The San Francisco call., 1897-07-22
BEET-sUGAR BOON PREDICTEI
Grotoer's PietUs on the Effect of the
N,fc SuOdr Tariff

GrotUer's Tie,Us the Ffect of the
N,tU sugar Tariff
NEW YORK, n. Y, July 21.-Men in.
terested in the beet-sugar industry believe
the new tariff Will boom that industry
and ultimately that all raw sugar and re.
fined consumed in this country will be
produced here This means great profits
to the farmers and the upbuilding of a
great industry. J. ]. Hagerman of Colo
rado Springs. president of the Pecos VAL
ley Railroad Company and of The Pecos
Valley Com pany, the owners OF a large
part of Pecos Valley in New Mexico, IS
stopping at the Manhattan Hotel. Beet
sugar is the chief industry of the valley
and Hagerman is argely interested in it.
He is throughlY familiar with the indus
try in the United States. TO a reporter
he SAID to-day:
81 consiier the conference committee
schedule extremely favorable to the in
dustry. 1t differs from the Senate sched-
ule in the i'm portant point that there is a
specific duty of ninety -ive-one hundredths
of q cent pound on sugar testing rs de-
grees and less, and an additional duty as
the sugar rises in purity. The Senate bill
proposed an sd valorem duty on low-
grade sugar, and it would be impossible
for any domestic producer of sugar to tell
Just what protection be could depend on
having.
Many friends of the beet-sugar in
dustry preferred a bounty TO any more
duty. think this would have been
great mistake. Bountles are obnoxious
to people whose money goes to pay them,
and the bounty would be short lived.
what we want to develop the industry is
a tariff which will last long term of
years and which both capitalist and
farmer can depend on, and l believe the
proposed bill provides for protection of
that character.
MANY people take it for granted that
what is good 1or the sugar trust cannot be
good for domestic producers. 1t would be
impossible 20 make law which would
result in the development of the domestic
industry without also helping the trust,
especially on the large stock OF sugar it
has on hand.
while the proposed law is not, think,
as good for re6ners as the Wilson tariff, il
will give ample protection and induce
them TO try to work harmoniously with
domestic producers. The refiners have an
enormous capital. They do refining on
an immense scale more cheaply than any
beet sugar factory. and they have ma
Chinery for distributing the product. /
think it will be found profita bic for many
beet sugar factories which will be built
to make brown or raw sugar instead of
refined. and sell it to the trust and other
refneries just as they do in Germany and
other parts of Europe. | think he pro-
posed law of such character as to induce
the producer and refiner TO work together
eff the time comes when ali the raw
sugar needed by the refiner is produced in
this country it will be of untold benefit to
farmers, and with our present population
would save the exporting of at least
$lOO 0OO, coo in gold, or its equivalent, an
nually. l do not think the production Of
raw sugar in this country can catch up to
the consumption in twenty wears. By
that time our population will reach at
least loo 000, 900. ana our consumption of
sugar vi be $500, 900 tons year instead
oi 2,OOO 600 tons OF sugar, as 1t now is.
Speaking roughly, that would require
raising 80, 600 600 tons of sugar beets and
probably give the farmers $130000 900
year 1t would require the use of 4000,-
600 acres and enormous amounts of coal,
chemicals, labor and machinery. There
is no reason why the industry should not
be developed, and | look for it to be done
as ra pldly as the business has deveIoped -