Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-09-16
WHY SUGAR PRICES ARE HIGH.

The following reason why the price
of sugar has taken such an unpre-
cedented advance is sent out by the
Domestic Sugar Products Co. of New
York:
Europe and America are now en-
gagged in a battle royal for sugar.
That is the primary cause of the
high prices that now prevail. Cut
off by the outbreak of the war from
her supply of 100000 tons of
sugar ordinarily secured from Ger
many and Austria Hungary, England
turned to the nearest available sugar
market, which happened to be New
York. Backed by cash, assuming all
the war risk involved in shipment
and ready to pay whatever prices
might be necessary to secure sugar,
British buyers invaded the America
market. Within little more than
week, they purchased almost 100, 600
tons of raw and refined sugar,
bidding up the market nearly 3 cents
a pound in the process of getting it.
Their buying subsidized temporarily
only when they found it impossible to
secure further prompt transportation.
AS another war measure for securing
a supply of sugar, orders were issued
in all the sugar growing colonies of
Great Britain forbidding the sale of
sugar except for imperial use.
At the outbreak of the war the
visible supply of sugar available for
the American market was barely
sufficient to last until the new crop
of American grown sugar should be-
gin to become available in October.
The withdrawal of 100000 tons from
this supply created serious short
age, and inquiries received in the
New York market indicating that
England would seek to obtain several
hundred thousand tons more of sugar,
and that other European countries
might endeavor to purchase sugar
here, threatened to make this short
American purchasers in the sugar
market, seeking to protect their own
trade, entered into active competition
with the foreign buyers in the
scramble for sugar. To make the
situation more acute, consumers in
all parts of the country rushed to lay
in supplies far in excess of their
ordinary purchases, thus accentuating
the scarcity.
The prize for which the buyers of
Great Britain and America are con-
tending is the Cuban sugar crop.
England and the United States each
import annually about 1000, 900
long tons of sugar. The Cuban crop
is about 100000 tons, enough to
supply one of these two big custom
ers, but entirely inadequate to meet
the needs of both. The prospect,
is for keen struggle OH
the part of these two countries to
secure the bulk of the coming Cuban
crop in case the war continues for
any considerable length of time.
When the present blockade of
is relieved, it is probable
that Great Britain, and possibly also
the United States, may obtain some
sugar from tropical cane growing
countries other than Cuba. The fact
remains, however, that the European
nations producing annually 5000, 900 |
long tons of sugar, or as per cent of
the entire worlds sugar supply, are
now at war. A large part of this
crop will be sacriiced-how much
remains to be seen. At any rate,
100000 tons ordi-
narily exported from these countries
is withdrawn from accustomed trade
and this means world
wide scarcity of sugar while the war
continues and probably for some time
The one great lesson for the Ameri-
can people in the present situation is
the necessity of encouraging and de-
veloping the production from Ameri-
can soil of all the sugar required by
the American people so that we may
be independent of other nations and
our consumers may be assured of a
permanent adequate supply of cheap
sugar.