Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1913-01-09
THE SUGAR BEET SITUATION BY FARMER ALLEN
Many Factories in Michigan Have Been Unable Operate
Successfully-Many Failures Enumerated-Alma
Plant One of the Successful Few in Michigan.

Tawas. nice little town situated on
the lake at the northerp extremity
OF Saginaw bay. and ask some Of its
merchants and business men if they
would like to help build a sugar beet
factory. you would not get pleasant
look for such a proposition and they
would tell you their experience in
buildinga sugar beet factory had been
very disastrous to them. The Tawas
sugar factory ceased To exist after
two years OF operation with an enor-
nous loss of money because they
could not make it pay with the price
they had to pay for bcets
You have heard of Marine city a
nice town situated about fourteen
miles south OF Port Huron on the St
Clair river 1t also has a sugar fact
DRY, which | believe is in operation
the present season, but has not ope
rated only about onc-half of the time
since it was erected because the stock
holders have been unable TO make it
pay with the present price OF beets.
From Marine City go down the ST.
Clair river around the northwest
shore of Lake St. Clair, a distance OF
about twenty-five miles and you will
find beautiful little city, situated
about three miles from the lake, call
ed Mt Clemens. which has sugar
factory operated by very wealthy
men. who have other large interests
which make them lots of money 1t
has grown beets longer and more of
them in the most OF its campaigns
than any other factory in the state &C
cording to its capacity and yet this
factory has been reported as losing
money some years.
You have heard OF CharlcvoiX sit
uated i'll the northwestern part OF the
state on Lake Michigan, fine town
with some good surrounding country.
1t has had a sugar factroy for several
years which good business men have
tried to operate at profit, but have
repeatedly failed at the prices they
have had to pay for beets
Now. my dear reader | think you
ought TO be convinced that there has
been vast sums Of money lost III try
ing to build up the beet sugar bust
ness in Michigan. ii it wasn't for
the fact that few good nervy BUSH
ness men have stuck to the business
and made some OF our Michigan fact
Dries pay good dividends in a few
very favorable years there wouldn't
be sugar factroy in operation in
Michigan today
Now, my reader, you may say that
these factories cease TO exist because
they couldn't get the proper amount
of beets. Well. if such was the case
and there is such an enormous profit
in the manufacturing end of the stock
holders as some lawyers and writers
are talking. why didn't the stockhold-
ers Of all these dcfunct factories raise
the price Of bcets before they allowed
their factories to cease to operate and
lost to themselves vast sums of money
They were certainly good business
men and had good sense or they
never would have made money
enough to build sugar beet factory.
The fact was they lost money in OPP
Grating at the prices they paid for
beets and the only thing for them to
do was to cease operating.
Now. my dear reader, ii you are
one of those who have been writing
or saying bad detrimental things
against the business in Michigan.
please cease to do so. face about and
sec what you can say and do in the
firmly in our state and thereby place
our agricultural resources i'll the very
front rank of any state in the union
1t can be done by the hearty cooper
alton of every citizen. Now lets see
TO il and do it.
FARMER ALLEN