The Washington times., 1909-05-11


or any other man. 1t was a hunger
for the square deal. 1t is not over. 1t
is not we'll begun. Whatever "reac-
ton" gentlemen think they see is a
baexwash in the incoming tide that
must yearly gain upon the shore.
When Senator Carter drew the reso-
luton under which the Department of
Agriculture was to report concerning
the beet sugar industry of the United
States, he drew it according to the old
rules of fraud and deceit and the
crooked deal against which the moral
nature of the people is in revolt. We
have already commented on it. and
shown how he asked for retail prices
knowing that the retail prices of Eul
rope are artifcially raised by excise
taxes. and that the fair thing would
have been to demand the wholesale
prices; that he asked information as
to all the European cities where sugar
has been dear, and for none of them
where IL HAS been cheap; that he left
out Great Britain, where the lowest
prices prevail In short, Senator Car
ter's purpose was to prove case for
American beet sugar, by fair means or
foul
The report, drawn by the depart
mental advance agent for beet sugar
factories, is as unfair and biased as
the resolution. 1t is a distinct disap-
pointment to all lovers of fairness. j.
gives the retail prices of lump sugar
in several cities of Europe other than
those named in the resolution, but IT
emphasizes the original deceit of she
resolution by retaining from mention
ing London or any Swiss city Were
sugar is low. In this whole matter of
comparative prices, the document is a
piece of cheap political bunco.' Some
European nations have much worse
sugar laws than we have, and much
higher prices to the consumer. But
our tariff is added to the price, and is
paid by the consumer to the last farth-
ing. England and Switzerland have for
many years had much cheaper sugar
than we have had. Why conceal this,
if decent politics is to prevailY
Under such sinister influences, none
CT the statements of the report can be
relied upon unless supported by indie
pendent investigation. 1t gives the
prices paid american farmers for the
past three seasons as from $50 per ton
in 1906 to S5.35 in 1908. But in a foot
note we find this to be an estimate"
warranted by the fact that many fac
tories now pay the freight from the
farm, and the freight is added in the
reporti The European reports, with
which these are to be compared, are,
in all cases. the farm prices. Why
scheme to make high showingl Why
not give the real prices at the farm
Why strain to make a case?
This report estimates" the amount
Of capital invested in beet sugar manu-
featuring at 100000. The paper
capitalization is pointediy avoided.
We may give it, however, as about
.SlOO,OOO,OO0. There are sixty-four
plants in the United States. The re
port says that the big plants of the
semi-arid West, with facilities for irri-
CATION, transportation, etc, cost about
a million each. If each of the little
plants of an earlier day be counted at
a million, the entire capitalization
should be only $4,000, OOO-snd no one
could claim as much. As a matter of
fact, the report of Consul Wyndham
gives the cost of a plant with a ca
pacity of 1000 tons a day at little
over s5O0.OOO. The daily slicing ca
pacity of the sixty -four plants of the
country is $4,000 tons. At the cost per
thousand tons per day of capacity
given by Consul Wyndham, the capital
in the plants would total up TO about
$50. 900, O0O-or, say, onethird the
watered stocks. This is about the rate
of water TO sugar in the refining bust
ness. and as the beet sugar business
is in the hands of the Sugar trust, the
methods would be apt to be similar
But why leave us to guess these
things? This is the sort Of assassina-
ton of the truth that generates the
political tempest.
A meteorite weighing twelve tons has