The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-04-05
BEET SUGAR.
Will ITS Manufacture i'm Maine Succeed
and If So Will Ii Pay.


| hundred millions dollars worth of raw sugal
imported into the United States in 1876, abou
| seventeen million dollars worth were bee
sugar shipped almost exclusively by steamer,
| from Germany, France and Holland. lima,
| therefore be considered certain that pearlS
every body in the United States has been
| using beet sugar without knowing it. Ir
order to manufacture beet sugar the mos,
essential matter is to have beets. Without
these no beet sugar can be made, and a humble,
of people have predicted the failure of this
industry in Maine, because of their belief that
farmers would not contract for the cultivation
OF beet crops. These timid people can be in
formed that it will be impossible to accept and
work up one half of the beets farmers from
every locality have offered to contract for.
But having settled most effectually the
question regarding the quantity of beets it is
well to say word regarding quality. In
Europe it is fact long settled that the quality
ofthe sugar beet is best in Norway and Sweden
and in Siberia. Russia alone has over i've hun
dred beet sugar factories. In Northern Ger
many, Belgium and Northern France beets are
richer than in Southern Germany, Southern
France or Italy. In Bohemia where apples
and pears will hardly grow beets are far
superior 10 quality to those grown in Hungary
where Indian coru is at home almost as much
as IN the Western states of the American
Union. This proves most conclusvely that the
sugar beet is a product of q cold rather than a
warm climate, and anyone who has still doubt
left we can refer to the official figuree of the
government of the Province of Quebec. We
ind In book of 208 pages published as late as
November 1877 by the Department of Agricul-
tnre and Public Works of that province the
figures obtained by their own chemist attached
to the department. corroborated by analysis
made of Canadian grown beets, in France and
Belgium, also by an eminent German chemist,
DIR. 3aumgarten in Montreal. And all these
authorities agree that Canadian sugar beets are
superior to those grown in France, Hungary
and fully as good as the best German or Rus
sian beet. And why should it not be so?
Sweet corn grown in Maine is almost like
sugar. Our DorLhern maple produces sugar
and syrup, and our sugarbeet cannot be beat.
But why has Portland been singled out as
the place better adapted to start this industry
than any other one? The whole railroad
system in the State of Maine centers in Port
lend, aud SO does our most available water
communication, every part of the State is
easily reached from here, and it is most con-
venlent from every part of the State to ship
the beet crops to Portland. Portland has all
the advantages of large city, and yet has one
OF the most Industrious wOr king populations to
be found anywhere. By oceaa Communication
we have Coal as cheap as it could be wished,
aud. most important of ali, we have number
Of large manufacturing establishments uu-
occupied, which could be used for the manu-
facture OF raw sugar, aud would thus especially
10 winter give employment to many of our
industrious workmen and yield a fair return
on the Investment to their owners. Taking all
these advantages into consideration which
reduce the amount OF money required for the
first establishment to a mere nominal sum
IN holr . ba
Introduce this industry will sn cceed.
The second Question, fully as important as
the first one, asked by our business men is:
VIII 1t pay? Aoy business or industry which
does not pay, which does not yield fair re-
turn on the capital invested in it. is worse than
worthless. 1t takes away from individual aud
material wealth instead of adding to it, and
in view OF the unproductiveness of nearly
every cid business at present. it is but gbt our
public spirited and moneyed men should make
close inquiries before adding another TO the al
ready existing nOn-payIng concerns to squander
their own and their friends money.
Almost every industry when once established
has to lind a market for It's products 1t is Of
ten more difficult to sell goods than to manu-
facture them Not SO with raw sugar, The
only two articles of which, during thu last five
years, the demand has been greater than the
supply, and of which in consequence the mar
ket price has risen, has been raw sugar and
gold. The field for production is almost un-
tAlhApCos ouu Guy ludiIy Will SGl, QO mdCLer
how poor, because refining will make the pure
article without difficulty. 1t has been settled
beyond question that farmers are ready and
even anxious to supply. all the beets which can
be worked, at fair price. 1t has been demon
strated that a number of large establishments
in Portland. well adapted to the business, stand
vacant, inviting occupancy on the most moder-
ate terms. 1t is an undisputed fact that we
export annually one hundred million of dollars
in gold to pay for our raw sugars. The infu.
or. krctv, ~
be bad one if these were retained in the
country aud fair share would wander into the
pockets of our farmers.
But supposing company was formed as pro-
posed, and with all these advantages the pro-
posed beet sugar factory should work without
one cent profit, how would les promoters aud
stockholders fare then? The state of Maine
has offered bounty of $1,000 to the first beet
sugar factory, annually for ten years. This is
sufficient to pay fair rent for one of the many
unoccuped manufacturing establish ments, to
pay regular annual dividend of SIX per cent.
to the stockholders and create a sinking fund
sufficient To return at the expiration of ten
years to the stockholders the full amount of
lhe capital thew invested. Verify if many 9TH
er Industries offered such returns and security,
SO much money would not go begging for safe
Investment or lie idle, because none such can
be found.
In going to the end of suggestions and DOS.
sibllities surprising for some reason difficult to
imagine ana impossible to state, the men who
have grown no and old 10 the beet sugar BUSH
ness, should fail to turn the beets raised BY our
farmers into raw sugar, how then? The beet
sugar factory of Waghaeusel, with a stock
capital of five million reichsmark, belonging
mostly to Rothschilds, is ready and anxious to
make contract for the shipment of dried
beets at $40 gold per ton. 1t requires five tons
of green beets to make one ton of dried, Our
farmers receive $40 per ton for the dried, so it
requires no great mathem atician to find out that
even this would yield a good profit to any con-
pany who entered into If. But it would give to
the world tn funny spectacle of raising beets
in Maine, shipping them via Portland by
steamer tosGermany, seuding them thence 80
miles by railroad to the borders of Switzerland,
manufacturing them into raw sugar with ma
chinery, the best of which is made in America
and then returning via Hamburg to New York
to be refined there, and again shipped to Maine
to be consumed.
What profitable thing that would he for
railroads and steamers. But who would paw
for all this profit, the producer or the con-
sumer? Happily there could be no Disagree
ment on this point because the producer and
consumer would be the same person. But it is
not very likely such will ever AXE place because
American perception is not very slow TO appre-
Crate anything when once demonstrated, and as
there is place for hundreds Of beet sugar factor
les ia America, when once taken hold of the
business can not ba easily ovardona