El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-03


ar rbs free list When this island was
-,s1a' a Dart of the territory or the
United states, the sugar tarlIL OpeLol
81 IN s,,ch q way as to make the sugar
business Of the island one d. L LOI -, --,l=
e1cb rich returns that forthWllh pIaS
4fcaIIv every other industry was mes
Iected and the Porto Rican peoplS Co ,,t
r,ftre5 The economic MISTAKE %
ting all their essS ~ -af1abIe land
Practically every foot OF a.dlI9o4S --i -
- ira usformed into cane lelQS- 11Cu
sends of acres OF pasture ldllu9'
go hitherto brought fair return 70
- ,,-rfrs who were engaged in cat
- -aisiDe- were converted into susaL
%Isr+atfOns. and sugar mills sDIaHB ~
almost over night in every part Vi '-9
island. ., SMEAR
The result has been that the annua-
output Of sugar mas me - - Of the
10000 tons, prior 10 inc ,pS6%So 80 in
foraker act, to nearly "'V'ovy h..
101T sugar planters have Louiu -
business so rich In us Lelullls -
thew have straightaWay INV e9J -
earnings in eXtenulns ~ hen mat
rIantafious The result mas OJs-t ., -
4 - ecoDor1ic condition has been DLOu ~
about in which pracuc5llF W ,,r5 m,
Dr0sper-y of the island IS ooIn 49, ~
in the question OF Iree vi
in the United States 7~--,. Of
The wages of the laoorlns cLas9i SSt ~ ~
Porto Rico have enhanced Ielllol "a - -
17T5er the great stimulation OF ltiS IA
G I., '+brS11sb the admission OF POr-
10 Rican sugar duty Iree lhto ~
United States. All author tlIeS g.,
tLar the average price or ldoOI n "
n. Rico at the beginning OF inc u
80 -Iosed aDDrONimated 20 cents n
dav II now apprONimateS Ov GEMS q
dav In order 10 bullu the SleaI --- 80
or sugar centrals, the sugar go 49,.
had to borrow much money II IN -
hanks and nearly every one o. NO
mills is now under nelNy Oo--Geu
debt The banks fear that Iue SuSaL
mills viii cease 10 ne ~ ,.--f nd they
tariff on sugar IS removed anu -
have served notice on the sugar pIdAl
ers that they must have lIeL Hlo-. y
In such a situation il Is niue WIZ
that there is panic among '"e
planters Of Porto ElcO- 4
Free sugar Is Bitterly Opposed.
Today the sugar planters ana me-
facturers pay approximately One-HeilL
~ tbe ins1iIar budget of Porto tIco, q
budget which amounts TO S5,oVy'yvv q
year. out of that budget, $I'-VV-VVO -
spent on education Ine planters uT
clare thew will not be able 10 pay lLc-l
taxes If sugar is put on the Iree lISl,
and that the schools OF the lslahu mus
suffer The assessed value of the sugar
lands of the island averages So an
acre II the free sugar measure passes,
the planters assert that the prOouclus
value of their land Will De Vastly CGI
down They say that they have Dullc-
ed up the sugar industry on the lsland
on the assumption that the tarilI would
be continued and that they nave
right to demand. not merely 10 peIluon,
that the duty on sugar IN the Chlleu
States shall be continued
How intensely in earnest are the
sugar planters of Porto Rico IN their
dread of free sugar may be SHOWN oE
a few remarks made DE Inem at d
luncheon given TO the newspaper men
accompanying secretary Knox. at san
Juan In the speecnmaklng which tol-
lowed the luncheon. one or the SPEAK
ers declared that the newspaper men
came there on Palm sunday. and tnai
the sugar planters Of the island ap-
pealed to them TO assist the Porto
Ricans in preventing the Good Friday
OF Porto Rican history This remark
" as echoed by every speaker, each one
.reiterating the idea that the sugar IN
dustry Of their country was about 70
be crucified by the government OF the
United States.
There are those outside Of Porto Rico
who do not believe that al OF the dire
prophecies OF the sugar planters OF the
island will come true If the sugar tariff
is lowered, or even eliminated. Wnlle
they admit that the tariff has made
the sugar business In Porto Rlco an
immensely prOfita Bile business, guaran-
teeing the planters @ bounty OF Slb6 q
hundred pounds. they are not inclined
to agree with the Porto Rican idea
that sugar cannot be raised tprOfltaoly
without al least a part of this tariff
While conditions in Cuba and In POr-
to Rico. with reference TO the sugar
industry, are not fully comparable al
its OF the sugar business in Porto Rico
may be gathered from experience II
Cuba The leading sugarland dealer
of Cuba has recently effected the sale
of a sugar estate with a capacity OF
100000 bags Of sugar a year The net
income from this estate for PERIOD OF
years, according TO the DOCKS, WH1cn
were produced and examined Dy the
English syndicate which bought the
estate, averaged 100000 year 1 ne
price paid for the property was 80
100000. II viii be seen from this that
the average annual net income on JIe
investment was % percent. or S2-NO [
per bag of sugar The differential ne
lOyed by the Cuban sugar planter IN
the American sugar markets. IS aooug
1876 cents per 100 pounds, as compared
with the S1.6S per 100 pounds proIec-
ton afforded the Porto Elcan planter
Cannot Compete With Cuba.
It is generally recognized InaI the
Porto Rican sugar planter cannot pro
duce sugar as cheaply as MS nelSuoOr
in Cuba, due to the fact that the land
must be planted about every Two years
In Porto Rico. whereas the average
planting in cuba lasts for about seven
years. The Porto Hcan sugar planter
declares that the amount OF sugar In
cane apprOXimates 10 per cent us
Interested people put the figures at II
percent The Porto RiCans claim that
II costs $3.50 a ton TO raise lhe cane
That would be $50 ton Tor me sugar
The average price FOR Porto idcan
sugar i'm New York for 10 years has
been s3.Ss a 100 pounds According to
these figures. the price per ton OF
ST gar. without any tariff. would be
$3.50 According TO the testimony of
Don Antonio Alcaide, OF the Sugar
Growers association of Porto Rico. the
profits. without tariff. would be SllS0.
The difference in these two estimates
arises from the fact that he assumes
that the cane yields only 10 per cent
Of sugar. whereas disinterested author
tiles put it at y per cent 1t is prob
able that the truth lies somewhere be-
tween these two estimates
The Porto Rican sugar planter can
not understand the point of view of
those Americans who ASSERT that the
sugar tariff makes them pay approx
mateIv two cents pound more for
their sugar than they would have to {
nav otherwise. and who protest against /
being made to pay this extra price in /
order that there may be prosperity /
among the sugar planters. It is /
claimed bv those Americans who take /
this view. that the sugar duty compels /
the American people to pay out $3.50 /
60O. 600 a wear extra for sugar. The I
total value OF the Porto Rican sugar
crop is $4,000. 600. and ii represents o
over four-fifths of the total production /
of all kinds of commodities exported J
from the island.