The Sun.
London, England, 1840-07-10 00:00:00

Table showing the ex-duty price of West India Sugar
in" Mincing-lane, and comparing the same against that of
Foreign Sugars:—
Lo
The Gazette of this evening will quote July
tet 10, 1840.
the
average price of British Plantation Muscovado Per Cwt.
Sugar, exclusive of duty, at
The actual quantity of Sugar sold on account of
the importers, in the week ending, the 7th inst., ac-
cording to the returns made upon oath by the West
India Sugar Brokers, in conformity with the Act of Par..
liament, and on which quantity the above price is com-
puted, consisted of 1,690 hhds. 25 trs. and 333 brls.
Foreign Sugars ate this week quality for quality, 325.
per cwt. cheaper than West India Sugar : taking, there-
fore, the prices of the Sugars on the respective plantations,
before charges of any kind accrue on them, we find that five
hundred weight of Foreign free labour Sugar may be
bought with the same amount of money which British
consumers are compelled to pay the West India proprietors
for one. Thus, the average price of West India Sugars
being 565., the charges before shipping them 6s. 6d. per
cwt., and after shipping, prior to the sale, 9a. per cwt.,
together 15s. 6d. per cwt; the value of this kind of Sugar
on the plantation is 40s. 6d. per cwt. The price of Foreign
free labour Sugars, of a quality similar to those from
the West Indies, being 245. per cwt., leaves, as the
value of the Sugar on the plantation, after deducting
the same amount of charges as before, Bs. 6d. per cwt.
This enormous difference of price inflicts an intolerable
grievance upon all the industrious classes of the nation,
and upon those of them who have given up a portion of
their time to the cultivation of fruit in their gardens and
orchards it perpetrates a downright fraud. The instances
arc numerous where the tenants of such grounds calcula-
ted that the sale of their produce will provide the means
for satisfying their landlords; however, to their embarrass-
ment and misery, they • ascertain this year that although
the earth bas yielded abundantly in return for the labour
they have bestowed upon its cultivation, yet that their
harvest is valueleis, because those who usually purchase
and preserve the fruit are deterred from followirg out their
customary avocations by the high price of sugar. To place
hard working people in such a position is actually wicked.
We should be sorry to advocate any proceeding which
would interfere with the revenue of the country ' • but if
some measure is not speedily introduced by which
people may have a good supply of sugar at a cheap rate,
it may be expected that the people will avail themselves
of certain cheap methods of obtaining a sweet from certain
vegetables which are well known. The process may be
successfully car, led on in every village in the kingd,,m at
a small cost, and there will be no want of teachers should
it continue to he profitable. Let the Chancellor of the
Exchequer take warning in time, or he will certainly lose
the hulk of his sugar duties. An army of excisemen
would not suffice to collect them for him, provided each
housekeeper becomes his own sugar-maker. England has
the example of France before it in that respect—the
scheme of procuring sugar from vegetables was ridiculed
when it was proposed there—in fifteen years, however, the
French manufacturers have shown the colonists that their
scheme is an unexeeptionable one, for in 1839 France pro-
duced 80,000 tons of such sugar.