Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1908-08-19

Il =
for less than from SIS to $Ioo per
acre"
HAS the establishment of the in
dustry in Gratiot county helped IN the
good roads movement"
Most certainly it has. We have
adopted the county road system and
every road that leads out OF Alma or
St Louis is a graveled turnpike for
five or six miles. Other roads have
been built in different parts OF the
county. In this movement the sugar
companies have contributed literally
over and above the amount of their
regular road tax. You see the beet
crop necessitates good roads, as the
yield of an average crop is ten tons
per acre, whereas the yield of wheat,
corn or oat crop is only about half a
ton per acre"
What has been the effect of the
beet industry upon the general busi-
ness of Gratiot county,"
The storekeepers in all of our
towns say that it has helped very ma
| terially in the matter of collections.
They look forward to the monthly pay
roll of the beet factories and depend
upon it as a source from which not
only TO collect their bills, but 10 pay
their bills. Moreover the two factor
les have a combined pay roll of over
100000 yearly. This assists very
materially in making good times at
Alma and St. Louis, and the influence
is felt in all the other towns of the
county | happen to be in a position
to know that the bank deposits in this
county have shown a very marked in
crease in the last few years and that
many Of our farmers have comfortable
deposits in our local banks"
Il Judge you are a thorough friend
OF the Industry"
Indeed / am. | have raised beets
ever since the Alma factory was es-
tablished and have made money every
year ! can see no reason why the
results which have followed the es-
tablishment of the industry in Gratiot
county should not be duplicated in
hundreds of other places in the north
ern and western states. We have the
soil, the climate, the energy, the
brains and the money for producing
in this country all the sugar we con-
sumo.
"The output of beet sugar has in
creased some I,2oo per cent in the last
10 years, but the yield does not yet
equal the demand. 1t seems to me it
would be much wiser policy to raise
our own sugar than to send $Ioo,ooo,-
600 out of the country each year to
pay foreigners for our sugar. For the
past two years Michigan has produced
| CO. r
amount equal to the entire yearly
state consumption. This much has
been virtually saved to the citizens of
this state. Did you ever stop TO think
that when we import sugar and refine
it in this country American labor re-
ceives about half a cent a pound on
the sugar thus refined, whereas If the
sugar is grown in this country Amer
ican labor receives from three and
three-fourths TO four cents for every
pound of sugar produced. It seems 10
! me that il is a better economic prin-
ciple to furnish this work for our own
people than to furnish it for someone
else"
do you think it advisable. then,
to maintain high protective tariff on
sugar"
eyes, from the standpoint of the
farmer, the domestic sugar manu-
facturer and the consumer. The cost
OF raising a crop of beets is about
three times as great as it is for rails
ing a crop Of oats. wheat or corn. The
farmer is, therefore, entitled to a
higher margin of profit. to guard
against partial or total loss of the
crop. There is no other schedule in
the entire tariff that so directly af-
fects the farmer as does the sugar
schedule It's reduction is a direct
blow 10 the farmer and would be re-
sented in this state by the 10000 far
mers engaged in raising beets for the
10 factories in Michigan. From the
standpoint of the sugar manufacturer,
| | can readily see WHY he does not
want the tariff lowered. On the slid
ING scale contract which we now have
he pays us about $50 a ton for our
beets. From this ton Of beets he
makes not 10 exceed 24o pounds of
sugar. He therefore pays us s.. 80 per
hundred pounds for the sugar in the
beet before the process Of manufac-
ture is begun He certainly cannot
compete with tropical sugar, which
can be produced as raw sugar at
| from a cent to cent and half a
Dound. The reason why tropical sugar
can be thus produced at this price is
because, according to government re-
ports. the wage rate paid on cane
plantations in Java. Cuba and the
Philippines is much less than the
wages the Michigan farmer must pay.
remember reading one government
report by the Philippine bureau Of
agriculture, which showed that the
average rate Of wage paid on sugar
plantations in those islands is only 70
cents a day in money and food COM
bned. You cannot expect either the
American manufacturer or the Ameri-
can farmer TO compete against such
wages unless there is a protective
tariff. Moreover. every piece OF ma
chinery which enters in a sugar fac
tory is protected by high tariff. and
every agricultural implement which
we use on the farm is thus protected
Is il fair to ask either the manufac-
turer or the farmer to sell his product
in non-protected market when ev-
erything he buys which enters into
the production OF that commodity is
covered by high tariff"
From the standpoint OF the con-
sumer. a sugar tariff is beneficial. II
you will examine the prices Of the
various necessaries OF life during the
past ten years, you will find that there
has heeo a marked ,ncreaee IN every