The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1865-09-09
For the Pacific Conf Advertiser

tiONOLCLU. september L, 1909
Mr. Editor BY the Syren, just arrived, l have
received a letter from George Gordon, Esq, not
designed for publication, but which, after some
consideration. on account of the interests involved.
I have decided to offer to the public through your
columns, and 1 trust Mr.. Gordon will pardon my
having done SO without first having obtained his
consent. 1t is as follows:
SAN FRANCISCO, August IL, 1865.
S. ". Castle, Esq, Honolulu Dear sir-Permit me to
1t is absolutely demonstrabe that your increased production
OF sugar in the islands must find an outlet in our Refneries
York or London. IL cannot be sold here at any price direct
point in the argument, 1. e., rehners here do not turn out yellow
sugars to keep their machinery at cork. II We could avoid
it we would not make them; but we must make loaf and
crushed, (about II million lbs. yearly0 and to supply that de-
mand, in making this, we have Of necessity to work up the
DRAWINGS of white sugars, which give us u millions yellow
refined. This latter We cannot avoid putting on the market.
making loaf and crushed. Our process is to sell it peremptori-
Iy: 1t commands lc or thereabout over the choicest Honolulu
here duty paid. which entails a sharp loss to planters. We
would buy inferior sugars in bags (end- send the bags back) as
a constant thing at about these rates to any extent short of 20
will pay the island planters very wen for our grade Of sugar
much better than fine sugars at l0tc in halt barrels.
whether we like it or not, viii force their fine sugars down t o a
make and the consumption. 1t viii be difficult to get the
planters to undersi and This except from actual returns Of their
mine will merely prepare the way for that explanation to them.
sa A : alter sniG our | Manila SaGHa % criersHc %ds f for 'l 1000 We toG Gsn pr
month 90 from here to Manila regularly. We dare not dis
with US: and it may well happen Gas indeed it does) that these
plat ers may ship us sugar, or offer to ship, when we cannot
buy because o: our own heavy supplies. We must be advised
ahead.
into grocery and so much into REFINERY grades, the matter
would soon be adjusted.
matters from time to time.
lam, dear sir, yours truly.
We have 10000 kegs of island sugar here now unsold-I
hear however the Bay Refinery have bought up 5000 kegs.
NJ cum ,ia-S on tho Snhiant ca fplIu cta,nI
In my letter of June &c. published in your paper,
that / will not reiterate them here. l do most cor
daily indorse the views Of Mr.. Gordon. and as
fully believe that the interests of the planter not
less than those of the refiner would be promoted
by such an arrangement as the one proposed
by him.
posed arrangement, will not effect the object, for
it will leave the supply so largely in excess of
the demand as to afford little if any relief to a
depressed market, and both refinery and grocery
sugar, of the one or two contracting planters will
have to take their chances in the depressed market
for the grocery sugars will come into competition
with other sugars OF 4 like quality in an OyerstOck-
ed market, and the price the refiner can offer for
the coarse sugar Of the planter must be based upon
the reduced price at which he must sell his grocery
sugars, manufactured from the planters coarse
sugars but if all of the planters will contract with
the reiiners TO manufacture a certain part of their
crops for the refneries, then they will withdraw
Just so much of their orders from other parts, and
it will at least relieve the market of just so much
of the surplus which depresses it, and the relief of
some millions of pounds might restore it to 4
healthy state.
If it be said that independent parties would still
introduce the inferior sugars, forcing them upon the
market. so that the arrangement proposed would
bring no relief, l reply that the sugar being unsalea-
Bile except for refining purposes, would not find a
market. for the refners would be under contraCtto
the planters, and having made provision for a
supply equal TO the demand would not buy, for
their own interest, as so doing would result in
oyerstocking the market and depressing the prices
- 3 ,haSr ,,Dar Hrh5nh r-n,all nHInf n ngl alnnn
them, as they would still have TO adhere to their
contracts at prices fixed in view of a higher mar
ket. so that sugars for refining would not be intro
duced INDEPENDENTLY, because they would not find
a market. 1t is difficultto demonstrate positively
Just what would be most profitable to the planter,
at least 10 his satisfaction, but l will try and illus
trate the two methods as they strike my mind, thai
is of manufacturing as The planters now do. and
also upon the basis proposed, ana in doing this /
take it for granted that the market will be, by the
present process, at least a part of the time, in a
plethoric or depressed state, as the fact is at pre-
sent, and that by the other method it will be kept
in a healthy state, that is the supply not being in
excess of the demand.
In a crop of 800 tons there would be about
400, 900 pounds of first sugars and 200, 900 pounds
of second, or molasses sugar, and through the year
| estimate the average, when the market is fuctuat-
ing. sometimes buoyant and sometimes depressed,
for first sugars, at &C net, and for second sugars at
net, per pound. The result will be for
400 GOO lbs. of first sugars at ec..."..--.-2do0o
20o, 1000 lbs. OF second sugar at oc.-..-------.1O,0OO
Total 900
With n healthy buoyant market, l estimate the
returns for first sugars at nc net, and for second
sugars &c net for the half crop boiled for refining
net. and the increase in quantity of that half
at ten per cent. The result will then be for
100000 lbs first sugars at 7le..-"..~..--..l6o00
100000 lbs second sugar at 6c..."............ 5000
$4,000 lbs for refinery at
$3.50
Deduct the amount realized by the frs: method, $4,000
And you have in favor of the latter. .-~.-....Sl,s5o
This illustration leaves ont the molasses. which
being more in quantity, but inferior in quality, by
the present system, would. probably, be of no
greater value. and leave the results nearly as Stated
IN the examples but by the very limited expert
nent made upon the Kohala Plantation the increase
IN the amount of hard sugar boiled for the refinery,
was about sixteen per cent. after drainage, and ten
per cent. is a very moderate estimate for the in
crease by the method of boiling hard sugars or boil
ing high. Every planter will judge for himself of the
accuracy of my estimates or OF their approxima-
ion TO accuracy, by his own accounts of sales in
seasons when the market is elastic. and when de-
pressed. for most have had this experience.
In the first example the kegs. for 300 tons, at six
to the ton. and at eighty cents each. would
50 $50. In the second the containers at the
anne rates and price for the $50 tons, with bags at
ixteen cents for each 100 lbs, would cost S2,4S0.
making a difference of 1892 in favor Of the latter