18 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



seller does the same, usually selecting a differ- 

 ent chemist. The remaining cans are sub- 

 mitted by both buyer and seller to the New 

 York Sugar Trade Laboratory, which is ex- 

 actly what its name implies — -a laboratory 

 established and supported by the trade whose 

 findings a(!t as a check u]:)oii the i>rivate tests 

 ol)tained by buyer and seller. There are thus 

 three separate reports made and a slight varia- 

 tion will nearly always be noted among them. 

 The price is adjusted ])y taking an average of 

 the two reports which are nearest to each 

 other. The polariscopic test consists in meas- 

 uring by means of the polariscope the numlaer 

 of angular degrees through which a solution 

 of the sugar submitted (prepared for examina- 

 tion by standard formula and examined under 

 standard conditions governing light, tempera- 

 ture, etc.) will rotate the plane of polarized 

 light to the right. There is a constant rela- 

 tion between this rotation and the percentage 

 of sucrose in the sugar from which the solu- 

 tion is made. The scale of the instrument is 

 regulated so that its reading indicates the 

 percentage of sucrose in the sample submitted. 

 Thus, sugar 95 degrees polarization is sugar 

 containing 95 per cent of sucrose. The stand- 

 ard for Cuban centrifugal sugar is 96 degrees 

 polarization and for Cuban molasses sugar 

 89 degrees. 



The government has made its own polari- 

 scopic test and the duty, which has already 

 been approximately figured and paid, is ad- 

 justed on the basis of 71-100 of a cent per 

 pound for 75° polarization, plus 26-1000 of a 

 cent for each additional degree. Bearing in 

 mind that these rates are reduced twenty per 

 cent, in the case of Cuban sugar, the duty on 

 96° Cuban sugar is readily ascertained to be 

 1.0048 cents per pound. 



The quoted price on Cuban sugar is always 

 made for 96° test on centrifugal sugar and for 

 89° test on molasses sugar. If the seller has 

 succeeded in delivering a sugar that tests 

 higher, he is allowed an extra rate per degree 

 over and above his sale price. Conversely, if 

 his sugar falls below the standards mentioned, 

 he must accept a reduction of a fixed rate per 

 degree. If the test is lower than 94° on centri- 

 fugal or 84 on molasses sugar, the rate of re- 

 duction per degree becomes greater. It may 

 be appreciated that in figuring both the duty 

 and the ultimate price, the final results may 

 contain many long decimals. These are care- 

 fully carried out, however, even to a point 

 where a difference of one figure at the end 

 would make a difference of only a few dollars 

 on an entire cargo. 



So far only sound or undamaged sugar has 

 been considerd. If by reason of heavy weather 

 any sugar has become damaged by water, the 

 damaged portion is carefully laid aside and is 

 weighed and sampled separately from the 

 good sugar. Sugar, when wet, loses both in 

 weight and test. The weight and test of the 

 sound sugar is taken as representing what the 

 result of the damaged portion would have 

 been had it not been damaged and the differ- 

 ence, involving more intricate calculations 

 and long decimals, is claimed against the in- 



surance company which has insured the cargo. 

 In such case, in calculating the value on the 

 reduced weight and test, an additional reduc- 

 tion of 3-32c. per pound is made. This is due 

 to another trade custom and is intended to 

 reimburse the refiner for the extra cost of 

 refining damaged sugar and the relatively 

 poorer return it makes. 



Sometimes the refinery wharves are con- 

 gested and the sugar is discharged onto light- 

 ers. In addition to requiring the use of 

 bonded lighters the government talhes the 

 bags as they are loaded. The lighters dehver 

 the sugar at the refinery and the same process 

 is observed as if the vessel were discharging 

 there. Sometimes, again, the owner may not 

 be satisfied with the price obtainable or per- 

 haps the refinery may be filled to capacity, in 

 either of which cases recourse is had to bonded 

 warehouse. The vessel proceeds to a wharf 

 near the warehouse and discharges. The duty 

 is ascertained before the sugar is stored, but 

 is not paid until apphcation is made for with- 

 drawal. The govermnent sends its samplers 

 and weighers with portable scales and weighs 

 and samples the sugar on the dock after which 

 it is trucked on small horse trucks to the ware- 

 house, l)eing weighed by the city weigher be- 

 fore going into the store. Sometimes, though 

 not often, the sale is based on the Cuban in- 

 voice weight and the seller is not interested in 

 weighing the sugar. In such cases the refin- 

 ery usually olitains the weight for its own 

 purposes. 



LOUISIANA'S PROTEST ON SUGAR DUTIES 

 WILL BE TAKEN UP 



The State of Louisiana was authorized to 

 bring a suit in the United States Supreme 

 Court to have a construction of the tariff act, 

 as it effects the sugar duties, in a resolution 

 ordered reported favorably from the House 

 Committee on Judiciary. 



The State contends that the duty now being 

 collected by the Secretary of the Treasury is in 

 violation of the reciprocity treaty with Cuba, 

 and that the rate collected on raw sugar should 

 be $1.34 a hundred pounds instead of $1.01. 



The difference in revenue rejjresented by 

 the difference in rate is pointed out by the 

 Louisiana men as aggregating .$15,000,000. 



SUGAR BROKERS NOT TO USE WAR STAMPS 

 The Commissioner of Internal Revenue at 

 Washington has ruled that it is not necessary 

 to affix revenue stamps on the memoranda of 

 sugar sales made by brokers. The commis- 

 sioners holds that no stamp tax under the 

 emergency revenue law is required in cases 

 where the broker is not obligated for the de- 

 livery of the goods or the payment of the bill. 



NEW CANADIAN SUGAR REFINERY 



The Atlantic Sugar Refineries, Ltd., of St. 

 John, X. B., will shortly be in operation. The 

 capacity is one million pounds of refined sugar 

 daily. The machinery and equipment are of 

 the latest type. 



