New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-28
POLITICAL ECON ON Y
BY HORACE GREELEY.
XIV.
PROTECTION ILLUSTRAl ED. SUGAR.
KY.

;ovod az almast every meal by the rich and great,
tbe moor are rarely too poor to buy and use it: in
some crude low form, it forms part OF the daily
diet even of public paupers and imprisoned lelohs'
The widest rudest savage, who never hearu Oh i's
existence till yesterday finds it delicious ana gorees
il with avidity; he will give buhalo-rope OF q
beaver skin for cupfull of 1T rather than Iorego
its enjoyment The liking for Tobacco is ar
tificial acquired partal but that which finds Its
qualification in saccharine flavor is Latura' sponta
neous. and almost. if not quito, universal
Yet such qualification was obtair ID by our Euro
pean ancestors, down to a comparatively recent
period only through the use of Honey. The sugar
Maple was unknown to them prior to the discovery
of America its native land the Cane was stil con-
fined to China Japan, India. and their adJuncts;
whence it was brought westwardby the conquer
ing Saracens and planted not far from the era Oh ING
Norman Copouest in the isles of the Mediterranean
when subjected to their sway; whence it was after
ward diffused by them into Southern Italy and even
Spain yet it was not till after the discovery Oh
America by Columbus that 81 gar-whether the Cans
was found already growing In the tropcsi Isles wo
call West Indies, or soon carried thither ny tho
Spaniards and there found lost congeniai soil
became one of the great staE internauonai Ionf
merce, and was welcomed 70 ables OF the mer-
chant and banker as well as 70 tose of the noble and
king. 81
was chemically extractable from the Beet, Carrot
and other edible roots. was discovered by the Ger
man chemist Margraff in 1747, 10 practical dement,
was realized from that discover until after the close
of the last century. Dr. johnson, in his great
Dictionary of the English language l1755l, defines as
| follows:
SUGAR The native salt hi Sugar;oGne , obtained
by the expression and evaporation OF us Juice
Anything proyerbially sweet; j. chynhcai ur'
capitalization
1t is plain that, broad and even loose as are the
secondary definitions, the great photographer had
no clear conception of the extent to which Sugar
exists in the vegetable products Of the Temperate
"a we'll as in those of the Tropical Zone Ere Noah
| Webster completed the compilation of his still
greater Dictionary three-fourths of century later
the progress of human knowledge had been such as
to enable him to give this far more accurate defni
| ton: $1,000. ,.,,
from certain vegetable products the sugar.Cane
| Maple Beet, Sorghum and the like a. That when
snSap Of Lead that is acetate q Lead 50 called because
it has close resemblance to sugar IN appeasnee, anu
tastes sWeet Figuratively, compliment or nattery EN-
| ployed to disguise or render acceptable something
| obnoxious
| The advance in human knowledge and efficiency
| indicated by q comparison of WebsteTs with john
sons primary definition Of Sugar is the fruit OF half
| a century Of determined stringent Protection.
Margrah, an eminent Prussian chemist, gave to
| the world his discovery of Sugar in the Beet and
kindred roots in a paper read before the Berlin
Academy of Science in 1747, aforesaid, wherein ne
claimed for il great Importance as the basis OF new
and beneficent expansion of European industry. No
practical results were thence deduced however for
generation. MarGaff was in 1913 succeeded in his
efforts by Achard, another Prussan chemist, who
| patiently prosecuted his experiments until he was
ready TO engage in practical Beet culture and manu-
| facture. which he did in 1889, at Caulsdorf near
Berlin he having ere this attracted the attention
| and patronage of that determined Protectionist,
| Frederick the Great, by whose aid he commenced
operations looking to the production OF BeetSugar
Had Frederick lived twenty years longer, the sue
| cessfu production Of Beet Sugar would probably
| have been achieved earlier than it was by nearly
quarter OF a century but he died in 1885, when an
other king arose who knew not Joseph and Achard
was constrained by lack of means to suspend his
| operations for several years.
lie resumed them, however before the close of the
century, and with such that he was encour-
aged TO publish account Of his operations in 1871
followed by letter describing his processes, which
appeared in the AnRdles de Chimie Paris in 1879 !;
wherein he insisted that Sugar might be produced
from the Beet TO any desired extent with present
| advantage and ultimate profit.
| The seed fell on good ground. The victories of
Rodney Hood, Nelson, and their ccmpeers, had
nearly converted the high seas into British lakes.
| In the great wars which followed the French Revo-
| luton of 1859, the flag of France triumphant on
| land, had already been nearly driven from the
oceans. and was n to be wholly excluded there
| FROM Tropical produ" already scarce and dear
| in the French Republic; Trafalgar and British
| Orders in Council" we're soon to render
them still more 80. France, while giving law
| al tI,o 80 uvaaf
ening her coffee only by the gracious permission of
the British oligarchy. The famous Institute in
cited to scrutinize the representations of Achard
| and commission of its most capable members ap-
| pointed by il to examine his processes, verify
his statements and report upon his discoveries and
| their merits.
The experiments thr impelled did not justify the
sanguine expectation hich Achard's letter had ex-
cited Though the juice of the Beet contains the
| average, ten per cen Sugar but one or two per
| cent. could ION larg, scae) be extracted by the
| best machinery and processes yet invented The
Commission reported that Beet Sugar (crude,) which
Achard had reported as costing but 60 centimes per
| kogramme about 81 cents per poundl could not be
produced for less than franc 50 confines per kilo
| gramme, equal to 10 cents per pound.l Two Beet
| Sugar factories established near Paris soon failed,
entaling heavy loss the proprietors, and casting
deep discredit on the industry. Dark days
ceeded for the Sugar business prOspered no better in
| Germany, its cradle, than in France. For time,
France vigorously excluded by British cruisers from
her own colonies and from all places beyond the seas
either did without Sugar paid over fifty cents per
pound for il. Resolute attempts were made to ex-
tract Sugar, or a sem-iQuid equivalent, from the
| Grape; and chemists experimental and sought for
| Sugar in every direction, without achieving any
| note worthy success.
| But France had by this time ruler not easily
| ,l,oI;, t,g,,