Los Angeles herald. [volume] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1890-1893, 1891-10-07
ANOTHER BERT-suGAR PROPOSITION.

ANOTHER BBRT-SuGAR PROPOSITION.
We are glad to see disposition on the |
part of our landowners and practical |
farmers to earnestly discuss the sugar
beet question. The success of the |
Chino experiment divests the PROPOSE
ton of all chances of failure. Our soil |
will produce the beets, and it is only a |
question of inducing capital to put up
the factories. At the meeting of the
farmers OF Cahuenga Monday night, the
subject was intelligently discussed.
There is no question of the adaptability
of the soil there to sugar-beet culture,
for it has been extensively tried with
satisfactory results. There is land
enough in the vicinity of Cahuenga to
supply half dozen factories with beets.
If one factory is started successfully on
the cooperative plan, it will be fol-
lowed by others. That the initial
factory will be started, we have good
reasons for affirming, for capitalist
has GENE forward who offers to furnish
the money to put up a sugar mill on
plan that is perfectly practicable. The
committee appointed at that meeting
are now giving their earnest attention
to this offer, and we shall doubtless hear
something definite at the next meeting,
It lie not only the producers who are
interested in the expansion of this
sugar-beet industry, but the consumers
as well. If we increase the number OF
our sugar beet factories, it will be i'm
possible for the combination that now
exists between the great San Francisco
sugar kings and the overland railroads
to maintain the price of sugar on this
coast at SO cents per pound sgainst 4
cents in the Atlantic cities. The con-
sumers here will be enabled to realize at
least some benefit from the bounty when
we are producing sugar in the large
quantities of which our locality is
capable.
In other columns we prints commu-
nicatiOn on the subject of starting a
refinery in this city. The writer seems
to know what he is talking about. and
shows that he can import raw sugar here
and refneit, supplying it to the trade
for 'cents per pound or perhaps less.
The Spreekels combination fixes the
price which the wholesalers must exact
from the trade at 63s cents per pound.
The retailers are left without a living
margin, but the combine have profit
ofover2sS cents per pound, less the per-
centage they allow the wholesalers. 1t
is outrageous that the people on this
coast should be subjected to SO
shameful process OF robbery. A
considerable proportion OF the sugar fur
nished to the trade by this Spreckels
combine" is moreover manufactured
iron beets at the Watsonville and Al
varado factories, and upon all this they
receive the bounty in addition, or total
ef636 cents per pound. They are there
fore cutting the people both ways. They
force them to pay 23s cents directly
more per pound than fair rate for the
sugar, and then indirectly to pay them
the government bounty of cents per
pound. That is frying the fat out of the
people at most outrageous rate.
Our correspondent proposes to
put up a refinery here that will
turn out enough refined from
raw sugar to supply the consump-
ton of our city, and guarantee to sell it
to the trade at 4 cents per pound; but
to secure himself against being swamped
by the trust, which would sell at a loss in
order to crush him out, he will exact time
contracts from his customers to buy
from him at the rate mentioned. If this
proposition should be carried out the
sugar combination would have to come
down. But even in the failure of this
scheme to materialize, the prospect of
the establishment of number of beet
sugar factories will inevitably have the
effect to bring down prices to level
with those that prevail In other parts Of
the-country.