Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-12-09
BY Sidney BaIlou


Scotland paid about 40 cents pound
for sugar in the middle of the elgh-
teenth century Peter Faneuil, the
great Boston merchant, was paying
about the same price. Four hundreds
years had made no appreciate DIFF
ference in the price of this article,
which was, of course, only luxury
for the rich. The source OF supply
was the sugar cane of the tropics, and
in its manufacture it enjoyed the ad-
vantage of tropical labor, which is,
and always has been, the cheapest
paid labor in the world.
Theory Of Natural Advantages
There is a great school of econo-
mists which insists that every article
produced in this world should be pro-
duced where its production is cheap
est. To this schooI, tropical sugar
would seem to be an ideal example,
grown where nature evidently intend
ed ii to grow, extracted from plant
whose sugar content is many times
in excess of any other, and manufac-
tured by the cheapest labor obtain
able. Obviously, any attempt to COM
pete with an arrangement so appar-
emily designed by Nature would be
not only unsound economically, but
would approach impiety!
nevertheless, circumstances arose
which resulted in a direct challenge
to this plausible theory. First a Prus-
sian chemist named Marggraf demon
strated in 1747 that true sugar could
be extracted from the beet of the
temperate zone A pupil of his named
Achard made practical application
of the discovery on small scale. The
Institute of France took up the mat
ter and about the year 1900 two small
factories we're erected near Paris.
Despite the fact that sugar was still
selling at it's century old price of
over 80 cents pound, these factories
were financial failures. Round one
ended in the compete discontinue OF
those who sought to improve upon the
economical DEGREES of Nature.
Beginning of Beet Sugar
1t chances, however that war is a
powerful stimulant to national devel
opment, and almost as destructive to
theories as. it is to life. This was as
true a hundred years ago as it is to-
day. After Trafalgar. Napoleon found
his enemies in undisputed control OF
the seas, and France cut off from all
imported supplies Among these, SUI
gar was one sadly missed. Napoleon
had the advantage of not having to
establish a department of agriculture
to educate the farmers into doing
what he wanted. He issued a decree
appropriating one million francs and
commanding the farmers to plant 90
900 acresfof beets the next year. They
might not know a beet from turnip,
but they had to plant them. Over 800
factories were erected in two years,
and France began to manufacture its
own sugar.
The project of extracting sugar
from beets naturally aroused consid-
cradle ridicndle A contemporary car
toon shows a Stern nurse holding a
beet to the lips Of the infant king OF
Rome, with the admonition, Suck it.
dear, your father says it's sugar!
Rapid Growth of Beet Production Z,
Aapoleon's overthrow at Waterloo
again wrecked the industry and round
two ended as had round one Only
two factories survived the shock, and
some years elapsed before there was
any increase in that number Gradu-
ally. however, the industry began to
revive. BY 1896 there were 542 fac.
tories in France, and The production
had reached 10000 tons. In that year
Germany entered the field with pro
duction of some 1900 tons. BY 1858
both nations were producing over 10
GEO tons each. and that year Austria,
Russia and Belgium Joined the ranks
of production.
Here was a challenge to the age
long supremacy OF tropical cane SUI
gar. BY 1860 beet sugar amounted to
20 per cent of the worlds production
of sugar: by 1870 it was Sc per cent;
by 1880 it was Al Ier cent: by 1890
il attained 50 Per. cent. With the abo-
litien of direct bounties the proper
ton dropped again to 80 per cent.
and from that day 10 this cane aud