The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-21
Out of Proportion

nized the world over as an authority on
 sugar"
 Out of Proportion
 J. o. Taylor, 2114 Morris avenue: There
 has been a general advance in wheat
 products, and there is now no sign of a
 decrease in values. Rice has also risen
 about per cent. l cannot account for the
 sensational prices at which sugar Is be-
 ing held. The sensational advance has certainly been out of all proportion to that on any other commodity
 Supply and Demand
 Julius Orman of McCarty-Orman Wholesale Brokerage company: My firm
 deals in sugar and other food products
 extensively and is the agent for w. M.
 Henderson, an independent sugar refiner
 of New Orleans. 1 keep in close touch
 with marekt conditions both on raw su-
 gar and the granulated article. Within
 the last two weeks the price on raw
 sugar in New Orleans has advanced all
 most 100 per cent Present quotations are
 $6.52 per 100 pounds. as against that of $3. 20 or $3.30 of two weeks ago. While it is true that almost all the sugar con- sumed in the United States is produced
 here and in Cuba and Porto Rico, it must be remembered that this territory is practically the only neutral land on which sugar can be grown. Germany, Russia, Belgium, Austria, Russia and France are all large producers of sugar; but all of
 these nations are now engaged in deadly conflict, and the supply in those countries
 is extremely uncertain. These nations
 have already begun to draw on this coun- try, Cuba and Porto Rico for sugar pro-
 visions. England, however, will prove one of the greatest consumers of this
 commodity. It has already made large
 purchases in Cuba. In the case of flour.
 practically the whole American continent will be open to the allied nations from
 which to draw on for the staff of life. There are many other wheat producing countries Egypt, l believe, is highly pro-
 ductive for wheat. The Argentine re-
 public is a great grain producing coun- try, and so is Canada. Although the
 sugar refining concern for which I have
 the agency is independent from the su- gar trust, or the American. Refining com pany, l believe the present prices pre- vailing on granulated sugar are entirely due to the universal law of supply and demand. The wholesale price on granu- lated sugar in Birmingham is $S per 100 pounds. l believe, and in my opinion there will be an even greater advance in the near future unless something unfore- seen occurs. American people should bear in mind that the territory from which this country alone was supplied must now bear the brunt of practically the world S demand. and that is no small natter Not Unreasonable, Says Murdoch w. l.. Murdoch of w. l.. Murdoch Brokerage company: Present sugar prices are not as unreasonable as it would
 appear at the first glance. For if the
 great European conflict continues for a
 long period, the lands from which the
 United States is supplied will be called
 upon to furnish the worlds sugar con-
 sumption. There is large element of
 speculation in prices now prevailing on
 both raw and granulated sugars; for there
 is no certainty that the conflict now go-
 ing on will last long enough to com pletely use up Europe's supply. It is problematical as to whether those con trolling sugar supplies will be able to hold out long enough to realize at higher prices. new sugar crop will be har- vested in October, and this may affect quotations to some extent
 No Speculation. says McLester Joseph McLester of -VanHoose Co.,:
 'The reason for the advance is that 1 the German beets are not being raised " i said MT. McLester and in addition to ! this Germany is engaged in war and not 1 producing any sugar. The tariff per- mitted the importation of sugar before the war and kept prices down. However, | the tariff is of no avail now as there is | no sugar coming from belligerent coun- | try. There is now a shortage in this country of sugar. As this country must supply Europe, South America and Amer l ica, there is bound to be demand greater i than the supply. It would occur to me, | therefore. that the demand exceeds | the supply that an increase Is bound to | take place. There is one thing, however, i that I absolutely gurantee. That is there | is no speculation in regard to sugar. It i is utterly impossible to obtain 10 cars of
 sugar so it is impossible for speculations | to take place. 1 bought some sugar 1 a while back and was able to get only what I was accustomed to use. l could not secure at this time any large con
 signment of sugar, nor could anyone else