The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-04-02
THE PRICE OF SUGAR.

UnTefned sugar yesterday took its place
on the free list, and the duty. which varies
from to 252 cents, ought to come off the
selling price. If the supply is equal to the
demand the refineries ought to be able to sell
graduated sugar at Ak to AZ cents and
Extra c at "a to 3 cents. We shall see If
they will do SO. Upon their action will de-
pend 10 some extent the quantity of land
which viii be planted in beets in order TO
take advantage OF the tWo-cent bounty voted
by the last Congress.
The situation is complicated by the cir
cnmStance that. within day or two. some
sort of agreement has been concluded be-
tween parties connected with the Sugar
Trust and the Spreckels, who. up to this
time, have been the most active opponents
OF the combine. What the nature of the
agreement is the public are not aware. Mr.
Spreckels admits that an understanding 4"
has been reached, and the belief in the street
is that the Spreckels refneries here and at
Philadelphia have entered into some kind
Of an arrangement with the agents OF the
trust. But nothing is really known in the
matter. The public are left to draw their
own differences from the concert Of action
| which is observed in the proceedings of the
California and American Teineries. They
are making prices cunjointly, and the COM
petition between them, which used to serve
as a guarantee against eXorbitant figures,
has come TO an end
The course OF the sugar market will here
after furnish a lesson in economical science.
Congress repealed the duty on sugar in or
der to cheaper one of the necesSaries OF life.
1t pursued this course notwithstanding the
fact that the removal of The duty on coffee
did not cheaper that commodity, but merely
enabled Brazil to collect the annual income
which the United States relinquiShed. To
the American consumer the price OF coffee
remained the same as it mad been when it
WAS Cd the dutiable list. Ii, now, the price
Of sugar remains the same as it has been up
to to-day, the inference VIII be inevitable
that the repeal of duties on articles of prime
necessity and Of foreign growth will not
necessarily cheapen them to the consumer,
if the country where they are produced or
the manufacturer in this country goes to
work to pick up The tax which Congress has
surrendered. Ii the Sugar Trust, which is
now without rival, and Possesses complete
monopoly of sugar baking, should fail to
reduce the price to the extent Of the duty
repealed, We shall have to conclude that the
repeal did not accomplish its object Of cheap
ening sugar to the consumer.
The question will come closer home TO the
people of the East than to the people Of this
slope. California possesses a bulwark
against eXt0rtion in the matter OF sugar in
her capacity to grow sugar beets. That ca
pacity has not been tested as fully as it
might have been, for two reasons: First, be-
cause the owners Of land suitable for beet
culture have waited to see the effect of free
sugar on the price of the article: and sec
ondly, because, in view Of the danger Of a
repeal of the bounty hereafter, the bonus
was regarded in the light Of trap in which
growers might be caught But neither Of
these reasons will be Of permanent opera
ton. The course If tie sugar market will
soon be determined, and beet-grOwers are
pretty generally concluding that the safest
course Tor them is to omit the bounty from
their calculations. With modern machinery
beet sugar can be produced FROM beets
grown on suitable land in California so as
TO leave a profit, even with prices as low as
those now ruling and without any bounty
at all
One curious effect of the present compli-
cation is that it places in the hands of the
Government the power to influence Ger
many on the provision question, The Uni
ted States import large quantity of refined
sugar every year from Germany; in fact,
this country is the dumping-ground into
which the surplus of each crop which can
neither be sold in England nor consumed at
home is poured. Under the provisions of
the act of the Fifty-first Congress, the Pres
dent may refuse TO allow German sugar to
enter free, which wOuld transfer the bust
ness to Belgium and France. Rather than
lose so important market Germany would
probably be ready to listen to reason on the
subject of pork.