Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1902-09-11

-. -, - SsysCSke
The following lsttar from NJ. 8. G.
Jobes, president Of the National Bank
Of Commerce. one 81 Wichita's strong.
est financial institutions, 10 an author.
itative opinion on the beet sugar con-
trovsrsy. Mr.. Jobes has many oppor.
tunities for observations and compare
son, and his reputation for sound
judgment is generally known:
THE beet sugar industry in my
judgment has come to tho United
States to stay; It being peculiarly
adapted to the soil and climatic con.
ditions Of Colorado, New Mexico and
Arizona. We import into this coun.
try every year $l20.Oo0,Oo0 worth Of
raw sugar, and since We have demon.
strated the fact that we can produce
enough sugar Of home without ex-
hausting one one-hundrsdth part Of
our territory thus adapted, to not
only take the place Of our annual i'm
ports but to leave large surplus for
export besides, 1t seems to me that
congress would be criminally negli.
gent not to foster and protect this
home industry.
1.-THE interests Of the sugar trust
are Numerically opposed to those
OF the beet sugar industry, SO far as
the tariff is concerned. The sugar
trust buys Its raw material (raw suy-
ar) from foreign nations, at such times
as they find it most to their advan-
tage to do SO; when they see heavy
crop Of sugar ahead, they hold off,
awaiting the inevitable marketing Of
a large crop. Year after year they
have done this in Louisiana while the
planters have been forced to sell at
prices made practically by the sugar
trust. The idea Of protection that the
sugar trust would like, would be that
Of absolute free raw sugar and as high
tariff on refined sugar as they could
succeed in securing; hence II they
could have raw sugar come In from
Cuba free Of duty or as nearly free as
possible, they would be delighted, as
refined sugar 10 not made in Cuba.
They would in this way secure their
raw material at an absurdly low price
while they would be protected against
importation Of foreign refined sugar
by the existing tariff; in other words
anything that will give the trust
lower price for the raw article with.
out injurying their protection on the
refined article, is very greatly to their
advantage.
The beet sugar manufacturers
want protective tariff on both raw
and refined sugar, as they buy their
raw material from the farmer at a
specified price whenever they make
their contracts for beets. II our gov
eminent had given Cuba any conces-
sion on the tariff, it could and prob
ably would have been used by the
sugar trust to lower the price Of sug-
ar at time Of year when the beet
sugar factories were looking for a
market for their products and there.
fore would tend to destroy the beet
sugar industry without having cost
the trust q cent.
ut is plainly understood why the
house bill was not taken up by the
senate. The house bill would have
taken off the differential to the trust,
and the beet sugar people offered to
have it passed through the senate,
but all the proposed sugar trust and
administration members threw the
matter overheard. II the beet sugar
industry continues to develop for
some years to come, it will grow up
more rapidly than it has in the past.
The trust simply melts raw sugar
which it buys at advantageous oppor.
tunities at very slight cost and turns
| 1t into marketable product for
which it charges the people Of the
United States an enormous sum and
as you know probably, is today pay
ing dividends on $50, 900, 900 Of stock,
$70,OOO,OOO Of which is presumed to
be nothing but water. While the
beet sugar refneries take the beets
from the farmers wagons and in
thirty.six hours turn out standard
graduated sugar, deiyiug competi-
ton, equal to anything made by the
sugar trust.