The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1908-08-14
Michigan Produces
Practically All the
Sugar Used in State

is only ABOUT IOur acres, ana the or
binary farmer can take care of his
field Of beets with his regular help.
The result of this is that when the
crop is marketed we receive practic.
ally the entire returns for our own
labor and the use of our land. Since
the establishment of these factories
the rental value of land adapted to
beet culture has increased in our coun-
ty from 81 to So or $40 an acre and the
selling price of the land has prac-
tically doubled. You cannot today buy
good beet land situated within four
or five miles of either factory for less
than from SIS to 500 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 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 a wheat,
corn, or oat crop is only about half a
ton per acre"
"n hat has been the effect of the
beet industry upon the general bust
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 source from which not on
ly to collect their bills, but to 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. l 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"
81 judge you are thorough friend
of the industry"
Indeed / am. l 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 1900 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 100000
600 out of the country each year to
pay foreigners for our sugar. For the
past two years Michigan has produced
$50, 100000 worth of sugar annually, an
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 re-
fine it in this country. American labor
receives about half cent a pound on
the sugar thus refined, whereas if the
sugar is grown in this country Amer
lean labor receives from three and
three-fourths to four cents for every
pound of sugar produced. 1t seems to
me that it is a better economic princi-
pie 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 crop Of beets is about
three times as great as it is for rails
ing crop of oats, wheat or corn. The
farmer is, therefore, entitled to a
hightr 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 direct
blow to the farmer and would be re-
scented in this state by the 10000 far
mers engaged in raising beets for the
16 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 ton for our
beets. From this ton of beets he
makes not to exceed $40 pounds of SUI.
gar, He, therefore pays us $2.3S per
pounds for the sugar in the
beet before the process of manu-
facture is begun. He certainly cannot
with tropical sugar, which
can be produced as raw sugar at
from cent to cent and half a
pound. 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
in Java, Cuba and the
is much less than the
wages the Michigan farmer must pay.
remember reading one government