Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-01-22
la,lraster fntrllige,lrsr.
MONDAY EVENING, JAN. %. 1888.
Spreckles and his Sugar.

Spreckles and his Sugar.
Claus Spreckles is California gen.
tleman, who provides the people of the
Pacific slope with their sugar. MIR.
Spreckles is a man, consequently, OF
power and of millions. He is remark
able illustration of the great reward that
NAV come to intelligent energy embrac
ing asimple opportunity. This man came
here from Germany in his youth, entirely
without capital. In 1856 he went to
California from Charleston. He has
made his fortune there by controlling
the sugar traffic of the Hawaii Islands
between which country ana our own
there is a free sugar trade. 1t was an
easy thing to see that if Hawaiian was
a good sugar country, and its product
would reach free of duty the neighbor-
ing people of the Pacific slope OF the
limited States, who cannot grow sugar,
It would be a very good enterprise TO
cultivate sugar in Hawaii. Mr.. Spreck'
1es seems to have felt the force OF the
idea and he seems, moreover, to nave
cultivated it for all it is worth. lie
grows sugar on twenty thousand acres
of Hawaii land and controls all that Is
grown there. He has formeda company
to do it, and he controls the company.
His plantations do not grow sugar spoh-
taneously: else other people would have
been as quick rs Mr.. Spreckles to seize
upon his idea. The land needed irrigation,
and Mr.. Spreckles applied what it needed.
Now that he has gained the great fortune
that his sagacity has given him, the
California people who have to buy his
sugar seem to think that they are pay
ing too much for it. 1t is not easy to
see how they are going to get it for less,
since he sells it to them cheaper than
they can buy sugar from the East. The
railroad charge for transportation is as
good as tariff protection to SpreckleS
against Eastern sugar. Or course, II
will not help the consumer to put duty
on Hawaiian sugar. That would injure
Spreckles, but would not help the Cali
fornians Irthey could shake Spreckies
out of the control of Hawaii sugar, or II
they could get lower rate Of transpor-
tatjon of sugar from the East, they
might get cheaper sugar, but at present
neither of these things seems practicable
Mr.. Spreckles is now in Washington
He saws he is not there to influence Con
press to continue our free trade witt
Hawaii, though he admits that it is ;
very good thing for him. Still he de
clares that he can probably continue hi
business though duty should be lait
upon his sugar but that probably woul'
depend on the amount of it. He nigh
be laid out very cold with higher duty
He maintains that it is to the interes
of this country to continue its presen
relations with Hawaii, which for trad
purposes is now part of the Unite
States. Our contiguity to it gives us a
advantage over all other nations, bu
this would be lost if a free interchang
of products was not permitted. n
doubt Mr.. Spreckles is right. He talk
frankly and like All honest man. A
the money he has made has no dOul
been honestly made by his superior S;
gacity and enterprise. If all our ric
men earned their fortunes as fairly W
would have cause for congratulation.
Mr.. Spreckles speaks with franknes
about the king of the Hawaiian Island
which one would think would be embal
RAISING to a man vino has so large bus
ness interests in the country. He say
that Kalakaua is Il good fellow, but
perfect baby, needing q guardian. M
Spreckles seems himself to be doing SON
guardianship duties over the imperii
infant, since he says that he kicked Ii
minister of foreign affairs out of ii
island and put. an end to the schemes {
the Chinese government. Evident
Mr.. Spreckles is a Dutchman wit
Il fairly good opinion of himself. \
doubt it is deserved but it is a que
ton whether King Kalakalia will r
ceive him with a smiling cOuntenan'
next time he goes to Hawaii to loo
after his 10000 acres of sugar. 1t IN;
be that the kicking fashion that NJ
Spreckles inaugurated may return
plague its inventor. Still there is COZ
fort to Spreckles in the thought that
baby can't kick very hard even if he
king.