Speech #750097901

If we were considering purely an academic question the arguments of the Delegate from Puerto Rico and the Delegate from Hawaii would be worthy of some consideration. but when we look at this from the angle which presents itself to us. we cannot escape drawing the conclusion that we have been very. very fair to both Puerto Rico and Hawaii. It must be remembered that they are selling sugar on the American market at nearly double the price they could get on the world market. The only reason they are able to sell their sugar on the American market at nearly double the price they could get for sugar on the world market is that we passed a quota law necessary because our domestic beet- and canesugar producers needed quota protection in order to obtain for them a fair return on the money they have invested. Our producers cannot compete with the producers of Cuba. Puerto Rico. or Hawaii. for the costs of production of our producers are higher than the costs of production in these islands.