Evening star., 1899-03-22
THE SUGAR QUESTION
Special Agent Saylor's Investigations
in Porto Rico.
Low COST OF PRODUCTION
Treasury Officials Considering the
Revenue Problem.
DUTY TO BE RETAINED

Treasury officials are much interested in
the report which C. F. Saylor, the special
agent of the Agricultural Department to
investigate the sugar question, brings back
from Porto Rico. where he was sent on a
special investigation by Secretary Wilson
to determine the relation of the sugar in
dustry there to the beet sugar industry
here.
Mr.. Saylor does not discuss the political
or revenue side of the affair; this is out
side of his province, but the treasury Off
cials interested in the future revenue stu
alton, take from his findings of fact some
positive conclusions TO the revenue situ-
alton in this particular. For example, Mr..
Saylor finds that the Porto Rlcan can
raise sugar for = cents pound OF the
same standard that it will cost the beet
producers of this country 3I-4 cents a
pound to manufacture. This means ac-
cording to treasury officials. that the tariff
wall OF the L nlIeu States nust De retained
against the producJs OF these tropical Is
iands, or the beet sugar industry of this
country is dooms d. Porto Rico in itself
would not do this since ii supplies only
about per cent of The sugar consump-
ton of this country, ana under most favor
able circumstances could supply only about
5lg per cent, but the situation is essentially
the same in regard TO Cuba and the Philip
pines, islands whose products are and could
be made so large as TO determine the ruling
price of sugar in the United States.
Diet of the Laborers.
Mr.. Saylor discusses the reasons for the
low price of sugar production in Porto Rico.
He finds the wages of labor distressingly
low, and what is back of that, the cost OF
living. Five cents a day is large price
for the food of a Porto Rican laborer. The
big sugar factories. which feed their own
oh.
count but seven cents a day per man for
food, and they give a much more subs,an-
tial and nourishing diet than the ordinary
laborer of that country gets in his own
home. The ordinary food OF the Porto
Rican is this: In the morning he eats
piece of bread and what is called coffee.
At u he takes breakfast which consists
of coffee, piece of bread, some tuba Gike
our potato), which is mos~g starch, and
some bean soup. This soup is the only nu-
tritious part of the meal. Mr.. Saylor says
he has never seen them eat meat except as
particles in their soup. The night meal is
the same as this breakfast To this .nsuffi-
cient diet he attributes much OF the lneffi-
cheney of the Porto Rican laborer. 1t is
commonly computed that the laborer in the
beet sugar region of this country is worth
three Porto Ricans, but Mr.. Saylor believes
that if the laboring man of the United
States had no better food TO eat ard lived
in that country he would not be much bet
ter than the Porto Rican.
Disparity In Cost of Production.
The disparity in cost of sugar production
there and in this country will lessen, Mr..
Saylor thinks, as time goes on. AS the is
land becomes Americanized the tastes and
wants of the laboring population will in
crease, and with this will go demand for
higher wages. While the price of sugar In
consequence will go up there, IL is likely to
go down here on account of the increasing
ly profitable use to which the bye-products
of the sugar beet factories will be put
These two changes, however, are in the
nature of iong-6istance effects, and what
the treasury is now looking at is the i'm
mediate revenue problem involved. The Off
cials see no way of maintaining our grow
ing beet sugar industries except by the re-
tention of the duty against sugar from the
tropical islands, including those in our own
possession.