, 1875-06-23
THE SUGAR EXPORT BOUNTY
SYSTEM.
(From the Produce Markets ReUiew).
SYSTEM

In the No. 16, of the SWCreT1e Beige will be
found a reply proposed to be sent by the
Council of the Belgian Fabricants to a series
of questions asked by the Minister of Finance,
which was published at length in the previous
number Of the same publication. From this
document it appears that the Raw Sugar
makers of Belgium are altogether opposed to
the renewal of the Convention, and in a spirit
of enlightened self-interest they reject the pro.
lection they enjoy in the following memorable
words -" 1t is in countries which grant boun-
ties that the price of Sugar is generally the
highes'. The taxpayer is thus a double loser
ON the one hand he pays the bounty through
the Treasury, on the other he has to pay more
or his Sugar Bounties have the disastrous
result of creating a fictitious prosperity in the
country which grants them, an artificial state Of
things, which the slightest crisis converts into
ruin, and of rendering the manufacture impOssi-
BILE in countries which co not grant them. Fair
competition is therefore best for all interests"
The Fabricants of France are equally strongly
opposed to the system of export b~Ounties, and
the British, Dutch, and Belgian Refners I'M
reservedIy condemn it. The sole upholders
of the system left are the French Refners, and
though their pertinacity in defending a system
which gives them a large subsidy is compre-
henSible, their success in maintaining it is
not so, for they appear to be not only the
masters of their OWL Government, but to have
the whip hand of the Governments of Great
Britain, Holland, and Belgium rs we'll, while
they treat with contempt the protests of the
Raw Sugar manufacturers and Refners of
Europe and the Tropics. Perhaps the most
surprising thing about the whole matter is the
patience with which the heavily laden French
taX-rayer, at whose expense these marvels
are accomplished, not only pays double what
he would do for his own Sugar, we're the duty
upon it not equal to its bonded value, but
spends 100000 a year in order that Eng
land should buy fractiOnaliy more cheaply.
Were the body of the French nation really
aware of what was being done, the system
could not last, and the recent DeputatiOn from
the Reiners and ColOnists to the Chancellor
of the Exchequer ought to be of great use by
making generally known the vast sums grant
Ell in bounties. The lubricants de Sucre of
this week announces that the French Govern
ment has agreed upon the plan, under which
refining in bond is to be carried out. Our
contemporary is of opinion that the proposed
plan not only departs from what has hitherto
been supposed to be the system of refining in
bond, re that duty should be paid on the
quantities leaving, and not on those enter
ing the Refineries, but also that the proposal
would not prevent frauds.
With regard to Mr.. ". Eathorne Gill's pro-
cess of Sugar manufacture, by which the Cane
juice is clarified by filtration, that gentleman
writes to the Sugar Cane giving an extract
from the following report upon the system
written by Mr.. W.. Bancroft Espeut, of Spring
Garden, Jamaica -" Mr.. Gill'S process is, I
am disposed to think, a perfect success. am
satisfied of two things that all the acid in the
juice can be eliminated without the use of lime,
and that all the resinous, gummy, and colour
ing matters can be removed prior to the appli.
cation of heat. ] think it possible that the
juice can be taken direct from Mr.. Gill's ap-
paratus to a vacuum pan, without lime or other
detecator, but this I am not sure Of" In a COM
munication addressed to ourselves. Mr.. Gill
states &c We see that the valuable osmose
process is doing duty here, for the first time,
on an extensive, practical scale. Here we have
at once the key to the welcome completeness;
for if the viscid albumen, albumenoids &C.,
which are the originators of acidity in cane
juice, were not coagulated Immediately, the
osmose process of filtration would be at once
useless. AS it is, the function of osmose is to
permit the pure crystalloid Sugar to pass on to
evaporation, as is, well known. whilst at the
same time, it presents a sufficient barrier to
the progress of the colloid impurities, such
as starch, which is herethe author of glucose,
and that at a. temperature when success is GER
tain. These are the well.recognised p~eouliari-
ties Of the osmose process of filtration, and are
now employed so as. to secure the confidence
of all WIN ara fa u;Iinr NTH than ~