The Forrest City times., 1901-12-27
THE BEET-SUGAR INDUsTn,,
Messrs. oxnard's and Cnttinrs
 on the Subject.

Der l2 last, and as every hous eho,d i- fact, every man, woman and eb;,s .a interested in sugar. it being ona o. ., IS most important articles of dailv t. 'ue our readers will thank us for reproSUs ing this highly-interesting editoriaI'
 The Evening Post bids the beart;... welcome to every American indnst-' that can stand on its own bolton, make its way without leaninp m ,I poor rates. Among these self-sunno.. ing industries, We are glad to knaw :. the production of beet-sugar. A, .n events. it was such two years apo T' publish elsewhere a letter writtar :. 1899, and signed by Mr. Oxnard .rs Mr. Cutting, the chiefs of this indns. try on the eastern side of tbe Rool,. mountains, showing tLat this wac ,l. happy condition of the trade at tka. time. If parties masquerading as haot sugar producers are besieging .h. president and congress at this mo ment, and pretending that they will be ruined if Cuban sugar is admit,sa for six months at half the pressr, rates of duty, their false pretenses ought to be exposed.
 The letter of Messrs. Oxnard and Cutting was probably written for tba purpose of inducing the farmers of tla Mississippi valley To go more largaIv into the cultivation of beets for ,h. sugar factories. This was q laudahla motive for telling the truth and sbow- ing the large profits which awaited both the beet-grower and the mann. facturer if the industry were persevar. ingly and intelligently prosecuted. Tn this end it was pointed out that farm. CTS could clear SG5 per acre by cultiva,. ing beets. and might even make s1oo But in order to assure the culrivator that he would not be exposed to ra. verses by possible changes in the far. if, they proceeded to show that the ip- 1ustrv stood in no need of protection
 The beet-sugar industry. these gen. tlemen say, stands on as firm basis as any business in the country" They point out the fact-a very important one--that their product comes outasa finished article. refined and granulat- ed. II is not, Ike cane-sugar grown in the West India islands. a black and of- fensive paste. which mu.; be carried in wagons to the seaboara ard hence by ships 10 the United States. where. after another handling. t is put through costly refinery, and then shipped hv rail 10 the consumer. who may possibly be in Nebraska. along side beet-sugar factory which turns ont the refined and erauulaled article at one feil swoop. Indeed, the adyan- ta ges of the producer of heet-sugar for supplying the domestic consump- tion are very great We have no doubt that Messrs. OXnard and Cutting are within bounds when they say that sugar can be produced here cheaper than it can be in Europe The req sons for this are that
 ''The sugar industry is. after all. merely ar agricultural one. We can uazersell Eu- rope .n all other crops, and sugar is TO ex- ceptior.'
 IL follows as naturally as the mak .ng of flour from wheat If we can produce wheat cheaper than Europe. then naturally We can produce flour cheaper. as we do.
 But the writers Of the letter do not depend upon a-priori reasoning to prove that they can make sugar at a profit without tariff protection. They point to the fact that under the McKin- ley tariff of 1890 when sugar was free of duty, the price of the article was cents per pound. Yet net profit of B per ton was made by the beet-sugar factories under those conditions, not counting any bounty on the home production of sugar. They boast that they made this profit while working uuGtr absolute free trade. and they have right 10 be proud of this result of their skill and industry. Many beet-sugar factories had been started in bygone years, back in the sixties and seventies of the nine teenih century, and had failed. because the projectors did not understand the business. Since then great progress has been made. both here and abroad, in the cultivation and manipulation of the beet. What was impossible thirty years ago is now entirely feasible. The industry is already on solid and enduring basis. There are faetoriesin the United States, these gentlemen tell us in their letter, capable of using S50,o0o tons of beets per annum at profit of s per ton, and this would make profit of S1,050,000 as an in come to be earned under absolute free trade.
 It must be plain to readers of this letter, signed by the captains of the beet-sugar industry. that the people in Washington who are declaiming against the temporary measure whlch the president of the United States urges for the relief of the Cuban peo' Die are either grossly ignorant of the shoJeet- or are practising gross decep' tlon. The tenable ground for thems to say: Other people are having pro. lection that they do not need, ana therefore We ought to have more than we need" This would be consisteh with the letters of Messrs. 0Xnard ana