The record-union., 1897-10-18
THE PROFITS OF THE SUGAR
BEET INDUSTRY.

The Farmers Institute on last Fri
day in Santa Rosa had under considera-
tion the question of the establishment
of beet sugar factory In that city. A
proposition similar to that before the
people in Sacramento had been mootel
at Santa Rosa. and the farmers of the
surrounding country being in attend
ance on the institute, the matter was
taken under advisement.
One of the valuable suggestions of
the occasion was that an association of
local capital should establish the factory
There is common sense of a very high
order in this proposition. The farmer
as the producer of raw material accu-
mulates only that profit which is The
reward Of crude labor. Of the raw ma
terial skill labor produces higher forms
and the opportunity for creating wealth
is tenfold. Whoever sells raw material
sells the opportunity Of creating wealth,
and even worse than this, he becomes
the purchaser Of his own raw material
when he consumes the forms into which
they have been manufactured and pays
very large premium for the skilled
labor which has been expended there
on.
The beet sugar industry is in its in
fancy, and, as suggested at the Farm
ers' Institute at Santa Rosa, now is an
opportune time to form associations of
local capital for working the beets into
sugar
When the beets are grown and pro-
duced at the factory, all the risk of the
undertaking has been incurred-the risk
Of short crop, of drouth, of incompat-
iole soil, Of percentage of saccharine
to be found in the product, and thus
when all these risks have been incurred
the beets are sold on the basis of a raw
material value. When beets contain
ing satisfactory degree of saccharine
are delivered at the factory, there is
no risk in the extraction of the saccha-
rfne and its conversion into crystal
lized sugar.
The agricultural feature of this part
nership carries the risk and receives
the smallest share of the profits. There
is no gainsaying these propositions. The
beet sugar enterprise as proposed here
is worthy Of consideration. We would
1nterpose no word of encouragement,
but when all has been said which may
be said in favor OF the proposition. il
still remains true that an association
Of farmers would find in the rising beet
sugar industry a splendid opportunity
to share in that higher profit which
belongs more largely to the manufac-
ture Of raw materials into higher forms.
Agriculture viii remain an unprofit-
able industry so long as the owner and
cultivator of the soil simply produces
raw materials and sells them, and with
that sale sells the opportunity of ex-
pending higher skill upon them. he
country that sells raw-hide sells the
opportunity to make leather, and the
country that sells leather sells the ma
- AOOL-WC ear
Whoever sells iron remains a serf, while
he who takes iron ore and carries it to
the ultimate forms in which it becomes
useful in all departments of mechanics
becomes opulent If farmers can be
induced to furnish beets containing a
satisfactory degree of saccharine at the
factory, it ought TO be easy to find peo-
pie TO extract from those beets the
erystallized sugar. Of this subdivision
of one industry into the production OF
the raw material and the ultimate crea-
ton Of the higher form, the latter in
ours by far the smaller risk. The farm
er employs the capital invested in his
land and the capital invested in his la
Dor when he produces beets. and the
capital so employed isa greater risk than
the capital employed in the manufac-
ture of the beets. In brief. the proft-
able end of the undertaking belongs To
the beet sugar factory. and not TO the
land owner nor the cultivator Of the
soil
Cooperation of capital is what is