In most sugar-producing countries the government imposes an import tax on all foreign sugars, in order to obtain revenue to defray governmental expenses and to protect the domestic industry, if any, against competition with other countries in which cost of materials and labor may be lower. Commodities produced in a country naturally add to its development and wealth, and this explains the fostering of the sugar industry by various governments. The United States duty on foreign sugar is at present $1.256 per one hundred pounds of ninety-six-degree raw sugar. On account of our treaties with Cuba, the Cuban planter is allowed a deduction of twenty per cent, and, therefore, pays a duty of $1.0048 per hundred pounds, which, owing to trade conditions, is the duty effective today in the United States. Sugars produced in the insular possessions, Porto Rico and the Philippine islands, are admitted free of duty. In 1898, the Hawaiian islands, through annexation, became a part of the United States, consequently no duty is assessed on sugar or any other Hawaiian product. Every vessel coming into a port of the United States must be entered at the custom house, where a record is kept of the port whence she came and of what her cargo consists. If from a domestic port, she is permitted to discharge her cargo without delay; if from a foreign one, customs officials are immediately sent on board to watch the cargo as it is discharged and supervise the tallying, checking or weighing, according to the class of merchandise. Besides being weighed, sugar is carefully sampled and the percentage of sucrose ascertained by the polariscope, for the customs duty is based upon the purity of the sugar, all raws testing not above seventy-five degrees polarization paying .71 cent per pound and .026 cent per pound for each additional degree. This is equivalent to 1.256 cents per pound for ninety-six-degree sugar. The people of the United States used 4,257,714 short tons of sugar in the year 1915. It was nearly all produced within the United States or in countries enjoying tariff concessions, as follows: SHORT TONS Hawaiian islands (Cane) 570,375, U. S. territory. Louisiana (Cane) 251,740, U. S. territory. Domestic production (Beet) 861,568, U. S. territory. ” ” (Maple) 17,248, U. S. territory. Porto Rico (Cane) 336,347, insular possession. Philippine islands (Cane) 134,626, insular possession. Cuba (Cane) 2,062,594, reciprocity treaty. Foreign sugar (Cane) 23,216, full duty-paying. ---------- 4,257,714