236 AGRICULTURAL PRICES AND VALORIZATION 



product of the sales. On September 30, 1909, this committee had 

 in its custody and stored in the following amounts and places: 



New York 1,744,161 



Hamburg 1,766,203 



Havre 1,583,902 



Antwerp 1,080,410 



London 197,790 



Rotterdam 155,191 



Bremen 108,907 



Trieste 109,807 



Marseilles 96,781 



6,843,152 



To market this coffee without disturbing the market was a 

 problem for the Committee. Since several members of the Com- 

 mittee were personally interested in the coffee trade, the higher 

 the price of coffee the greater the profit realized by them there- 

 from. Minutes of the meetings of this Committee show that they 

 were greatly perturbed at times as to the marketing problem. At 

 their first meeting, January 5, 1909, it was determined that not 

 more than 500,000 bags should be sold during 1909, and that at 

 not less than 7.2 cents per pound. At the April 27, 1909, meeting 

 the Committee considered favorably a proposal of the government 

 that an additional export duty be imposed on coffee of 10 per cent, 

 payable in coffee, such coffee to be destroyed under the control 

 of the Committee. Whether such coffee should be burned or 

 dumped in the sea was debated. The government later decided 

 to withdraw this proposal. At the January 5, 1911, meeting of 

 the Committee it was determined that 1,200,000 bags should be 

 sold between the 1st and 30th of April, 1911, and that no more 

 should be sold during the year. The Committee made sales 

 during 1911 as follows: 300,000 bags at 12^ cents; 300,000 bags 

 at 12^ cents. On January 25, 1912, the Committee announced 

 that 400,000 bags had been sold that day in New York at 15 cents 

 a pound. When the World War broke out there were 3,000,000 

 bags in store in Europe. This was promptly seized by the belliger- 

 ents. This closed out the last of the valorized coffee. 



The effects of valorization are viewed in different lights by 

 different persons. Some claim it was an economic and financial 

 success. The facts are a little difficult to unravel. One unforeseen 

 result was a suit in equity brought by the United States Govern- 

 ment against Herman Sielcken and the other members of the 

 bankers' Committee, praying that the valorization scheme with 

 its several " conspiracies, contracts and agreements" be declared 

 violative of the American Anti-trust Act, and that any claims to 

 ownership of said coffee by any member of committee be declared 



