The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-03-23

Editor Pensa cola Journal.
I have been waiting some time for
some one to take up the other side
OF the free sugar question as dis
cussed IN a recent number Of The
Journal by my friend, John Thomas
Porter. The Journal asks us it as
bad as this?" It may be bad enough.
but 1t is not disastrous. We are just
going through a change for the bet
ter.
The people OF the United States
consume more sugar per CAPITA than
any other people in the world. Our
government has been protecting the
sugar interests of the country by a
very high tariff in order that the
sugar consumed in the United States
might be raised and manufactured at
home. But the sugar monopoly got
the reins and by spending millions of
dollars to control legislation and mil
lions more to control the output Of
material they have managed to con-
troll the entire business and the tariff
that was intended to benef+ the peo-
pie was turned to the profits of the
trust
have been interested in growing
cane and manufacturing syrup and
have studied the question very thor
oughiy. I used to vote for the pro-
lection Of our home industries but
after reading the congressional in
vestfgations OF our monopoIies and
personally looking over some Of the
facts I repented. I found hat the
the uaonopolies.
little over a year ago I spent a
few months In a "trip across the con
tinent" I visited the cane fields of
Louisiana, "the- sugarbowl of Amer
ica," and was surprised at the disad-
van.ages under which they produced a
crop Of cane. Florida can produce a
crop that will anaIyze more sucrose
and do it % per cent cheaper. When
/ looked over the thousands Of acres
Of sugar beets on the mesas of Cali
fornia and noted the difficulties Of
cuitiva ion and the great expense of
irrigation, for every little beetlet
must have its proportion of water at
different times during the seq son as
it never rains there on a beet crop.
The beets had to be wed and hoed
carefully and ! readily saw that we
could easily raise much better su-
gar material at almost half the cost
1t has been demonstrated time and
again that Florida alone can produce
all the sugar used in the United
States and have some to spare but
the fact is not over 20 per cent OF
the sugar used in the United States
Is made here. IF the monopoly had
encouraged cane growing in Florida
the production would soon have been
beyond their control and a monoroly
must control the supply in order to
control the price.
When free sugar. comes a new
order OF things must prevail. The
monopoly will be unable to control
the entire business. Every body will
have a free hand. Material will have
to be produced where it can be raised
cheapest and most abunGantly. That
means Florida. I have seen farmers
work up an acre of cane, grinding it
with little mule, carry the juice
in q bucket, pour it in an iron kettle
and use FIVE times as much wood as
was necessary TO reduce it to syrup
and then sell ii for 20 to % cents per
gallon and then get as much value off
that one acre as Off three acres OF
cotton. Florida will furnish the
sugar. There's millions In it, and
the millions spent by the monopoly
TO control legislation and crops will
be saved People don't know Florida
yet. She is just being discovered.
A. G. CHANDLER,
Panama City, Florida.