The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-22
Arithmetic Corrected.

less, or SiSOUUo per year. Sic! .-~
Arithmetic Corrected.
The circular shows on its very face that
it is absurd, and it lays bare the grossest
stupidity. With sugar at cents per pound,
the profit would be Is per cent less or $780,
coo, the circular says Did you ever? Mr..
Oxnard simply takes the % per cent out of
the 81, coo received from Accent sugar. He
forgets altogether that If the price Of sugar
is reduced one-fourth the value Of sugar
produced from ton of beets would also be
reduced oue-fourth-that Is, from $40 to $3.50
leaving only net profit per ton on his own
showing Of so cents, instead of S2.25. The net
profit of 50 cents per ton on 100000 tons with
Scent sugar would therefore only be $4,000
instead Of $4,000 claimed. small error
of $605, 200, which amount Mr.. Oxnard's stock
holders would not get in spite of his cir
cular. -...
Let us by all means bear in mind that this
circular was issued when Mr.. OXnard wanted
more money for his business, for when
man wants more money for his business,
then this business is remunerative beyond de-
scription, the future bright, and the heavens
rose colored. A 80 per cent dividend is moth
ing then. And do not let us forget either that
the sugar trust is the agent, placing this
circular before the public. venture to say,
and any sugar man will bear me out, that MI.
Oxnard was never able to handle beets in
his business at 81 per ton, and he never was
able to transform a ton Of sugar beets into
sugar for So. 1t is all right for him to
tell these things to people, whose capital he
wants, but he does not dare. to-. make such
statements before an audience of sugar men,.
Beets Cost More Now.
However, 1 do not care to discuss the cost
OF sugar beets in 1899, or the cost Of manu-
featuring ton of beets into sugar the same
year. T h u 7 n |, the people OF the
northwest, and the congress OF the United
States want to know the cost of sugar beets
and the cost of manufacture in 1902 AS I
said, Mr. Oxnard never was able to handle
beets In his business at ST per ton. but our
raw material has gone up in price since 1882
New factories have been built beets have
gotten into more active demand, and to-day
you can get no. beets in any part Of the
country, unless you pay s4.S5 per ton at the
factory To thus you must add about Is cents
per ton for handling in the yards of the
mills In other words the total cost of a ton
of beets to-day is IS. and this alone compre-.
bends an advance Of 25 per cent in the cost
of beet sugar production, provided the cost
Of ton of beets was "a in 1879. a..
The cost of labor has also advanced since
1899 In our factory at St. Louis Park, semi
skilled labor is paid about 80 per cent more,
than a couple of years ago; skilled labor Is
paid so per cent and executive labor about
100 per cent more in most instances. Taking
the labor conditions all around it is wholly
conservative estimate to place the average
advance in cost of beet sugar labor at fully
so per cent.
I also venture to say that Mr.. Oxnard never
averaged $50 pounds of sugar from ton or
beets He can tell that to New York people
when he wants money, but not to sugar men.
In no beet sugar factory In the United States
are they able to average more than Z3o POUNDS
of sugar from ton Of beets In good many
factories the average is 225 pounds But let
u.s. ANYWAY fix the average at 23O pounds.
Al Loss at Four. Cents. ....-.
Revising Mr.. Oxnard's unreliable figures
we will now find where the sugar beet In
dustry of the United States will be with
sugar at cents per pound.
Cost Of one ton of beets ....:.;...:.. S4.oo
Cost of Transforming one ton OF beets
{ Total cost of beets and working same. $3.50
Amount realized from sale OF product
of one ton of beets, 23O lbs, at &C.. wv
! Net loss per ton of beets... $3.50
These figures are in no respect exaggerated.
The price for beets is clear. BY only the
most expert operation, under the most ravor-
able conditions, will the extraction OF sugar
| per ton of beets be able to exceed 23G pounds.
/
be reduced q little, but only very little at
! present Under these circumstances there is
| no use Of making figures on Scent sugar.,
The investigation now going on before the
! WAYS and means committee of congress will
| show, that my figures are correct. And yet
| l stand ready to admit, that sugar will be
produced cheaper in the future. The beet
sugar industry in the United States Is yet
| in a state of evolution, improved machinery
is constantly coming on the market, and we
are making continual strides toward cheaper
| ing the cost of manufacture After little
1 while skilled labor will not be at premium
| as now But our greatest assistance will be,
when we learn to make use of our by-prod-
! ucts which we cannot do at present. We are
| vet an infant industry. But we Will develop
as other protected industries in the United
states have developed And until we have
attained q fuller development, we are in need
! - nrotection Even if the people of the
| United States, by removing the tariff on raw
! suear. would get their sugar cent cheaper
ner pound; If the sugar trust would be SO
| accom modating. what of it, The people OF
| +be limited States consume IS pounds OF sugar
ner capita during the year. On the removal
of the duty then my neighbor would make
* cents. But, mind you, for this 30 cents ne
would deprive, thousands of people OF employ
| ment and kill an industry that Is destined
70 give the farmers of the country $40, OOO,-
600 annually. and the laboring men s42,ooo,-
OO0
Most Attractive Calender OF the
Season
r.,