The Idaho scimitar. [volume] (Boise, Idaho) 1907-1908, 1907-11-09

Islands Of the 100000 tons-these are long tons
2240 pounds-abou 100000 tons were from the sugar
beet
We have about reached the limit of our cane sugar
production and only commenced the beet sugar.
The cane thrives in tropical countries Our South
States cannot compete with the tropical cane
raisers, and Hawaii and Porto Rico have about ex-
hausted their sugar land which is at all available.
Beet sugar production is new in the arid belt. 1t
has been proved concusively that irrigated land
produces beets to the than other land, and
the beets contain saccharine. In 1904 the
beet sugar production about 100000 tons, in 1906
about O000 and nearly all this increase was in
the Northwest.
There are about sixty-fve factories (sugar beet)
in the United States Colorado leads all the States
in number Of factories and output of sugar, but
California Utah, IDAHO Oregon, Washington Mon
tana and Wyoming all have plants. The land and
water, the climate and people, the capital and de-
sire are here supply the United States the sugar
it
Beet sugar cannot compete with Philippine sugar,
however. Java furnishes complete proof of that
About 100000 tons of sugar is produced by
the Javanese annually, the yielding about four
tons of sugar to the Last year Java furnished
the United States 100000 tons of sugar, paying the
full duty of $1.6S ton Java was the only country
able to pay the full duty.
There is more sugar land ten times over in the
Philippines, equally rich and adaptable for rails
ing, the labor is abundant and just as cheap.
Climatic conditions are similar.
Holland owns the Island of Java, but refuses to
put her people in competition with the colony She
places high duty against Java sugar, and raises
enough beet sugar export after supplying her
wants. Holland does not purchase sugar from Java.
In fact all the European countries, including Great
Britain, collect full duty the sugar imported from
their colonies.
The cold fact is that free sugar and tobacco from
the Philippines the exploiting of that country
for the sole benefit of our capitalists
Presumably the sugar trust does not want this
legislation. 1t could not meet the competition Either
it other aggregations of capital would take pos
session of the fields, acquire immense tracts
of land, as they invited to under the proposed
legislation erect their plants, make their contracts
with the natives employ either the cheap Filipino
labor the nearby Japanese Chinese all three
and produce their sugar cheaply it is produced
in Java, and much cheaper than it can be produced
in Cuba
The only which is made to the statement
Of the almost unlimited possibilities of sugar pro-
uction in the Philippines is, the Filpnos will not
do the work. and there is danger of much in
crease in production" That is true under present
and may remain true if conditions
not changed, but would not the advent of American
capital and methods and energy produce trans
formation there it has everywhere else?
If increased production will not follow the passage
If legislation giving free access to Filipino sugar
md tobacco to the markets of the United States
What sense is there in the legislation?
Is it to fool the Filipino by making him believe
We are giving him something, when, matter
# fact, we know it is nothing but gold brick?