiguous beet Holds, nnd years ngo beet sugar, under tho fostering caro of theso Kuropean nations, becamo tho dominant sugar industry of tho world, oxcocdlng In production tho cano sugar of tho world, although tho latter had behind It nearly a thousand thous-and years of technical and commer cial expcrienco, bucii ns h was. It has taken a great war In Kuropo Kur-opo to convince our American pooplo of tho value of n domestic sugar Industry In-dustry nnd if It does no other good that appreciation of sugar ns a proper prop-er nnd logltlmato crop throughout tho Federal union will bo ono of tho conspicuous con-spicuous benefits that will como to us as tho result of tho great European Euro-pean war, and wo havo Its legal expression ex-pression In tho action of tho Lower Houso of Congress, Thursday, March 1G, somo six weeks before tho Damn clean sword was to havo fallen on tho Industry. Let us render thanks ',c Congress for what it has dono and Is doing In this respect nnd let us hopo that our domestic sugar Industry will now begin a now and prosporous career ca-reer after the sovcro tr!al3 that It has experienced. Loulslnna Planter. |