The Detroit times., 1912-10-04

, duty levied upon sugar imports by' lhe
tarirr law OF 1897 was for the express
purpose OF stIm liating home pr0dnr-
tion 20 such ah extent that the lnift@l
States would Produce It's sugar AT nome
anu thus distribute among Ame.iSah
farmers and .AhorinB men lhe flvp.-
600 00a which was tnen, ana ~ now,
sent 10 fOrVign countries annUally Tor
the purchase AZ sugar. Whiie the m
crease In our produrtl"n OF susAr from
beets has htJ1 800 per ean- - -
years the discouragement 10 capital
brought about by the war VITA Spah
and the consequent unneNatinn OF trop-
ital sugar producing islands ana 2
preferential taTin accorded 20 cuba, has
reta rded the growth. lnasmuCh as
practically all our du-iable subar I'm,
ports come from cuba, the pfeIercniiA'
treatment accorded cuban sugar oper7
ates as a 20 per cent reduction OF tne
sugar duties as fNCd hy the law OF lep..
4 In other words, the 1897 rate OF duS
OF 1855 cents per pound ior 80 uehrec
sugar was reduced To lS4s cents per
pound In December, lsOS, oy the Cuhan
reciprocity concession. and for the past
eight years l.l03S is tile average rate
OF duty coll soted on all OF our Imports
In it's annual reports On the progress
az the bcst-sugar Industry IN the
United states, the Department. OF A6tI
culture cited 419 projects for new beet
sugar factories an as many localities IN
% statcs all hut 81 of which hlNe
failed to mRterialiZe largely because
OF apprehension OF adverse lstiSi"tiNN;,
In 1911 the average production OF
our domestic beSt-sugar factories was
S,6Oc tons per factory. and our iotal
dutiablc sugar imports amounted 20
ls5e'?27 tons s,s ~ IN thus sSnaor%a MA pro. "
todya would be producing all our
today would be producingn all our
sugar We should have cheaper sugar
at all seasons OF the year. and sheulu
BE- distributing an extra s10o,00o,ooo
wear TO American farmers and laborers
instead OF sending q 10 foreign lands
AN ABUNDANCE OF SUGAR-BEEr
LAND.
From the Mediterranean 70 the BAL.
tic Europe produces sugar oeets, not
only in sufficient quantities 20 supply
their own people. but two and one halI
millions of tons for export EXtendins
from the Atlantic TO the Facinc .a, Sne
secretary OF agriculture informs US tnAt
we have 27t,0Oo.000 acres OF wel-oe-
fined sugar-beet land. enough 10 sup
ply the entire world with sugar u pu.
al. 100000 acres of IL were planted 70
sugar heets The plan OF producing
our sugar at home Is not chimsrieai
but can be made an established TACT II
the growth OF the INDUSTRY oe not
checked ty adverse legislation.
PROGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY, 1893 TO
1909.
The agricultural and manufacturing
progress made by the beet-sugar indus
wears 1S9e-ls0s. as shown by the CEN
sus reports wherever census figures are
available, is set forth In the following
table.
n will be seen that during that
period the acreage in beets Increased
2O7 per cent. while the tons or beets
harvested increased 39e per cent. The
tons OF beets per acre Increased 81 per
cent and the price paid for beets In
crea sed 3s per cent. the gross returns
per acre. increasing from 25.ss 10 sS7
In manufacturing the number OF fac
tories increased liz per cent. the dis
bursements 4i7 per cent tho amount OF
sugar prod lcsd SEA per cent. and not
withstauding the fact that the cost OF
heets increased 3s per cent and labor
aud all other supplies in proportion. the
cost Of producing sugar decreased 10
per cent, very healthy development.
The growth made by the beet-sugar
Industry in the United States during
the past 20 years fully warrants every
reasonable effort which has been or
may be made 10 develop H. The rapid
progress made Is especially gratifying
have prevailed are taken into consider
alton and when our development tsI
compared with the early growth OF the
OF any country in the world
1t required 40 years OF constant ef-
fort 1sf0-1ss2) 20 develop the German
sugar Industry from $4,000 tons to 500,
COO tons annual production. while In &c
years (is91-lai2I the beet-sugar indus
try ~ the Ur States has grown
from 5000 TO 500 900 tons No colonial
or foreign sugars were then or havo
since been allowed 10 enter German
ports without being subjected to the
payment of full tarIn rates. and in
addition to the protection afforded by
high rate OF duty or sugar importa-
lions, the German sugar manufacturers
received as direct bountfes from the
treasury OF the German government a
total sum of $60.C0O.0O0 during the 4U-
year period in which the industry was
expanding from i2.0oe tons TO 100000
tons Of annual production.
In addition to maintaining a consis-
tent protective duty which excluded
cheap tropical sugar. from 1880 to 1903
the German government paid to its
sugar manufacturers 1881, ,0o0000 In ex-
port bounties. and German economists
are pleased with the salts.
From 1S40 TO 1910 Germany produced
81 000, 900 tons OF sugar. valued at s4.-
720. 600, 600. and drew from other ma
tions $4,000 600. 600 In payment for the |
26.300, 600 tons OF sugar which they
purchased from her. At the present |
time German fields not only supply the
o., 100000 German people with the
/ ,3h0.000 tons OF sugar which they con-
sumo. but they yield a surplus OF
100000 tons for export. for which |
other nations paw $50 COO. 900 annually. |
IL must be couCeoled that the domes-
tic beet-sugar industry has developed |
under conditions none too favorable for |
the expansion OF new, somewhat haz-
II requires an inveItm"nt OF $500 600 70 |
10000 In each plant. and much |
credit should DO given to those who |
have had the courage and the conf |
dence In the good faith OF congress to /
iTyest thei: fortunes In the Industry