The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1902-01-03

the BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY.
A most important article. riv,.
Messrs. Oxnard's and Cuttings -
on the Beet Sugar industry in I'M
country, appeared on the editorial n.
OF the New York Evening Post Of \.
cember 18th. 1901, and as every hou..
hold in the land is interested In su,.
the article will 5e of universal ~interes
The Evening Post bids the hearts.
welcome to every American indust,I
that can stand on its own bottom Az
make its way without leaning on IN.
poor rates. Among these self-supnor
Ing industries. we are glad to know
a production OF beet sugar. At nj
events, 1t was such two years ago, NJ
publish elsewhere a letter written M
1899. and signed by Mr.. Oxnard az
MI. Cutting. the chiefs of this linda.
try on the eastern side Of the RmLr
Mountains, showing that this was n.
happy condition OF the trade at th,, I
time. Ii parties ~masquerading as be.t
sugar producers are besieging the Pre-.
ioent and Congress at this momeut
and pretending that they will be ruinaa
II Cuban sugar is admitted for Il,
months at half tine present rates NJ
duty, their false pretences ought to h.
exposed.
"The letter Of Messrs. Oxnard anal
Cutting was probably written for ths|
purpose Of inducing the farmers of ths
Mississippi valley to go more ~larsely|
into the cultivation of beets for th.|
sugar factories. This was q laudab,aI
motive for telling the truth and SHOW
ing the large profits which awaited
both the beet-grower and the manufac.I
turer II the industry were perseverins.|
ly and intelligently prosecuted. To THU
end it was pointed out that farmen|
could clear $65 per acre by cultivatins|
beets. and might I'VE make 500. But
in order to assure the c%ultivator thst|
he would not be exposed to reverse
by possible changes in the tariff, they]
proceeded to show that the industyl
stood in no need of protection.
The beet sugar industry, these gen.
tlemen say, stands on as firm a basiaI
as any business in the country" TheJa
point out the fact-a very important
one-that their product out as u
finished article, refined and granulat.
ed. 1t Is not, like ca~ne-sugar grown
in the West India Islands, a black and
offensive paste, which must be carried
In wagons to the seaboard and thence
by ships to the United States, where,
after another handling, it is put
through a costly refinery, and then
shipped by rail to the consumer, who
may possibly be in Nebraska alongside
a beet sugar factory which turns out
the refined and granulated article at
one fell swoop. Indeed, the advan-
tages of the producer of beet sugar for
supplying the domestic consumption
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 reasons for this
are that
odSsAI AAouSlIy IS, dlJeT all,
merely an agricultural one. We can
uDdersell Europe In all other crops,
and sugar is no exception
1T follows as naturally as the max
ing of -four from wheat. II we can
produce wheat cheaper than Europe.
then naturally we can produce -four
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 Mckinley tariff
OF 1890, when sugar was free of duty,
the price Of the article was 4 cents per
pound. Yet a net profit of 50 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 under absolute
free trade, and they have a right to 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
teenth 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 in
dustry is already on q solid and endur-
ing basis. There are factories in the
United States, these gentlemen tell us
in their letter, capable Of using $50, 900
tons of beets per annum at a profit of
So per ton, and this would make q
profit of $1,050. 900 as the income to
be earned under absolute free trade.
1T 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 which
the President Of the United States
urges for the relief Of the Cuban peo-
pie. are either grossly ignorant of the
subject, or are practising gross decep-
ton. The tenable ground for them is
to say: Other people are having pro-
lection that they do not need. and