The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-04-18
THE LOCAL SUGAR TRUST.

terdav morning through the Smoot ol
m gan its claims with respect to the show
20 ing that The Tribune made on TIN
10 question on sunday last, In that SHOW
% ing. We stated that the testimony give
bv the Utah sugar men in Washington
where they claimed that free import
II OF sugar would DESTROY the local snga
industry. was undoubtedly based upo
the conditions created l;y the loca
: sugar trust through The cuorncusl'
c padded issues of stock. We stated, a
in excess OF any actual valuation II
the sugar plants. and that the over
issue Of stock has been made for thu
purpose of Keeping down tho dividend
rate. so that il would not seem 10 be
excessive. On that showing VIC based
the proposition that The abolition OF
tho sugar duty would by no means Kill
the sugar production in this region, but
would merely somewhat curtail the
trust S profits; and since these profits
arc excessive. there would be no real
harm done 10 the local sugar industry.
pretty stiff profit would he made in
place of the enormous gains now made,
on the basis of tho actual value of the
plants and On the money really in
vested
The answer made in behalf of the
Sugar Trust in the Smoot organ yes.
terday morning proceeds on tho same
| ,,.h, r,iI, h,
the Utah men who testified in Wash
ington. viz. that sugar making would
be destroyed by the abolition of the su-
gar duty, but since that is the very
matter at issue, the destruction is not
TO be assumed. On the contrary, the per.
mancnce of the industry is TO be as
sumcd. for the enoromusly inflated
stock issues should of right be called
IN and a fair Issue made upon the real
valuation Of the plants. With this
done. there would be ample profit left
in the manufacture of beet sugar here
at $3.50 per hundred. as stated by us
heretofore
We have the expert figures Of n
large beet sugar factory, on basis of
Sis per ton for beois. Those figures
show that the factory referred to can
protitably make sugar and sell it at So
per hundred. In this region, however,
the beet raiser is paid something less
than 50 a ton on the average for his
beets; so that il is a matter of easy
computation to see that sugar can be |
DO hor nd
and that it ought to be sold for $3.50 Or
less TO the local consumers. Mr.. Spreck- |
els says that beet sugar can be made |
for 81 a hundred The insistence all |
through that the enormously in.
flated valuations that are car
ricd in the stock issues must be
maintained, is one Of the bits Of OBJ
stinacv in all this discussion that is ex-
to the public. And this
is shown in the statement
made IN the Smoot organ that if the
sugar tariff is abolished, the purpose of
the local sugar trust is TO reduce the
price of sugar beets to $3.50 per ton to
those who raise them, 1t is Justly stat
ed that at $3.50 por ton it would not
pay the farmers to raise sugar beets:
but why thus begin at the bottom in
costY Why not do the fair
thing by the beet raisers and by tho
public. in curtaihng the stocl, issues,
so that the outstanding stock would
correspond in some rational degree
with the value Of the plants and Of the
money investedi That is the place to
begin, and with the abolition Of the
sugar duty. that is where the reduction
must begin. 1t is absolutely fair that
1t should begin at that point, for those
inflated stock issues have provided
very great surplus returns. 1t is, of
course. natural that those in the en-
loymeut Of those inflated profits should
light for their retention and it is
unite as natural that the public should
strike for relief.
The Smoot organ states that n thou
sand families in Utah would be cut
short in their dividends on their sugar
stocks in case Of the abolition of the
sugar duty; to which fair reply is
sN"N i'if tuoHSdHu JdHllllPS IN bIhu
would gain correspondingly in the re.
dnced price OF sugar. and they would
be- able to buy much more sugar than
now.
An attempt al denial is made TO the
proposition that the freight rates would
act as a protection to the local sugar
trust; and il is said IN that connection
tnat eighty per cent OF the output OF
the sugar factories here is shipped to
the Missouri river, "'where it must
compete with cane sugar from the
Son'h. We do not understand that so
great percentage as this is shipped
TO the East, but it is sure thing that
whatever AMOUNT is shipped to the East
IS sold there for far less sum than is
charged bY the combine for sugar TO
the people Of Utah. Therefore we NAV
rightly say, let the local combine be
t:.Tr Ia h.. |