The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-05
BEETs AND SUGAR IN GERMANY.

From a recent consular report we
are able to give some interesting data
relative to beet production and sugar
making under the bounty system of
Germany compiled from imperial sta
tistics and trade reports. They gain
an additional interest from this cult
waited epidemic of sugar beet cultiva-
ton in this state, nurtured, singularly,
not by the farmers for whose benefit
1T is pretended to be, but as usual in
such cases. by those who would have
the state contribute to the profits Of
their business. Little is said of the
profits that will accrue to the capitalist
who extracts sugar from the beets
through the double bonusing of the
federal tariff of 1875 cents a pound
and all the additional bounty the state
legislature may be wheedled into vot-
ing him.
The average price of sugar in the
campaign, as the sugar season is called,
of 1856, was $2.68 a hundredweight of
1923 pounds, and the entire product
amounted to 1,5S9592 long tons of 2,240
pounds each. The total area under
cultivation was 93O,749 acres, Civ
ing a gross return per acre Of 1926.
The average expense of working the
crop per acre was $4623, while the
average cost of extracting and convert
ing at the factory was $23.SS an acre.
This left a net profit per acre of $22.S4.
This includes neither interest on the
capital in the plant or farm nor taxes,
there laid on both beets and sugar to
provide the money with which to pay
the export bounty on sugar sold abroad.
The yield Of beets was 30.5 long tons
per hectare of 2.471 acres, or Il. 35 tons
to the acre. Nearly one-haIf, 1924 per
cent, of the beets were grown by the
factories, and 56.O6 per cent were bought
of farmers. indicating that the bounty
business here would soon be largely
absorbed by the owners of the factories,
naturally DESTROYS of making for them
selves all there is in the business. The
saccharine contents of the beets were
1918 per cent requiring 1853 cwts. of
beets to make 1 cwt of sugar, and Civ
ing sugar yield per acre of LA tons.
To provide the increased export bounty
the home consumption tax on sugar
was increased in the latest law. from
E2.14 per cwt. to $23S, and the increase
led to large Withdrawals from bonded
warehouses before the tax took effect.
thus raising the apparent home con-
sumption of sugar to 2S.04 pounds
against 1888 pounds per head of popu-
lation the previous year. We are now
witnessing a similar movement in this
country of imports to save the increase
I'm the duties proposed by the Dingley
act, showing that the desire to evade
taxation and make profits is not ex-
clusively American. The internal tax
on sugar, after deducting the bounties
paid exporters, yielded $24, $50, 1913, or an
average per capita tax of AZ cents,
against 80 cents the previous year.
Unless we assume that the German
is much less fond of sweets than are
the people of England or Of the United
States, we find in the comparative con-
sumption in these countries facts that
make 1t doubtful whether this bounty
business is the profitable and desirable
policy it is painted by those who are
urging the state and nation to embark
in it. In England, where no import
tax is put upon sugar, the average per
capita consumption is 73 pounds, cost
ing the consumer 8 cents a pound In
this country, owing to our stupid re-
fusal TO permit Germany, Austria and
France to furnish us our sugar as
cheaply as they are willing to, our
consumption in 1895 was 62 pounds,
costing about 48 cents a pound, or at
retail, from to cents a pound. The
French or German, using about third
of what each person in this country
uses. pays for 1t about double the
price per pound and three times that