St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-10
ST. PAUL. Is CALLED UPON TO. PAY
ITS SHARE of THE
COST.
SUGAR TRUST HAS A CORNER
ON ALL THE SOUTHERN STATES,
SUGAR, AND5 CUBA'S FIELDS
ARE BURNED.
As to the Present Rising Price ON
the Saccharine Inspiration of
Youthful Lives.

If the cranberry pie of 1896 assumes an un-
welcome tartness; if the SUBURBAN taffy proves
thin enough to detain its sociable manipula-
tors far into the mooniit night; if caramels
become as dangerous to the purse as to the
teeth-we cannot blame the sugar trust that
hydra headed monster" whose insdious
cells have enwrapped, with equal fold, the
ample forms of our making, country aunt
and the unyielding waste of her who loves
ourselves alone-and candied cherries Rather
let US remember that patriotism even by
proxy, is virtue of self-sacrifce, and, while
we swear that Cuba shall be free, let us recall
that the revolving Continental sweetened with
nlolasses his stamp-taxed tea. Every corner
grocer, every housewife, knows that the price
OF sugar is going up. The jelly season draws
On apace. yet sugar continues to rise. That
he might learn if hope was justified in linger-
ing within the heart of maid, of matron, or of
eandyman, G o e reporter asked ques-
tlons last night of John H. Allen, the whole
sale grocery merchant.
Sugars going to rise full cent. I think
said Mr. Allen, "and it's all because of the
insurreetion in Cuba. Cubans are just har-
one-third of the usual crop, and the United
States gets three-fourths of it's sugar from
Cuba. Months ago I was told by a man in
New York who got caught on the decline in
coffee that he wished he'd put little more
sugar in his Mocha. He said everything
pointed to an advance in sugar and he Is a
man that has the best information as to the
inside facts of that market I noticed myself
that the various trade and shipping journals
of the East kept recording large purchases of
sugar by the agents of the American trust in
markets rarely patronized before-in Europe
and at various parts of the West Indian isles
NO one read In so many words that the pur-
chases were made by the trust but that goes
without saying. l looked for the first rise
sixty days. ago, and began, to prepare for it,
Day before yesterday the rise began, and on
that day and" yesterday sugar went up three
slxteenthsA of centIa pound That you see
is considerably lesss than 81 a barrel of $50
pounds, but'I think it'll gain cent before it
stops or $3.50 a barrel which is a big thing
for the enormous market of this country. The
trouble is entirely in Cuba The insurgents
can't export their sugar, and the two fac
tlons destroy each others crops
- But the advance will be checked to a con-
siderable extent soon as the duty of one
cent ana an eighth is overcome and it be-
comes profitable to import foreign sugars On
the other hand, the demand on European
sources will undoubtedly stiffen the price
over there, and thesEuropean sugars are not
at all to the taste of the American public
some OF the imported sugar is dirty looking.
Some of 1T has blue tint that suggests a
Chinese laundry Again, I purchased ono oar
load of fine Dutch sugar 1t was made from,
peets, and looked as attractive as any sugar
ever saw. The. samples l tried from II
tasted all right, too, but / was positively six
months getting rid of it. Even the pop mann
lacturers didn't want ftwat any price. But
poor beet sugar is better that no sugar and
the European article will no doubt be sold ex
tensively this season.
Years ago we expected the price of sugar
ike the price of other things, to be governed
py the product and the season. Then we
lelt sure that about this time of the year sIl-
gar was aigood thing to buy. From the latter
part OF May to the END Of October comes the
big demand. Sugar is wanted then for nre-
serves for ice cream for use with fresh
fruits and berries, and the like, and the de-
mand is very heavy. We could always count
on ABOUT one cent pound advance during
the summer.
Now, however, we haven't any opinions
about the market, as a general thing When
simon says thumbs up thumbs go up or the
American Sugar Refneries company knows
the reason why. The company fixes the price
practically in each city. OF course a wholsal-
er could undersell this price if he wanted to.
The trust would not refuse to sell him more
sugar on that account. o, no; the trust isn't
SO arbitrary as that. But it might be six
months before his next order was filled and
the assignee would receipt for the sugar
But, after all, I think the new scheme is
better for everybody. The trust does it's best
to keep down the price of raw sugars the
most of which, as 1 said, come from Cuba and
although 1t would like to keep the refined
grades high, it can only run the price UP SO
far when the protective limit is passed and
foreign sugar comes into the market. And
at present both the wholesaler and the retail
er are enabled to make little profit on their
sugar. Before the days Of the trust every
wholesaler cut prices on staples to get trade
in more profitable articles, and 1 have some
times sold $40O 900 or $500, 900 worth of sugar
barrel. Now the trust allows the retailer aproft
and the wholesaler, too, and the profits on
miscellaneous goods have been so reduced
that if the wholesaler couldn't make money on
staples he may have to retire from business.
Heretofore we have had constant offers
from a hundred or more New Orleans mer-
plantations. This year we never heard from
one of these men. The trust has evidently
been buying everything in sight, for it knows
that sugar for money will be better Eng
lish this year than ever before"
Cuban Resolutions.