Three-Cent Sugar
9 ~ THE COMMONWEAL May 29 , 1929 surely inspired by the cold blue memory of just such a spring as this: "The winds . .. have sucked up from the sea contagious fogs"; "The nine men's morris is...
...The other important aspect of his resolution is sociological...
...Obviously this is so...
...It is not, then, a question of preserving the market for our domestic producers...
...Frear that this will stimulate island production, especially when we remem- ber that under the somewhat less favorable markets of the past six years, free sugar imports from the Philippines have increased about 14o percent, and those from Hawaii and Porto Rico from 75 to 80 percent...
...Higher tariff on dutiable sugar means a greater profit for the island producers, and it is not difficult to agree with Mr...
...THE RASKOB PLAN M EN of great wealth, and men whose highly developed intellects and extraordinary energies have been devoted to the service of wealth-producing organizations, have of late been turning their atten- tion toward certain fundamental social problems con- nected with the present era of enormous industrial expansion...
...dren as young as six are frequently seen working in the fields, Mr...
...with the provision that both capital and income are to be spent within twenty-five years, so that the children of this generation may derive the full benefit of his gift, and also for the more important reason that he believes each generation should be left as free as possible to deal with its own problems without being handicapped by methods inherited from the past...
...It needs no commentary...
...Frear proposes to keep the tariff at its present level, which will save consumers about $240,000,000, according to his esti- mates, and to pay the domestic mills a bounty of $.02 for each pound of sugar they produce, which would cost the treasury about $35,000,000...
...In one Sunday newspaper we have the spectacle of Mr...
...But it is at least strange that in all his remarks, which fill many pages of the Record, he has not seen fit to add to his case with citations from his own state...
...9 ~ THE COMMONWEAL May 29 , 1929 surely inspired by the cold blue memory of just such a spring as this: "The winds . .. have sucked up from the sea contagious fogs...
...his argument being opposed by Mr...
...It happens that 85 percent of the sugar con-sumed here is imported, and no matter how high the tariff might be set, we should continue to import...
...These and many similar events are being taken by the press as proofs that the possessors of wealth are more and more realizing the tremendous responsibility of stewardship that rests upon them...
...Just how widespread is the practice of employing children in the beet fields may be realized from a glance at the results of recent investigations, notably those reported by the Department of Labor, and at some correspondence on the subject in the Survey...
...There is a clause which reserves the bounty payments to companies prohibiting child labor...
...The totally avaricious and selfish rich man--or the one who, though well aware of the truth, made vivid in the homely old saying that "shrouds have no pockets," nevertheless leaves all that he has amassed to his own family alone--is no longer the typical rich man...
...Frear of Wisconsin calling for a bounty on sugar produced within the United States, is worthy of more consideration than it is likely to receive, either from Congress or from the press...
...Further, approximately 33 percent of our imported sugar comes from our island possessions duty free...
...Frear has made frequent and effective reference...
...It is true, of course, that Wisconsin has already advanced one step in the proper direction...
...To conditions in Colorado and Michigan, where chil...
...A law which has been in effect these past four years declares: "Children under fourteen years of age must not be permitted to work in sugar-beet fields more than eight hours in any day, nor more than forty-eight hours in any week, nor before 7 a. m., nor after 7 P. m. "Children under fourteen years of age who have not finished the eighth grade in school must not be permitted to work in sugar-beet fields during school hours when the school in the district in which they are living is in session...
...It is a condition that has existed pretty generally among a perhaps larger minority of wealthy people than is generally sup- posed...
...Paul D. Cravath, eminent corpora- tion lawyer, intimately associated with many of the greatest exemplars of big business, presenting a strong argument to prove that big business itself is a menace...
...First of all, it raises the question as to whether the proposed three-cent rate on sugar may properly be considered a protective tariff...
...Edward A. Filene, who sees in big business the most practical and benefi- cial way out of our most serious social problems...
...The nine men's morris is filled up with mud...
...C. Harold Smith, is offering a prize of $I,OOO to the person who will tell him how he may spend $IO,OOO,OOO in a way to do the most public good...
...So Mr...
...Senator James Couzens has just put aside $Io,ooo,ooo for the benefit of the children of his home state, Michigan...
...Thus the indus- try would be aided, and substantial economies effected...
...Generally speaking, however, even while the mod...
...Island competition might not hurt the big domestic producers, but it would certainly be disas- trous to the smaller mills which are, after all, the ones really in need of help...
...But no more such MaysI May quothal May indeedl THREE-CENT SUGAR I N TWO respects the resolution introduced by Mr...
...and more especially, "The moon . . . pale in her anger, washes all the air, that rheumatic diseases do abound...
...Perhaps, then, these thirty- one days of acute discomfort have been worth it, if they have thus brought us, a race nourished on per- petual sunlight, to even this brief understanding of what that great immortal smilingly endured...
...One must suffer, it is certain, not only to be beautiful but also to hold com- munion with the great...
...Nor is it something entirely new...
...In another newspaper a multimillionaire, Mr...
Vol. 10 • May 1929 • No. 4
