Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1897-03-13
SATURDAY, MARCH Is, 1897.
WANTS PROTECTION.

Ii. L. OXnard, president OF the
American Beet Sugar Association,
in his speech before the Ways
and Means Committee of the
House Of Representatives on De-
cember 80, 1896, is reported to
have said:
The present duty on sugar is
not sufficiently protective to devel-
op the industry, aud there is no
encouragement in it for the in
vestmeut of additional capital.
When l appeared before the Ways
and Means Committee on the then
pending Mckinley bill, l made
the prediction that it adequate
protection were given to sugar the
beet sugar industry would make
immense strides within few
years. The very year after the
passage of that bill, three beet
sugar factories were erected. The
fear of the repeal of the Mckinley
law and the present tariff have re-
tarded the investment of further
capital in the development of the
beet sugar industry, which, how
ever, stands ready to embark as
soon as it is satisfied that the
United States intends to carry
ont. not only a fair, but liberal
policy toward domestic sugar.
Further on Mr.. Oxnard gives
an idea of what he means by "a
liberal policy" in the following
words:
1t seems to me that we may
learn something by looking to the
production of sugar abroad. There
is hardly a civilized nation on
earth, except our own, capable of
producing its own sugar that does
not do so, even to little Sweden,
the Argentine Republic, Brazil
and Queensland. Within a very
few years Sweden has come to ex.
port beet sugar. Nations have
been liberal to reach these results.
Even Bulgaria has a duty of four
cents on sugar aud a bounty of
four cents to home producers for
ten years. We should not delude
ourselves with the idea that five
or six States that may be produc-
ing sugar are the only ones inter
ested in the question. On the
contrary the mechanic, the labor
er, the merchant and the farmer
in many States, aside from the
cane and beet belts, are deeply
interested, and especially for ma
chinery, coal, coke, limestone, etc,
and railways would also obtain
greater volume of traffic. And we
have the advantage that we can
start in al a point which it has
taken Germany half a century to
reach
Mr.. Oxnard goes on to repre-
sent the worlds recent increase in
beet sugar production as the differ
ence between 3,G33,G30 tons in
1S9O-9l and 4,323,53O tons in
1886, and to give this further
comparison: "In 1880 two-thirds
of the worlds sugar was from
cane. In 1895 two-thirds of the
worlds supply WAS from the beet"
Moreover, he shows that the do
mestic beet sugar of the United
States had grown from 1000
tons in 1889 to $1,000 tons
in 1896. ave are now
producing" Mr.. Oxnard adds,
"of cane and beet sugar about one
sixth of our home consumption"
Doubtless, if the United States
people were agreeable to such a
thing, and authorized "not only a
fair, but a liberal policy"-say a
protection of ten cents a pound to
beat Bulgaria's combined eight |
cents of duty and bounty-"toward |
domestic sugar" the beet sugar
factors would be a plumed aristo-
cracy all through the beet sugar
belt, which means wherever cab.
bages and onions will grow, But |
where will the cabbage, onion and |
potato farmers get off ? They
will have to pay their share of
the ten cents tribute to our candid |
FriauJ Mr. OvporI