The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-31

for instance. tho United States bought b5.e per
cent. OF Cuba's entire exports. or SII,b5l'oVO
out Of $S3.01S.O0O OF this S7I,o3l.Ooo we
gave S60.S3S. 900 for not quite 2.ooO,ooO'ooo
pounds OF sugar. That was an average year
OF prosperity. undisturbed by war and favored
by the free sugar clause OF the Mckinley tarin.
Our receipts last year from Cuba were put
440,225.111 pounds. about une-fourth OF the
normal ante -bellum crop
What the present years receipts OF sugar
from Cuba will he can only be conlecturou'
Tho probability 10 that they will exceed l.OO0,-
000.000 pounds. When the island has fuiy
rehabilitated itself. and something like tho Old
volume OF trade with the United states Is re-
stored. we sha buy not less than 2.OOO.OOo.Ooo
pounds OF sugar annually from CUBA. rms
will leave less than 500, 600 tons to he Imported
from foreign sugar producing countries out
side OF Cuba.
Thus II Cuba Is treated as a dependency OF
the United States and allowed trade privileges
on a footing with other territory acquired as a
result OF the recent war. the United States Will
have become in q year one OF the leading
sugar producing countries OF the world. and
from raising but sixth Of the amount con-
sumed by our people will produce three
fourths Of the sugar tho country requires.
But thore is one big fact which cuts athwart
the whole sugar market. 1t Is the work OF the
worlds supply OF sugar Ia made from beets
Rioh as Cuba is. with soil OF magic fertility.
climate the most favorable on earth. a large
consuming population near at hand and easily
reached by dcep-water traflc. the sugar indus
try on the island has languished and suffered
depression steadily for many years. Ameri-
cans who have been employed to superintend
the large sugar plants on the island uniformly
report that the half has not been told Of Cuba's
fertility and productiveness. There are no
statistics to show the facts. but It Is the COM
mon estimate that not one-tenth Of the avail
able sugar land Of the island 10 or ever has been
under cultivation.
Indeed, 1t is a misnomer to speak OF tho
canefields as cultivated. They are not titled In
the sense known to our agriculture. The wild
growth having been cleared of and burned. q
shoot OF cane is stuck in . little hole In tho
earth. and row after row Of these. quickly
taking the ground to themselves. in o short
time form the field. A field planted in this
way often lasts forty years without replanting.
The owners only expense In the field 10 that Of
the harvest. At the mill he 10 never overtaken
by frost that destroys the sacoharine value Of
his crop. Labor. although not the best. 10
cheap. The strength Of his soil is such that he
can count on from 5000 to 5000 pounds OF
sugar to the acre
Tho man with the hoe. on the other hand.
must have rich land for his beets and to get IL
rotates. fertiliZes with manure from stock and
with chemicals, and rests his field ono year in
three. He has to wait In tho spring for set
tied warm weather; In the fall he has to make
haste and not be caught by the frosts OF his
northern climate Incessent labor 10 required
OF him. and not only himself. but his wife and
daughters. must toll. His field and the factory
to which his beets must 60 are not usually
nn tuatn aui0 md In
product must stand tho charges OF railway
transportation. His beets cannot be turned
into sugar by any machinery which he can buy
with his limited capital 1t takes large
amount OF money to build and operate the
plant that makes his sugar. He is at the mercy
OF the capitalist. except where he can succeed
with the Utopian experiment OF cooperation.
Furthermore. his occupation Is subject to the
ups and downs Of legislative action. for his Is
fostered industry. and throughout Europe its
solvency and profltableness are dependent
upon bounties given by the State to the manu-
facturer. Yet. notwithstanding these many
disadvantages. real and apparent. he is able to
compete In the markets OF the world with sugar
raised by the most favored producers. It is
true he has the pulp returned to him FREQ, and
he rears more cattle now than formerly. Yet
the profit on an acre OF beets is not greatly In
excess OF $20-less than half the Cuban gets
per acre even when he sells his sugar at one
cent pound.
The latest statistics OF the sugar crop-k the
world places the total amount made from cane
at 3.049. POO tons. and that made from beets
at 4.79U.000 tons.
In January. 1897. the British Government
sent royal commission on the Runboat Tai
bot to visit. one after another. the various colo
MES in the British West Indies and inquire
into the causes ofdepression in the sugar in
dustry and to report on the remedies to be
suggested. This commission. consisting OF
Sir Henry Wylle Norman. Sir David Barbour
and Sir Edward Grey. spent four months in
their quest and published a most compendious
and valuable report which is doubtless to- day
the best textbook available to the student OF
the economics OF the sugar industry What
was true OF the British West Indies is likewise
true OF Cuba. II 1t can be conceived the dis
tress has been only more true OF Cuba. from
the fact that she has been excessively taxed by
the mother country without the maintenance
OF law and order In return for tho tribute
levied upon her. The extortions Of the free
hooters who threaten fro on the planters
caneheld and those OF the taxgatherers have
joined their unholy persecution to the plod-
ding competition OF the man with the hoe in
tho beet fields Of Europe. 1t has been the race
Of the hare and the tortoise over again, with
flatiron tied to each OF the hare's hind legs
The report OF the West India Royal Commits
sion sets forth the rise and progress OF tho beet
sugar industry In Europe and shows the cor
responding fall In the price OF the commodity.
Tho raw West India product. that in 1881 sold
at 81 shillings per hundredwei2ht sold in Lon
don in August. 1897. at shillings 3 pence per
hundredweisht. The commission was salts
fled Of the accuracy OF statistics which showed
that for the year 1907 tho British statisti.
cal year is from Sept. ! to Aug. 81 the world s
output OF beet sugar was 4 1850. 900 tons. while
that OF cane was but 2.J24OO0 tons They
made due allowance for the disturbances in
Cuba. but predict that tho United States
would, unless some unforeseen change occurs
in the sugar industry. largely increase it's beet
sugar yield and eventually supply its homo
market. With bounty of pound 10 shillinCs
per ton in Franco and one Of pound 10 shil-
linEs in Germany and Austria. the com mission
urge that serious consideration he given to the
theory OF countervailing duties With new
fields ~ a N la gip i,,s