Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-09
THE OMAHA DAILY BnE.owEDNEsDAY DECEMBER ..

and by far the greatest part OF what VIC con-
| sumo Ia Imported. We pay other countries
| fully $1,000 900 a year for sugar, every
pound Of which ought 10 be produced In
the United states. and, under a iudcouS
policy OF encouragement for the industry,
could he. Nearly every country In Europe
pays a bounty on the domestic production OF
sugar and under the stimulus OF this policy
Germany and France have reached a point
where they not only produce all the sugar
they consume. but are large exporters OF IT,.
As result Of this policy beet sugar Is driv-
ing cane sugar TO the wall, and, unless pre-
ventiye measures are taken will supplant it
altogether. There is sufficient land in the
southern states suited to the production Of
sugar cane to supply tho entire domestic
market and there is also an extensive belt
OF country suited to the growth OF sugar
bCets, Careful experiments show that so far
as temperature alone Is concerned the
sugar beet attainS ts greatest perfection in
zone Of varying width through the center
OF which passes the isothermal line of 20
degrees for the months of June, July and
August. This isothermal line for the United
states begins at the City of New York and
passes up the Hudson river to Albany;
thence, turning westward, 1t runs through
Syracuse and passes in a southwesterly
direction, touching the shore of Lake Erie
near Sandusky, o., turning then in north
westerly direction. 1t passes into Michigan
and reaches its highest point in that state
u'dI LdhsluS, thon, passing IN q southwest
orly direction, 1t enters this state near South
Bend and passes through Michigan City;
then, in northwesterly course, continues
through the cities of Chicago and Madison,
reaching the highest point near st. Paul;
thence westward, through Nebraska South
Dakota, Colorado and New Mexico to Cali
fornia. As sugar beets can be grown sue
cessfully for a distance of 100 miles on each
side of this isothcrmal line 1t is evident that
the beet sugar area in the United States Is
far more extensive than the cane sugar area.
There can be no doubt that moderate
bounty on beet sugar would in a few years
develop a great and profitable industry. That
has been the result in Germany France and
Austria-Hungary, and would doubtless be
here. While the Mckinley law was in opera
tion which allowed a bounty on Eugar
produced in the United States the production
of cane sugar increased from 367 752. BOG
pounds in 1892 to Gil, ,156,922 pounds in 1891
and that of beet sugar from IL 004 ,S3S pounds
in 1892 to 50 519i .296 in 1894. The bounty was
repealed In 1894 and during the last two
years the American sugar industry has made
no appreciable progress, while we continue to
pay at least S100,O zoo, geo a year for fCroign
sugar much Of 1t produced in Germany under
the bounty system. The war in Cuba has
greatly reduced our supply of cane sugar
from that source and made us more depend
ent than ever on European countries for beet
sugar The conditions are not only favorable
but inviting for the adoption of a policy
which will give a new impetus to the manu-
facture of sugar in the United States and lay
the foundation of great and profitable in
dustry. All that is needed is more legisla-
tion, but unfortunately, that is not always
obtainable.