La Junta tribune., 1908-10-03
BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY
Prospers Under Protective Tari6
Legislation.
Democratic Tari6 for Revenue Plan
Would Destroy United States
Sugar Industry.

Wnat 40 the beet sugar growers OF
the United States think OF the Demo-
cratic promise to destroy their industry
II that party should be successful?
That its pledges would, II carried out,
destroy the beet sugar industry nobody
can for a moment doubt. The tariff
plank Of the Democratic platform OF
1908 says: Articles entering into com.
petition with trust controlled products
should be placed upon the free list"
and the sugar retners Of the United
States are among the first group of
business men named by Democratic au-
thorities when they enumerate the
great trusts OF the land. Therefore.
according to their platform-and Mr..
Bryan says in his speech of accept
nnce that platform Is binding upon
n candidate and that Its pledges must
be carried out-sugnr would be one OF
the FIRST articles put upon the free list.
That the effect OF admitting sugar
from all parts of the world free of
duty would be the destruction of the
beet sugar industry In the United
States cannot be doubted. The average
cost per pound OF sugar In the country
from which we import that article has
steadily fallen from between 8 and u
cents per pound in the seventies to less
than . cents per pound In 1902, 1908
and 1901; and in view also of the
steady reduction In freight rates on
the ocean, 1t goes without saying that
the admission OF foreign sugar free of
duty would put the beet sugar producer
of the United States out of business.
Democracy DIsreRnrds Labor.
Cheapness has been, and Is the sole
cry Of the Democratic party In Its
tariff theory. 1t thinks nothing, ap-
parently, of the earning power Of labor
In the United States, whether agricul-
tural labor or otherwise. The Mckin-
ley tariff act authorized the payment
of bounty on sugar produced In the
United States and admitted machinery
for manufacturing beet sugar free of
duty. Prior to 1890, the year of the
enactment of that law. the beet sugar
production Of the country had never
reached 1900 tons. In the very next
year. lS9l-1s92, 1t amounted to over
5000 tons; In 1S02-1s93, to 1900, and
In ls94-ls95 to 10000 tons.
When the Democratic party came
into control in the White House and
Congress 1t promptly repealed the law
which gave bounty on homegrown
sugar. Fortunately, that industry had
attained sufficient strength to be able to
maintain itself during the less than
three years In which the Democratic
tariff was In force, and when the Re
publican party again came into power
and established protective tariff the
beet sugar industry again showed rapid
gains, the production of beet sugar
jumping from over $4,000 tons In 1896
1897, the year of the enactment of the
DIngley law, to 73,0O0 tons in 1899
1900, 1850 tons in 1902 1908, .279, 900
tons in l0O5-19C6, and 432.OOO tons In
l9O6-l9O7.
Thus under the stimulus given by the
Mckinley act In u bounty on beet sugar
and the free importation of machinery
for its production, followed by the pro-
lection granted under the Dinghy act
the beet sugar product of the country
has grown from 1000 tons per annum
to $4,000 tons, and Its value from n
few thousand dollars to between forty
and fifty million dollars II year. The
area In which 1t Is now successfully
produced stretches from New York to
California and the section west of the
Mississippi to-day actually produces
more sugar than 1t consumes, and en-
tIrely from beets.
The United States is the worlds
greatest consumer of sugar. 1t con-
sumes between six and seven billion
pounds of sugar per year, an average
OF over 75 pounds per capita; so that
1t may be truthfully said that the aver
age individual In the United States
consumes more than one-half his own
weight OF sugar every year. This enor
nous quantity of sugar costs at retail
quitting the average price at only .
cents per pound) $33o,00O,0OO a year,
and with the rapid growth In popula-
tion and consumption Of sugar, 1t may
be safely said that the value OF sugar
consumed In the United States will,
during the next decade. average more
than a million dollars day, and even
more than that as the years proceed
md the population grows.
Bright Fsture for Industry.
Can our farmers produce all the
sugar for which our consumers are
now paying and will doubtless continue
to pay in the future an average Of
million dollars q day1 Yes.
What class Of sugar producers will
supply this enormous demand7 Clearly
and unquestionably, the sugar beet
prOwers